Examining Society and Family Through a Disaster Framework

The book reconceptualizes disaster studies by extending the concept beyond natural hazards to include family dysfunction as a form of “social disaster”. Using the metaphor of seismic “Zone V,” it argues that broken families create cascading effects—mental health crises, substance abuse, violence, and community fragmentation—that mirror disaster dynamics. Integrating sociology, anthropology, disaster studies, and Paite indigenous wisdom, particularly the maxim “Inn Gua hah Lou a Gamgua hah”, the study challenges Western individualistic approaches and emphasizes interconnected family–community resilience. It applies systems theory, social capital, and resilience theory to show how dysfunction generates cascade effects, feedback loops, and threshold collapses. The book proposes new disaster taxonomies, methodologies, and indicators, highlighting structural and psychological vulnerabilities. By situating family stability as central to societal resilience, it urges policymakers to treat family breakdown as a disaster risk, advocating culturally sensitive, preventive interventions rooted in both indigenous wisdom and modern governance.