Mental Health Consequences and Social Issues After the Fukushima Disaster

Maeda, Masaharu; Oe, Misari

doi:10.1177/1010539516689695

Cited by 124 publications

(98 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…Examining perceived stigma and self-stigma of people affected by Japan's disaster provides an opportunity to better understand the impacts of mass media and interpersonal communication in crisis communication. Reducing miscommunication, confusion, and a media-produced public stigma might lower self-stigma and the long-term negative psychosocial effects that follow (Maeda & Oe, 2017). Crisis management relies on dissemination of accurate information.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multidimensional Analysis of Stigma: Findings from a Qualitative Study of Fukushima Residents Following Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Disaster

Kwesell¹,

Jung²

2019

JICRCR

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This study examines stigma from the perspective of residents of Fukushima prefecture following the 2011 nuclear disaster in Fukushima, Japan, to better understand effective crisis communication strategies that can mitigate the negative effects of self-stigma and promote sustainable psychosocial recovery. Social cognitive theory was employed to explore cognitive, affective, and behavioral changes faced by Fukushima residents in response to the stigma imposed upon them after the disaster. The study result based on in-depth interviews with residents of Shinchimachi, Fukushima, indicates that affectively, participants experienced a remarkable amount of fear and sadness. Cognitively, they focused on concerns about outsiders’ negative images or misinformation about Fukushima, changed priorities or values, and self-efficacy. Behaviorally, they actively resisted the stigma while strengthening their connections and belonging to their own community. Additionally, residents felt that they were branded as polluted and contagious and attributed the creation of a Fukushima stigma to a lack of full and accurate information as well as mistrust in main information sources, including media and government. This research suggests that developing a more transparent and locally based communication and information system could mitigate the negative effects of self-stigma. Theoretical implications for future research and policy suggestions for crisis communications are discussed.

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mentioning

confidence: 99%

A Multidimensional Analysis of Stigma: Findings from a Qualitative Study of Fukushima Residents Following Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Disaster

Kwesell¹,

Jung²

2019

JICRCR

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“…Looking back, I believe it is reasonable to assume that the series of tragedies Fukushima people experienced impacted their psychological well-being individually. For example, a survey conducted in Fukushima indicated that 21.6 percent were at risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), which was significantly higher than the national average of 3 percent (Maeda, Ueda, Nagai, Fujii, & Oe, 2016). However, I did not expect to find effects of trauma on my participants, as none of them claimed to have PTSD and all appeared to be socially functional.…”

Section: Encountering Traumamentioning

confidence: 93%

Becoming an Insider and an Outsider in Post-Disaster Fukushima

Miyazawa

2018

Harvard Educational Review

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In this essay, Karou Miyazawa reflects on how she was both insider and outsider during her fieldwork in Fukushima, Japan, between 2013 and 2016, after the 2011 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear power plant explosion devastated the region. During her time in Fukushima, Miyazawa experienced the emotions of community members as well as her own, which were rooted in specific individual and collective memories. While her nostalgic memories of home pulled her inside the community, community members' anger and skepticism toward researchers, which stemmed from memories of the wartime atomic bombings, pushed her outside the community. Based on this experience, Miyazawa has reconceptualized agency as one's ability to be susceptible to various emotions that circulate in the community and to move toward and/ or away from insider and outsider positions. This new approach allows researchers to recognize the agency of their participants, form dialogic relationships with them, and collaboratively give testimonies over the long term. Miyazawa contends that such relationships will contribute to the decolonization of research.

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“…Such public worry can have a substantial impact on indirect public health effects (cf. Lyamzina, 2018;Maeda & Oe, 2017;Maeda, Lyamzina, & Ito, 2019;Sato & Lyamzina, 2018). Thus, considerate and well-informed risk communication strategies would produce more efficient and more humane results.…”

Section: Reactions To Radiation Risk Normal or Phobic?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Community‐Oriented Risk Communication in Recovery Efforts after Radiological Contamination/Accidents

Lyamzina¹,

Slovic²

2019

Risk Hazard & Crisis Pub Pol

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The high levels of public worry and distrust of authorities, especially as associated with nuclear energy and radioactive waste, are well established in the literature and in the experience of risk communicators dealing with the general public. Though much of the experience with the heightened sense of worry that accompanies planned exposure situations associated with proposed radioactive/nuclear facilities (e.g., radioactive waste repositories, nuclear power plants, yet to be approved or built), there are also examples of existing exposure situations such as those following radiological accidents (e.g., Chernobyl or Fukushima). Some risk perception factors (e.g., trust, dread) are common to both planned and existing exposure situations, whereas others (e.g., volition, controllability) may be more prevalent in post‐accident exposure situations. Specific risk perceptions held by a given population and its various subgroups must be acknowledged and incorporated into successful risk communication and public engagement strategies. Post‐accident recovery programs and remediation projects, while in many countries requiring stakeholder and public acceptance to proceed, often fail to incorporate the specific risk perceptions held by the various affected groups in their risk communication and public involvement strategies. Such failures can foster a skeptical or angry public reaction, and hamper recovery in terms of both primary measures (radiological risk reduction interventions) and secondary measures (aiming at “return to normal life,” removal of stigmatization, health and well‐being, etc.). Existing exposure situations and the corresponding mitigations are often approached as local or national scale issues, but by their nature of following radiological emergencies or nuclear accidents, issues of multinational risk perceptions may also arise. Confronting risk perceptions featuring high levels of uncertainty, issue complexity, distrust, information asymmetry, and so forth, requires more interactive forms of governance and adaptive approaches to securing public acceptance. A suggestion is made to deploy an iterative continuous improvement model for incorporating specific risk perceptions into risk communication programs in concert with mutual‐gains‐based public engagement mechanisms.

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Mental Health Consequences and Social Issues After the Fukushima Disaster

Cited by 124 publications

References 46 publications

A Multidimensional Analysis of Stigma: Findings from a Qualitative Study of Fukushima Residents Following Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Disaster

A Multidimensional Analysis of Stigma: Findings from a Qualitative Study of Fukushima Residents Following Japan’s 2011 Nuclear Disaster

Becoming an Insider and an Outsider in Post-Disaster Fukushima

Community‐Oriented Risk Communication in Recovery Efforts after Radiological Contamination/Accidents

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