Compare And Contrast The Sinking Of R. M. S. Lusitania

Disaster Similarities. The sinking of the R.M.S. Lusitania and the Haiti earthquakes of 2010 are not similar in either type of disaster or the number of resulting victims, but they do share some similarities. Neither the passengers aboard the Lusitania nor the people of Haiti had anywhere to go to escape the impending devastation. Both disasters exposed the individuals involved directly to life threatening danger. Following the explosions on the ship and the earthquake in Haiti, survivors witnessed deceased victims all around them, they both witnessed people dying and injured with no means of medical care. The torpedo attack and the earthquakes came as a violent and devastating surprise.

The similarities of these two disasters are however

far outweighed by their differences. The Lusitania was alone in the open sea, while the Haiti earthquakes occurred on land. The almost two thousand people affected by the U-boat attack was many times smaller than the some three million that experienced the earthquake. The Lusitania sunk to the bottom of the ocean after 20 minutes while Haiti is still, six years later, recovering from the devastation that resulted from the earthquakes.
Three Major Psychology of Disaster Concepts Applied to the Disasters.
Disasters not only bring physical destruction and devastation, but they can also cause a host of emotional stress and anxiety.

Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is oftentimes the response of victims of a disaster. PTSD is a pattern of behavioral, biological, psychological, and social responses experienced by some persons that have been directly or indirectly involved in an event that threatens their lives with injury or death (Young, Ford, Ruzek, Friedman, & Gusman, n.d., p.15). As mentioned, individuals directly involved and those not directly involved in the incident can both experience PTSD. Michelle Chen writes, “It's easy to forget that humanitarian heroes are also workers, facing some of the most brutal occupational hazards on earth.” (Chen, Jan 22). Some of the symptoms of PTSD include anger, feeling nothing or numb, feeling guilty, avoiding thinking about anything having to do with the disaster, shock, feeling helpless, confusion, nightmares, and disbelief. Most symptoms associated with PTSD only last about a month, but some can last longer. After the Lusitania was torpedoed, many witnesses along the shore rushed to help the survivors. They also retrieved around 200 bodies from the water. As these people helped pile bodies into heaps and experience the extreme loss secondhand, some suffered from the symptoms of PTSD. As the United States heard the news of the attack and learned of their fellow Americans had lost their lives, they were outraged and in shock,

symptoms of PTSD. They were angry with the Germans as a partial result they would side with the British and join the war against Germany. In the case of the earthquakes in Haiti, the destruction was so great that many survivors were scrambling to find their loved ones and seek safety that initially feelings of numbness and disbelief. In the aftershocks that followed the initial quake, some would think that the disaster was reoccurring, some imagined the ground shaking or buildings crumbling around them when in fact it could have been a plane or vehicle passing by them.
Another major psychology of disaster concept is the Phases of Disaster Recovery. The four phases are Historic phase, Honeymoon phase, Disillusionment phase, and Reconstruction or Restabilization phase. The Historic phase typically happens immediately following a disaster. As survivors tend to turn into a super-human, so to speak, doing all they can to assist and save victims. As the R.M.S. Lusitania was sinking, people on the shore were in motion trying to reach the survivors and pull them from the ocean. In Haiti, after the initial earthquake, survivors were searching through rubble trying to free trapped victims and get them to safety, helping in any way they can. The Historic phase lasts anywhere from a few hours to a few days.
Survivors bonding because of surviving disaster together characterize the Honeymoon phase.

Outside assistance has usually arrived and the survivors can step back some from the Historic phase and be taken care of by recovery teams. Media coverage is greater; the survivors are receiving attention and have hope that life will soon be restored to a state of normalcy. Clean up has begun and there is the hope of even more help arriving. Help from all over the world came to aid Haiti and even through all of the physical devastation, there was hope of rebuilding and restoration. The Honeymoon phase can last from one week following a disaster or as long as six months.

Next is the Disillusionment phase. As outside recovery agencies begin to leave and promises of aid are not being fulfilled, feelings of anger, betrayal, abandonment, and disappointment take root. Media coverage lessened significantly, help was leaving and the people of Haiti were still left with massive amounts of destruction. People were still living in makeshift shelters and the rain season was fast approaching. There was even an outbreak in cholera due to contaminated drinking water. It is during the Disillusionment phase that post-traumatic stress symptoms can become

greater.
The final phase is the Reconstruction/Restabilization phase. Survivors come to the realization that they will need to solve the problems of rebuilding their home, businesses, farms and lives largely by themselves and gradually assume responsibility for the tasks (“University of Florida,” 1998, p. 2). For the people of Haiti, it has taken years to rebuild and bring about restoration to the survivors.
With media coverage and the Internet being so prevalent in today’s age, news of disasters is far reaching. Looking back over history the world has witnessed disasters learned in school; 9/11, the Challenger explosion, Hurricane Katrina, the sinking of the Titanic, and the volcanic eruption that buried the city of Pompeii alive to name a few. However, there are disasters that, even though were devastating in the number of lives lost and destruction that go almost unheard of. The lethality of a disaster is not necessarily what makes it so well known, but rather how the culture reacts to it and how long it is passed on to younger generations by recalling the disaster. Pastor includes reasons why culture influences the meanings of a trauma as the nature of the pain, the victim, the relationship of the victims to the larger audience, and the responsible party or parties (Pastor, 2004, p. 620). Collective Trauma occurs when the things that allow people in society to relate to one another are severed and that sense of togetherness is lost. It occurs when values and direction is changed within a society. The sinking of the Lusitania was a tragedy to both Americans and the British, yet it only dominated the newspaper headlines for about a week before being overtaken by a newer story (“The Lusitania Disaster,” n.d.). It has been six years since the Earthquakes in Haiti, so perhaps not enough time has lapsed to know for sure, but it took a toll on people from all over the world and the results may still not be fully realized.
Summary
Whether man-made or natural, disasters are inevitable. Not all disasters will produce mass destruction and horrific death tolls, but they all have the potential to inflict emotional toil on individuals involved directly or indirectly. The attack on the R.M.S. Lusitania was unfortunate and devastating. The Haitians endured incredible hardship and destruction to their already impoverished country. Both disasters resulted in loss of lives, even though the numbers were nowhere close to the same. In disasters psychological impacts should be expected from survivors, aid workers, family members of survivors and victims, and even from individuals watching from afar. Post-traumatic stress disorder, Phases of Disaster, and collective trauma are all typical, yet major responses to disaster incidents regardless of the size or scope of the disaster.