Abstract:

This study develops and tests sociological hypotheses explaining the participation in  disasister response activities by eighty-six congregations in Xenia, Ohio following a tornado.  The analytical framework conceptualizes all organizations as having a demand-capabibility balance.  That is, there are demands for services which are met by organizational resources.  During normal times, the demand-capabibility balance is the result of both its historical context and immediate conditions. The interaction of these elements results in the characteristics of the focal organization and its resulting activities.  A disaster alters this balance by providing a new set of immediate conditions and changing previous contextual elements.  This changed balance influences both organizational characteristics and organizational activties. This framework is used to predict congregation disaster response using elements of the pre-disaster demand-capability balance and disaster conditions.
 
 

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