Risk and Crisis Communication

Abstract

This study analyzed the escalation of catastrophic mudslides in the Bududa District of Uganda in Africa as an instructional communication failure. The study applied the IDEA model for risk and crisis communication to the concerns expressed in interviews with residents who survived mudslides in three villages. The IDEA model focuses on internalization as affective learning, distribution of messages based on dialogue, explanation as cognitive learning, and action as behavioral learning. Of particular interest was the limited success of the government's ongoing efforts to relocate residents from the most dangerous locations of the district. The results indicated the government's program failed to establish a consistent dialogue with mudslide survivors. Consequently, residents remained frustrated by what they perceived as an ineffective relocation plan that failed to adequately consider their needs. Further, the plan invited corruption due to explanatory inconsistencies and recommended actions that were either culturally inconsistent or inaccessible. Observations of how this case study informs instructional risk and crisis communication research in catastrophic conditions as well as the role of dialogue throughout the instructional risk communication process are provided.

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