Earthquake, social disorder, violence

Abstract

Natural disasters appear as unexpected, traumatic events that break the normal flow of life; these events cause changes in the social structure in the region.  There are two alternatives for this change. The first alternative is social unity, the other is social disorder. The purpose of the study is to explain the violent events that occurred after the earthquake in Kahramanmaraş on the 6th of February 2023, through the theory of social disorder. The literature on relevant subjects will be searched and the violent events displayed in the media will be explained in the context of social disorder theory in this study. The increased rates of violence and crime in the long-term period after disasters have been detected by the researchers and this situation has been explained with the theory of social disorder. The social disorder theory emphasizes that the increased stress burden causes an increase in domestic violence. The longitudinal studies that have been carried out on crime rates after the disaster determine that with the help of cooperation and social cooperation, there is a decrease in the crimes against property and violence and an increase in the cases of domestic violence. The disappearance of unaccompanied minors, child abuse, rapine, violence against women, and hate crimes against refugees are some of the criminal behaviors that are reflected in the media in the acute period and evaluated within the scope of this study. The Decrease of control due to social disorder and the absence of officials to provide security in the immediate aftermath of the earthquake explain that criminal behavior may occur in the acute period. The systematic, rapid, and effective implementation of the actions planned to prevent social disorder after natural disasters may be beneficial in preventing crime and violence in regions damaged by natural disasters.