The Motivations for Criminal Behavior in Post Katrina New Orleans

When the average person is asked what typically occurs in the aftermath of any major disaster, the following items are typically mentioned at the top of the list: looting, panic, lawlessness, rape, murder, general crime. However, these same items, along with price gouging, disaster shock, contagion (the bad behavior spreading), and the installment of martial law are defined by most sociologists and disaster researchers as disaster myths. In other words, these behaviors do not typically occur in the aftermath of disasters. …