Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

How a Failure in Social Justice Is Leading to Higher Risks of Bushfire Events

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Natural Hazards and Disaster Justice

Abstract

Bushfires are one of the more frightening and potentially damaging extreme events, and their frequency and severity is increasing. Maliciously lit fires are thought to be responsible for about half of all bushfires. The largest group of people who maliciously light fires are youth, and most are lit on the rural/urban interface. This chapter offers Melbourne as a case-study of how injustice likely leads to more maliciously lit fires, as most of the drivers of social inclusion and wellbeing are lower on the urban fringe, when compared to middle and inner Melbourne areas. Policies to reduce climate change and offer improved opportunities for youth, alongside planning that limits urban sprawl, are needed to reduce both social injustices and the occurrence of bushfires.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 119.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 159.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Allen, S. K., Barros, V., Burton, I., Campbell-Lendrum, D., Cardona, O., Cutter, S., … Wilbanks, T. (2011). Managing the Risks of Extreme Events and Disasters to Advance Climate Change Adaptation: Summary for Policy Makers, Special Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Retrieved from https://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/special-reports/srex/SREX_FD_SPM_final.pdf

  • Australian Government. (2016). Australian Early Development Census 2015. Retrieved from https://www.aedc.gov.au/

  • Baumeister, R., DeWall, C., Ciarocco, N., & Twenge, J. (2005). Social Exclusion Impairs Self-Regulation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88(4), 589–604.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bourdieu, P. (1985). The Forms of Capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education (pp. 241–258). New York: Greenwood.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bradstock, R., Penman, T., Boer, M., Price, O., & Clarke, H. (2014). Divergent Responses of Fire to Recent Warming and Drying Across South-Eastern Australia. Global Change Biology, 20, 1412–1428.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brain, P., Stanley, J. K., & Stanley, J. R. (2019). Making the Most of Our Opportunities: First Report to the Municipal Association of Victoria. Melbourne: NIEIR and Stanley and Co.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, C. (2008). Understanding Bushfire: Trends in Deliberate Vegetation Fires in Australia. Technical and Background Paper No. 27. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Burchardt, T., LeGrand, J., & Piachaud, D. (2002). Degrees of Exclusion: Developing a Dynamic, Multidimensional Measure. In J. Hills, J. LeGrand, & D. Piachaud (Eds.), Understanding Social Exclusion (pp. 30–43). Oxford: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Buxton, M., Haynes, R., Mercer, D., & Butt, A. (2011). Vulnerability to Bushfire Risk at Melbourne’s Urban Fringe: The Failure of Regulatory Land Use Planning. Geographical Research, 49(1), 1–12.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Catry, F., Damasceno, P., Silva, J., Miguel Galante, M., & Francisco Moreira, F. (2007). Spatial Distribution Patterns of Wildfire Ignitions in Portugal, Conference Paper, Wildfire, January, Seville, Spain.

    Google Scholar 

  • Climate Action Tracker. (2018, April). Retrieved from https://climateactiontracker.org/countries/australia/

  • Collins, K., Owen, A., Price, F., & Penman, T. (2015). Spatial Patterns of Wildfire Ignitions in South-Eastern Australia. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 24, 1098–1108.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Davidson A. M. (2006). Key Determinants of Fire Frequency in the Sydney Basin. Unpublished Honours Thesis, Australian National University, Canberra.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dolan, M., & Stanley, J. (2010). Risk Factors for Juvenile Firesetting, Advancing Bushfire Arson Prevention in Australia. Report from Collaborating for Change: Symposium Advancing Bushfire Arson Prevention in Australia, held in Melbourne, 25–26 March, 2010, Monash University and Australian Institute of Criminology (pp. 31–32).

    Google Scholar 

  • Doley, R., Dickens, G., & Gannon, T. (2016). Deliberate Firesetting – An Overview. In R. Doley, G. Dickens, & T. Gannon (Eds.), The Psychology of Arson: A Practical Guide to Understanding and Managing Deliberate Firesetters (pp. 1–10). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dutta, R., Das, A., & Aryal, J. (2016). Big Data Integration Shows Australian Bush-Fire Frequency Is Increasing Significantly. Royal Society Open Science. Retrieved from http://rsos.royalsocietypublishing.org

  • European Union. (2011). Cities of Tomorrow: Challenges, Visions, Ways Forward, Brussels.

    Google Scholar 

  • Flanagan, F. (2019). Climate Change and the New Work Order. Inside Story, February 28. Retrieved from https://insidestory.org.au/climate-change-and-the-new-work-order/

  • Gill, T. (2011). Children and Nature: A Quasi-Systematic Review of the Empirical Evidence. London: London Sustainable Development Commission, Greater London Authority.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grubb, J., & Nobles, M. (2016). A Spatiotemporal Analysis of Arson. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(1), 66–92.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Llausàs, A., Buxton, M., & Bellin, R. (2016). Spatial Planning and Changing Landscapes: A Failure of Policy in Peri-Urban Victoria, Australia. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 59(7), 1304–1322.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • March, A., Nogueira de Moraes, L., Riddell, G., Dovers, S., Stanley, J., van Delden, H. … Maier, H. (2018). Australian Inquiries into Natural Hazard Events: Recommendations Relating to Urban Planning for Natural Hazard Mitigation (2009–2017), University of Melbourne, The University of Adelaide, Australian National University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marselle, M., Irvine, K., & Warber, S. (2013). Walking for Well-Being: Are Group Walks in Certain Types of Natural Environments Better for Well-Being Than Group Walks in Urban Environments? International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 10(11), 5603–5628.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Muller, D. (2009). Using Crime Prevention to Reduce Deliberate Bushfire in Australia. Research in Public Policy Series No. 98. Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nicolopoulos, N., Murphy, M., & Sandinata, V. (1997). Socio-economic Characteristics of Communities and Fires. NSW Fire Brigades Statistical Research Paper 4/97. Sydney, NSW: NSW Fire Brigades.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pease, K. (1998). Repeat Victimization: Taking Stock. Home Office Police Research Group, Crime Detection and Prevention Series, Paper 90. London: Home Office.

    Google Scholar 

  • Price, O. (2013). Reducing Bushfire Risk: Don’t Forget the Science. The Conversation, October 11. Retrieved from http://theconversation.com/reducing-bushfire-risk-don’t-forget-the-science-19065

  • Ryan, R., & Deci, E. (2001). On Happiness and Human Potentials: A Review of Research on Hedonic and Eudaimonic Well-Being. Annual Review of Psychology, 52, 141–166.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ryff, C. (1989). Happiness Is Everything, Or Is It? Exploration on the Meaning of Psychological Well-Being. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 1069–1081.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • SCRGSP (Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service Provision). (2016). Report on Government Services 2016, Vol. D, Emergency Management, Productivity Commission, Canberra, Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sen, A. (1992). Capability and Wellbeing. In M. Nussbaum & A. Sen (Eds.), The Quality of Life (pp. 30–53). Oxford: Clarendon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • SGS Economics & Planning. (2016). Comparative Costs of Urban Development: A Literature Review: Final Report, Infrastructure Victoria, July.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, J. (2011a). Social Exclusion, New Perspective and Methods in Transport and Social Exclusion Research (pp. 27–44). Emerald Press, UK.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, J. (2011b). Measuring Social Exclusion. In G. Currie (Ed.), New Perspective and Methods in Transport and Social Exclusion Research (pp. 77–90). Bingley, UK: Emerald Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, J., & Banks, M. (2012). Transport Needs Analysis for Getting There and Back: Report for Transport Connections: Shires of Moyne and Corangamite, June, Monash University, Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, J., March, A., Ogloff, J., & Thompson, J. (2020). The Prevention of Human-Lit Wildfire: International Best Practice. Delaware, USA: Vernon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stanley, J., Stanley, J., Balbontin, C., & Hensher, D. (2018). Social Exclusion: The Roles of Mobility and Bridging Social Capital in Regional Australia, Transportation Research Part A: Policy and Practice. Retrieved May 29, 2018, from http://web.education.unimelb.edu.au/assets/pospsych/Social%20Exclusion%20and%20the%20Value%20of%20Mobility.pdf

  • Stanley, J., Stanley, J., & Hansen, R. (2017). How Great Cities Happen. Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar Publishing.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Stone, W., Gray, M., & Hughes, J. (2003). Social Capital at Work: Towards a Theoretically Informed Measurement Framework for Researching Social Capital in Family and Community Life. Research Paper 24. Melbourne: Australian Institute of Family Studies.

    Google Scholar 

  • Twenge, J., & Baumeister, R. (2005). Social Exclusion Increases Aggression and Self-Defeating Behaviour While Reducing Intelligent Thought and Prosocial Behaviour. In D. Abrams, M. Hogg, & J. Marques (Eds.), The Social Psychology of Inclusion and Exclusion (pp. 27–46). East Sussex, UK: Psychology Press; Taylor and Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vandenbroek. (2017). Underemployment Statistics: A Quick Guide. Research Paper Series 2016–2017, Parliamentary Library, Parliament of Australia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Victorian Planning Authority. (2017). Metropolitan Open Space Network: Provision and Distribution, Melbourne.

    Google Scholar 

  • Whiteford, P. (2019). Future Budgets Are Going to Have to Spend More on Welfare, Which Is Fine. It’s Spending on Us. The Conversation, March 7. Retrieved from https://theconversation.com/future-budgets-are-going-to-have-to-spend-more-on-welfare-which-is-fine-its-spending-on-us-111498

  • Wilkinson, R., & Pickett, K. (2009). The Spirit Level: Why Equality Is Better for Everyone. London: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Melbourne Sustainable Society Institute, School of Design, The University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia

    Janet Stanley

Authors
  1. Janet Stanley
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Janet Stanley .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Fenner School of Environment and Society and Institute for Integrated Research on Disaster Risk Science, Australian National University, Canberra, ACT, Australia

    Anna Lukasiewicz

  2. Urban Design and Town Planning and Sustainability Research Centre, University of the Sunshine Coast, Maroochydore, QLD, Australia

    Claudia Baldwin

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2020 The Author(s)

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Stanley, J. (2020). How a Failure in Social Justice Is Leading to Higher Risks of Bushfire Events. In: Lukasiewicz, A., Baldwin, C. (eds) Natural Hazards and Disaster Justice. Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0466-2_11

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-0466-2_11

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-15-0465-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-15-0466-2

  • eBook Packages: Social SciencesSocial Sciences (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation