Boston sport organizations and community disaster recovery

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the role played by sport organizations in the community recovery efforts in Boston following the 2013 marathon bombings.

Design/methodology/approach

Interview questions were created following initial site visits and content analysis of 40 media reports specifically dealing with social recovery efforts following the attacks. Six semi-structured interviews with professional team and organizational leaders were completed and analyzed to gain insight into the leader’s perspectives of the relief process. Finally, the media reports and interviews were reviewed and specific recovery efforts were classified into tangible, emotional, or informational support categories.

Findings

The findings of this case study are specific to the disaster relief efforts in Boston, Massachusetts following the 2013 marathon bombings and therefore cannot be generalized beyond this scope. This paper provided focussed analysis of the reactions of several Boston area sport organizations during the immediate disaster recovery period. The long-term impacts of these efforts require further investigation.

Practical implications

The examination of the viewpoints of the sport organization leaders following the disaster may provide insight for other sport organization leaders and civic officials as they prepare for future challenges.

Originality/value

This paper provides a detailed examination of several sport organizations responses following the community disaster in Boston. It also provides unique perspectives from the sport organization leaders.

Citation

Finch, B. (2016), "Boston sport organizations and community disaster recovery", Disaster Prevention and Management, Vol. 25 No. 1, pp. 91-103. https://doi.org/10.1108/DPM-08-2015-0183