Risk and the production of symbolic safety: A study of weapons incineration in Anniston, Alabama

Abstract

Scope and Method of Study: This study qualitatively examined the perceptions and reactions to risk information and materials concerning a chemical weapons stockpile and incinerator in Anniston, Alabama. This information was gathered through in-depth interviews of local people, and the data were analyzed through a modified grounded theory method. The scope of this study is phenomenological in nature, and it does not generalize to a large population.

Findings and Conclusions: This study concludes that the efforts of organizations connected to the incinerator and stockpile were both successful and unsuccessful. Moreover, other factors contributed to how respondents made sense of the risk information and materials they consumed. Primarily, economics play a large role in the rationalization of risk; additionally, many participants feel a sense of exceptional individualism--an unrealistic expectation that they may escape danger, unlike other people in the area. Last, risk materials and information are not limited to their overt uses. The act of consuming these things works to confirm and reify the existing social order.