Disasters
April 2015 Volume 39, Issue 2 Pages 185–405
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/disa.2015.39.issue-2/issuetoc

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Papers
Reason, emotion, compassion: can altruism survive professionalisation in the humanitarian sector?
Gilles Carbonnier
Article first published online: 28 NOV 2014
DOI: 10.1111/disa.12096
Abstract
The humanitarian sector has grown enormously over the past two decades. Some fear that professionalisation comes at the expense of altruistic volunteering. This may be a valid concern if altruism is the product of organisational culture and individual experiences rather than an innate trait. This paper examines advances in evolutionary biology and neurology that provide evidence in support of both the nature and nurture arguments, echoing earlier insights from social sciences. It then questions to what extent humanitarian principles build on altruistic impulses or instead seek to constrain them, and reviews recruitment profiles of selected humanitarian organisations and applicants’ letters accordingly. This initial investigation warrants further research to identify how altruism as a personal trait and an organisational principle has influenced diverse humanitarian actors and traditions. This paper outlines how training curricula and organisational reward systems can build on—rather than stifle—natural altruism to nurture critical, reflexive practitioners.

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Papers
The promise of acceptance as an NGO security management approach
Larissa Fast1, Faith Freeman2, Michael O’Neill3 and Elizabeth Rowley4
Article first published online: 28 NOV 2014
DOI: 10.1111/disa.12097
Abstract
This paper explores three questions related to acceptance as a security management approach. Acceptance draws upon relationships with community members, authorities, belligerents and other stakeholders to provide consent for the presence and activities of a non-governmental organisation (NGO), thereby reducing threats from these actors. Little is documented about how NGOs gain and maintain acceptance, how they assess and monitor the presence and degree of acceptance, or how they determine whether acceptance is effective in a particular context. Based on field research conducted in April 2011 in Kenya, South Sudan and Uganda, we address each of these three issues and argue that acceptance must be actively sought as both a programme and a security management strategy. In the paper we delineate elements common to all three contexts as well as missed opportunities, which identify areas that NGOs can and should address as part of an acceptance approach.