A Systematic Review of Forensic Approaches to Disasters: Gaps and Challenges

Abstract

Disaster forensic approaches aim to identify the causes of disasters to support disaster risk management. However, few studies have conducted a systematic literature review of scientific articles that labeled themselves as a forensic approach to disasters. This article provides a qualitative analysis of these forensic studies, focusing on five main issues: (1) the methodologies applied; (2) the forensic approaches used in the disaster risk management phases; (3) the hazards addressed; (4) if the methodologies involve social participation, and using what types of participation; and (5) if there are references to urban planning in the scientific studies analyzed. Our results showed a predominance of the Forensic Investigations of Disasters (FORIN) and Post-Event Review Capability (PERC) methodologies used in isolation or combination. There is a need for methodologies that engage people in participatory FORIN, fostering the co-production of knowledge and action research approaches.