Adapting to Danger

Abstract

The research was initiated to explore the effects of occupational danger upon an occupation's participants. From work relating to the disaster subculture concept, studies of occupational groups, and research regarding subcultures, it was hypothesized that participants in dangerous occupations adapt to the threats of their work environment by creating and sustaining a protective social mechanism which was named an "occupational subculture of danger." Using a grounded theory approach the article describes how social interaction in a threatening environment leads to the formation of a protective social structure which enables the miners to cope with their hazardous work conditions.