Cuestionamiento desde la perspectiva humanista a la perspectiva clásica

For those that do not own an alarm, non ownership is not spread evenly across the population. Although legal requirements do play an

important role in smoke alarm ownership rates, residential characteristics and occupant demographics also affect the ownership rates of smoke detectors.

9.11.1 Residential characteristics

Repeatedly research studies show that rented dwellings are less likely to have an installed smoke detector compared to owned dwellings. For instance, in the U.S. Miller, Reisinger, Blatter and Wucher, (1982) found a higher prevalence of properly installed and operational detectors in owned homes (55%) compared to rented units and houses (18%). The overall low

percentage of alarm ownership in this study may be because the study was carried out not long after smoke alarm laws were implemented. In addition, the sample of participants in this study was recruited from pediatric clinics in which half the sample was offered the option of purchasing an alarm during their clinic visit.

Not long after the above study the U.S Consumer Product Safety Commission (1985) found a similar result. Although ownership rates were still estimated to be low at an overall 62% (which is possibly a reflection of the year), the authors also found that home owners (66%) were more likely than renters (59%) to have an alarm installed.

In Australia more recent results show the same pattern. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (1999) found that in Victoria as a whole, rented dwellings were less likely to have smoke alarms installed. In October 1998, 80% of rented dwellings had smoke detectors, compared to 86% of dwellings owned or being purchased by the occupiers. Similarly, in 2003 the Office of Economic

and Statistical Research conducted a surveyof 3300 respondents within

various regions across Queensland. The office found that publicly rented households (87.5%) and households owned or being purchased by the occupant (82%) were more likely to have smoke alarms or smoke detectors installed than privately rented households (72.6%).

Research also tends to show that the older the dwelling the less likely it is to have an installed smoke detector. In an early study by the Center of Disease Control (1985), the analysis of residential and demographic

characteristics of survey respondents also revealed a number of interesting factors associated with detector ownership. Residential findings uncovered that in dwellings less than ten years old, 89.9% had smoke detectors

Harvey, Sacks, Ryan and Bender (1998) found thatof the residential characteristics analyzed, results showed that 97% of respondents living in homes built in 1980 or later reported that their homes had installed smoke alarms, compared to 90% of homes built before 1950. In addition, households in rural areas were less likely to have installed smoke alarms than urban households (86% vs. 93%, P<0.001).

In November 2003 the office of Economic and Statistical Research found that Queensland homes built after 1997 were more likely to have an operational smoke alarm or detector (82.4%) than those built before 1997 (70.2%).

From these studies it appears that renters are either less likely to purchase a smoke alarm as they do not own the home (and therefore do not wish to spend money on improvements), or the owners of rented dwellings are not installing working alarms (as they should be). It should be kept in mind however, that NSW and Queensland had not yet implemented laws requiring existing dwellings to be equipped with an alarm; which might have lead landlords to be less likely to install at the time of the study. This might also explain why older homes in Queensland were more likely to be without alarms in 2003 (laws were not implemented until 2007). Another factor linked to renting and age of dwellings is the occupant’s socio-economic status;

poorer people may not own their own homes and might be more likely to live in older structures. For example the British Crime Survey (2001/02) found that smoke alarm in households in the following property type were less likely to have a working alarm: dwellings in fair (67%) or poor (63%) physical condition and privately rented accommodation (71%).

9.11.2 Occupant characteristics

Studies show that certain population sub-groups are less likely to own smoke alarms; namely households with lower incomes (McKnight,

Struttmann, and Mays, 1995) and less education (Harvey, Sacks, Ryan & Bender, 1998; Sharp & Carter, 1992).

Harvey, Sacks, Ryan and Bender (1998) found level of education and household income related to alarm ownership. In dwellings in which no adults had graduated from high school 78% owned smoke detectors, in comparison to dwellings in which at least one occupant held a graduate degree 94% owned smoke detectors. In addition, the authors found that households which reported an income below the poverty line were less likely to own a detector that those at or above the poverty level (82% vs. 93%, P<0.001). Similarly, Shaw, McCormick, Kustra, Ruddy, and Casey, (1988) found that those who owned smoke detectors were more educated, had higher incomes, were most likely to own larger homes, and less likely to live in public housing.

In contrast to the association of low income and decreased smoke alarm ownership, occupant age has generally been shown to be not significantly associated with smoke alarm ownership (Center of Disease Control, 1986; McKnight, Struttmann & Mays, 1995). However, a survey conducted in NSW Australia in 2002 showed that a significantly greater proportion of people aged 35 to 44 years (77.1%) reported owning an installed detector compared with the overall state population (Center for Epidemiology & Research, 2005).