{"schema":"https://ver.cy/schemas/card/1.0.0","id":"vr.tr.vulnerability","code":"thing-q1178984","url":"https://ver.cy/models/thing/q1178984/","name":"vulnerability","alternateNames":["cognitive vulnerability","climate change vulnerability","ecological vulnerability","Vulnerability to violence","financial vulnerability","situational vulnerability","addiction vulnerability","economic vulnerability","loophole","Financial fragility","social vulnerability","structural vulnerability"],"kind":"thing","status":"published","version":"0.2.0-wave.3","language":"en","classifiers":{"family":"Thing Registry","category":"Cross-cutting context","entryKind":"thing","plane":"XCT","domain":["XCT.STA"],"industry":[],"navPath":"","tags":[],"facets":{}},"whatItIs":"The state of being exposed to the possibility of harm and lacking the capacity to anticipate, cope with, resist or recover from it, applied to people, groups, systems and ecosystems in fields such as disaster risk, where vulnerability combines with hazard and exposure, climate change vulnerability, ecological vulnerability, financial vulnerability of households and firms, cognitive vulnerability in psychology, situational vulnerability, and vulnerability to violence; the concept underpins protection frameworks, and in computing it names a security weakness, a separate sense.","purpose":"Let an agent explain vulnerability as a concept across fields, relay frameworks and assessment methods with attribution, describe how it informs policy and protection, and distinguish social, ecological, financial and psychological vulnerability from software vulnerabilities.","scope":{"in":[],"out":[],"boundaries":[]},"distinguishingFeatures":["Susceptibility plus limited coping","Multidimensional","Basis of protection frameworks","Contested normative uses"],"structure":{"bundles":[{"id":"understand","name":"Understand","description":"What vulnerability is.","layers":[{"id":"definition","name":"Definition","description":"Definition and dimensions.","findings":[{"id":"definition-finding","name":"Definition","description":"Definition.","questions":[{"text":"What is vulnerability, and how does it relate to hazard, exposure, risk and resilience?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Is the question about vulnerability of people or systems, or about a software vulnerability?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"fields","name":"Fields","description":"Vulnerability by field.","findings":[{"id":"fields-finding","name":"Fields","description":"Fields.","questions":[{"text":"How do disaster risk, climate, ecology, finance and psychology define vulnerability?","kind":"definition"},{"text":"Which entry fits the specific field?","kind":"action"}]}]}]},{"id":"assess","name":"Assess","description":"Assessment.","layers":[{"id":"frameworks","name":"Frameworks","description":"Frameworks.","findings":[{"id":"frameworks-finding","name":"Frameworks","description":"Frameworks.","questions":[{"text":"What frameworks such as Sendai and IPCC use to assess vulnerability?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which references are standard?","kind":"provenance"}]}]},{"id":"indicators","name":"Indicators","description":"Indicators and indices.","findings":[{"id":"indicators-finding","name":"Indicators","description":"Indicators.","questions":[{"text":"How are vulnerability indices built, and what are their limits, as studies discuss?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which sources are cited?","kind":"provenance"}]}]}]},{"id":"protect","name":"Protect","description":"Protection and policy.","layers":[{"id":"policy","name":"Policy","description":"Policy uses.","findings":[{"id":"policy-finding","name":"Policy","description":"Policy.","questions":[{"text":"How do policies target vulnerable groups in disasters, finance, care and law?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation respectful of the groups described?","kind":"boundary"}]}]},{"id":"critique","name":"Critique","description":"Critiques of the concept.","findings":[{"id":"critique-finding","name":"Critique","description":"Critique.","questions":[{"text":"What critiques of vulnerability labelling exist, with positions attributed?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Is the presentation neutral?","kind":"boundary"}]}]}]},{"id":"context","name":"Context","description":"Psychology and ethics.","layers":[{"id":"psychology","name":"Psychology","description":"Cognitive vulnerability.","findings":[{"id":"psychology-finding","name":"Psychology","description":"Psychology.","questions":[{"text":"What is cognitive vulnerability in models of depression and anxiety, as research describes?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits cognitive vulnerability?","kind":"action"}]}]},{"id":"ethics","name":"Ethics","description":"Ethics.","findings":[{"id":"ethics-finding","name":"Ethics","description":"Ethics.","questions":[{"text":"How do ethics and philosophy treat vulnerability as a human condition?","kind":"provenance"},{"text":"Which entry fits ethics of vulnerability?","kind":"action"}]}]}]}]},"agentConduct":{"may":["Assess and report the vulnerability of a system, place or group using a stated framework.","Flag people who may be vulnerable so that a human can offer support."],"mustNot":["Exploit a person's vulnerability, such as grief, illness or debt, for sales, persuasion or gain.","Label a person as vulnerable in records without basis or their knowledge where they have a right to it.","Publish vulnerability maps of communities that could be used to target them.","Treat vulnerability as a fixed trait of a group rather than a condition."],"requiresHuman":["Deciding that a person is vulnerable in a way that limits their choices or triggers intervention."]},"ethics":{"considerations":["Vulnerable people need protection, but labelling them can also take away their autonomy.","Knowledge of vulnerability can be used to protect or to exploit."],"affectedParties":["People in vulnerable situations","Carers and support workers","Communities at risk"]},"owners":{"steward":"Nobody owns the concept; safeguarding bodies and risk authorities apply it in their fields.","roles":[],"masterSystems":[]},"relations":[{"target":"Q124809532","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q20899861","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q3505845","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"Q86923152","type":"parent","note":"registry parent class"},{"target":"state","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"internal risk","type":"related","note":"in registry terms"},{"target":"psychosocial hazard","type":"related","note":"in registry terms, loosely"},{"target":"hazard","type":"related","note":"and exposure to produce risk"}],"interaction":{"identity":{"applicability":"required","items":["Vercy registry: vr.tr.vulnerability","Wikidata: Q1178984 (https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1178984)"]},"properties":{"applicability":"not-applicable","items":[]},"recognition":{"applicability":"optional","items":["Susceptibility to harm and limited capacity to cope","Disaster, climate, ecological, financial, cognitive and situational vulnerability","Hazard is the source of harm; exposure is being in its path; a software vulnerability is a code weakness","Not a visible object; a condition assessed by indicators."]},"capabilities":{"applicability":"required","items":["explain the concept across fields","relay frameworks and assessment","describe policy uses","distinguish from software vulnerability"]},"hazards":{"applicability":"required","items":["Labelling groups as vulnerable without their voice","Confusing vulnerability with hazard or exposure","Confusing with software vulnerabilities","Static assessments"]},"interfaces":{"applicability":"required","items":["Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction","IPCC vulnerability frameworks","Consumer protection rules on vulnerable customers","Research ethics rules on vulnerable participants"]},"context":{"applicability":"required","items":["Not applicable; a state of susceptibility to harm.","social vulnerability in disaster risk","climate change vulnerability","ecological vulnerability","financial vulnerability","cognitive vulnerability to depression and anxiety","situational vulnerability in law and care","vulnerability to violence","vulnerable groups in ethics and law"]}},"sources":[{"title":"Wikidata item Q1178984: vulnerability","url":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q1178984","note":"identity and sense of the item"},{"title":"Wikipedia: Vulnerability","url":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vulnerability","note":"general description of the item"}],"openQuestions":["Should social vulnerability and climate vulnerability be separate entries?","How should frameworks be linked?","The registry entry has merged aliases spanning many fields; should they be split off?"],"resources":{"spec":"/models/things/publications/thing-q1178984/spec.json"},"provenance":{"origin":"thing registry research (pass 2)","builtFrom":["models/things/publications/thing-q1178984/spec.json"],"providers":["Claude"],"researchStatus":"unreviewed","generatedAt":"2026-09-13T01:57:21Z","builder":"tools/build_cards.py@1.0.0"},"completeness":{"sections":{"classifiers":"filled","whatItIs":"filled","purpose":"filled","distinguishingFeatures":"filled","structure":"filled","agentConduct":"filled","ethics":"filled","owners":"filled","relations":"filled","interaction.identity":"filled","interaction.properties":"not-applicable","interaction.recognition":"filled","interaction.capabilities":"filled","interaction.hazards":"filled","interaction.interfaces":"filled","interaction.context":"filled","sources":"filled"},"notes":{"_gate":"Published through the thing publication gate 1.0 on 2026-10-06T19:51:53+00:00: completeness 1.00; sense: Wikidata description; 2 live sources; review by codex: pass","interaction.properties":"Plane XCT: no invented physical properties."},"score":1.0}}