Displacement, gender, and the challenges of parenting after Hurricane Katrina (original) (raw)
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The authors explored individual and family adjustment processes among parents (n = 30) and children (n = 55) who were displaced to Colorado after Hurricane Katrina. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 23 families, this article offers an inductive model of displaced family adjustment. Four stages of family adjustment are presented in the model: (a) family unity stage, (b) prioritizing safety stage (parents) and missing home stage (children),(c) confronting reality stage (parents) and feeling settled stage (children), and (d) reaching resolution. This research illustrates that parental and child adjustment trajectories are dynamic and may vary over time, thus underscoring the importance of considering the perspectives of both adults and children in research and disaster policy interventions.
2010
This research, which was conducted in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, draws on 50 in-depth interviews with displaced single mothers and disaster relief providers in Colorado. Government agencies and charitable organizations offered various resources and services to Katrina evacuees, including food, clothing, emergency shelter, temporary housing, transportation, employment assistance, temporary childcare, school enrollment assistance, and health care. This study illustrates that there was close alignment between resources provided by disaster response organizations and resources needed by displaced single mothers. Yet, despite the considerable overlap, the single mothers in this study experienced many recovery-related difficulties associated with accessing available resources. In particular, single mothers 1) were often unaware of available resources; 2) experienced a conjunction of many different, pressing needs; 3) suffered a loss of their informal social safety net; 4) encount...
Journal of Family Issues, 2011
In the present study, the authors examined the role of child-related stressors in the psychological adjustment of lower-income, primarily unmarried and African American, mothers ( N = 386). All participants lived in areas affected by Hurricane Katrina, and about a third were also exposed to Hurricane Rita (30.3%, n = 117). Lacking knowledge of a child’s safety during the hurricanes was a significant predictor of heightened postdisaster psychological distress and posttraumatic stress, even after controlling for demographic variables, predisaster psychological distress, evacuation timing, and bereavement. From interviews with a subset of the participants ( n = 57), we found that mothers consistently put their own needs behind those of their children. The authors recommend policies that promptly reunite mothers with missing children and support lower-income mothers in caring for their children during natural disasters and the aftermath.
Disaster Hits Home: A Model of Displaced Family Adjustment After Hurricane Katrina
Journal of Family Issues, 2011
The authors explored individual and family adjustment processes among parents (n = 30) and children (n = 55) who were displaced to Colorado after Hurricane Katrina. Drawing on in-depth interviews with 23 families, this article offers an inductive model of displaced family adjustment. Four stages of family adjustment are presented in the model: (a) family unity stage, (b) prioritizing safety stage (parents) and missing home stage (children), (c) confronting reality stage (parents) and feeling settled stage (children), and (d) reaching resolution. This research illustrates that parental and child adjustment trajectories are dynamic and may vary over time, thus underscoring the importance of considering the perspectives of both adults and children in research and disaster policy interventions.
An exploratory study of African American parent-child coping strategies post-Hurricane Katrina
Traumatology, 2010
Research on children's coping post hurricane is still in its infancy. A sociocultural perspective within a disaster-specific context provided the framework for this qualitative study. A systematic analysis using a theoretically derived coding system was conducted of the responses to open-ended questions about coping strategies post Hurricane Katrina of African American children (N = 42; ages 7 to 12) and their parents (N =38). Results indicated that both children and parents reported active coping strategies most frequently followed by adaptive coping strategies and avoidance. The subtypes of coping responses reported most frequently included emotionally processing with family and kinship members, distraction (play and work), seeking meaning and understanding (religious or spiritual guidance) and seeking social support and coping assistance. Implications for developing strengths-based, culturally relevant and developmentally specific post-disaster interventions for African American children and their parents are discussed, and the need for additional research on relational coping processes post-disaster. Keywords disasters, coping, children, parents, African American, hurricanes This study explores the coping efforts of children and their parents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Hurricane Katrina, one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States, made landfall in the Gulf Coast area on August 29, 2005. The widespread destruction caused by the storm resulted in massive property damage, loss of life, displacement, loss of jobs, and a weakened infrastructure. Specific types of disasters, such as hurricanes, may result in unique stressors (e.g., damaged or washed-away home, loss of employment, displacement, and relocation), daily hassles (e.g., increased transportation time, additional responsibilities), and the occurrence of major life events (such as death of a loved one, illness, or hospitalization; La Greca, Silverman, Vernberg, & Prinstein, 1996). These unique stressors and challenges postdisaster may result in specific ways of coping.
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2010
The purpose of this study was to document changes in mental and physical health among 392 lowincome parents exposed to Hurricane Katrina and to explore how hurricane-related stressors and loss relate to post-Katrina well being. The prevalence of probable serious mental illness doubled, and nearly half of the respondents exhibited probable PTSD. Higher levels of hurricane-related loss and stressors were generally associated with worse health outcomes, controlling for baseline socio-demographic and health measures. Higher baseline resources predicted fewer hurricaneassociated stressors, but the consequences of stressors and loss were similar regardless of baseline resources. Adverse health consequences of Hurricane Katrina persisted for a year or more, and were most severe for those experiencing the most stressors and loss. Long-term health and mental health services are needed for low-income disaster survivors, especially those who experience disaster-related stressors and loss.
Children's adjustment following Hurricane Katrina: The role of primary caregivers
American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 2013
Hurricane Katrina severely disrupted the lives of many children and families in the central Gulf Coast of the United States. Face-to-face interviews with child-caregiver dyads were conducted at approximately 1 year posthurricane (T1) and 6-10 months later (T2). The contribution of several factors-caregiver's self-reported symptomatology and coping advice and child perceptions of caregiver distress, unavailability, warmth, and caregiverchild conflict-to child-reported posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) and depressive symptoms was examined. Findings provide partial support for the importance of the caregiving context to children's adjustment. Specifically, higher levels of caregiver-child conflict at T1 were associated with more PTSS at T2, controlling for baseline symptoms. In contrast, higher levels of caregiver education were negatively related to child PTSS at T2. After adjusting for objective hurricane exposure and symptoms at T1, none of the caregiving variables was related to child-reported depressive symptoms at T2. The implications of these findings for efforts to promote children's adjustment after disaster are discussed.
Surviving catastrophe: A study of children in Hurricane Katrina
2006
Abstract In this research, we examined children's experiences in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in an effort to contribute to the disaster literature on this important and seriously understudied topic. Specifically, we explored the following research questions:(1) What were the children's experiences in the disaster?;(2) What are others doing for the children to lessen their vulnerability?; and () What are children doing for themselves and others to reduce disaster impacts?