Displaced single mothers in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina: resource needs and resource acquisition (original) (raw)
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Displacement, gender, and the challenges of parenting after Hurricane Katrina
2008
Abstract: In emergency situations and in the aftermath of disaster, parents are essential in caring for children. Yet very little has been written explicitly about the experiences of mothers and fathers—either as individuals or partners—in postdisaster contexts. With the understanding that parenting is a gendered endeavor that occurs in a society stratified by race and class, this article focuses on the responses of mothers and fathers to Hurricane Katrina.
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.
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.
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.
Get to the Bricks: The Experiences of Black Women from New Orleans Public Housing After Hurricane Katrina presents the results of qualitative research conducted with 184 low-income black women who lived in public housing prior to Hurricane Katrina and the flooding of New Orleans, and who were displaced by the hurricane and the closure and demolition of their housing. This report attempts to answer a series of interconnected questions regarding the challenges that women in public housing faced when trying to evacuate, while displaced, and when trying to return or settle in new communities. The study explores the reasoning behind their choices to either return to New Orleans or remain displaced and the resources that were or were not available to these women as they attempted to make the best decisions for themselves and their families after such an enormous disaster. This report recommends a more holistic approach to disaster relief efforts in the United States, including coordinated services and policies that consider the needs of the most vulnerable portions of the population. opportunity, and increasing economic security for women and families.
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.
Health problems among low-income parents in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina
Health Psychology, 2014
Objective-Although the mental health consequences of disasters have been well documented, relatively less is known about their effects on survivors' physical health. Disaster studies have also generally lacked predisaster data, limiting researchers' ability to determine whether postdisaster physical health problems were influenced by disaster exposure, or whether they would have emerged even if the disaster had not occurred. The current study aimed to fill this gap. Method-Participants were low-income, primarily non-Hispanic Black mothers (N = 334) who survived Hurricane Katrina and completed 4 survey assessments, 2 predisaster and 2 postdisaster. In each assessment, participants reported on whether they had experienced 3 common health problems (frequent headaches or migraines, back problems, and digestive problems) and completed 2 mental health measure (the K6 scale, the Perceived Stress Scale). Results-The descriptive results suggested that the hurricane led to at least short-term increases in the 3 health outcomes. Fixed effects modeling was conducted to explore how changes in various predictor variables related to changes in each health condition over the study. Bereavement and increases in psychological distress were significant predictors of increases in health problems. Conclusions-Based on these results, further research that explores the processes through which disasters lead to both physical and mental health problems, postdisaster screenings for common health conditions and psychological distress, and interventions that boost survivors' stress management skills are suggested.
Roadblocks to Housing after Disaster: Homeless Veterans’ Experiences after Hurricane Sandy
Natural Hazards Review, 2019
Individuals who are homeless are disproportionately likely to experience negative outcomes during disasters. Setbacks to their efforts to access needed services, such as transitional housing and case management to help them find stable permanent housing, are a common occurrence. This article explores the experiences of nine US military veterans who were homeless during Hurricane Sandy in 2012 and their efforts to find permanent housing in the 3 years following the storm. It focuses on the sources of support that these veterans turned to during and after Sandy. Housing status before the storm played a significant role in shaping their experiences and outcomes. Both veterans living in US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) transitional housing transitioned successfully into permanent housing. One of the veterans living in the community also successfully transitioned into permanent housing with the help of a strong social support network of family, VA case managers, and VA benefits. The six remaining veterans faced significant challenges and did not successfully transition into permanent stable housing by 2015. These findings suggest the importance of both institutional and informal social support for mitigating the effects of disasters on homeless veterans.
Social Service Agencies, Natural Disasters, and Vulnerable Populations
Since Hurricane Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast nearly ten years ago an abundance of literature has been published analyzing the disaster. Study after study shows the increased risk for marginalized communities to be impacted by disasters due to a series of disadvantages associated with race, class, gender, and age, as well as geographic/spatial location, access to social support, networking systems, and a variety of other factors affecting vulnerability. There has also been analysis of programs providing aid provided after the storm. The proposed project seeks to contribute to the existing literature by examining the ways in which vulnerable populations are defined, identified, and assisted prior to and during disasters. This will be done by asking what emergency preparedness programs existed before Hurricane Katrina, what programs were created in response, and how do these programs specifically address the needs of vulnerable populations? In so doing, I propose to provide a link between acknowledging the risk of disadvantaged populations, and utilizing the services already at their disposal as preventative measures.
Social Science & Medicine, 2012
Hurricane Katrina, which struck the Gulf Coast of the United States in August 2005, exposed area residents to trauma and extensive property loss. However, little is known about the long-run effects of the hurricane on the mental health of those who were exposed. This study documents long-run changes in mental health among a particularly vulnerable groupdlow income mothersdfrom before to after the hurricane, and identifies factors that are associated with different recovery trajectories. Longitudinal surveys of 532 low-income mothers from New Orleans were conducted approximately one year before, 7 e19 months after, and 43e54 months after Hurricane Katrina. The surveys collected information on mental health, social support, earnings and hurricane experiences. We document changes in posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), as measured by the Impact of Event Scale-Revised, and symptoms of psychological distress (PD), as measured by the K6 scale. We find that although PTSS has declined over time after the hurricane, it remained high 43e54 months later. PD also declined, but did not return to pre-hurricane levels. At both time periods, psychological distress before the hurricane, hurricane-related home damage, and exposure to traumatic events were associated with PTSS that co-occurred with PD. Hurricane-related home damage and traumatic events were associated with PTSS without PD. Home damage was an especially important predictor of chronic PTSS, with and without PD. Most hurricane stressors did not have strong associations with PD alone over the short or long run. Over the long run, higher earnings were protective against PD, and greater social support was protective against PTSS. These results indicate that mental health problems, particularly PTSS alone or in co-occurrence with PD, among Hurricane Katrina survivors remain a concern, especially for those who experienced hurricane-related trauma and had poor mental health or low socioeconomic status before the hurricane.