Disasters and Long‐term Recovery Policy: A Focus on Housing and Families

Abstract

Long-term recovery is a policy issue which is receiving increased attention in the disaster research literature. Here the problems of housing snd family recovery are considered. While present programs exist to address housing and family recovery, the prevailing emphasis upon rapid return to the status quoante tends to obscure the problems of victim mental health, equitable d is tribution of recovery funds, and social-psychological dimension of housing placement. Copyright 1985 by The Policy Studies Organization.

A tale of three cities: Crime and displacement after Hurricane Katrina

“…Findings also suggested the destructive effects of disasters were particularly problematic in areas already suffering from weak social bonds, such as economic and socially disadvantaged neighborhoods (Genevie et al, 1987;Siegel et al, 1999). Thus, consistent with the suggestions of a long line of researchers (Barton, 1969;Bolin, 1985;Miller, 2007;Quarantelli & Dynes, 1977), pre-disaster conditions explained much of the post-disaster responses. The duration of destructive elements (temporary or long-term) is dependent on the nature of the disaster, the capacity of local infrastructure to provide assistance, and the quality of the social support systems on which victims must rely.…”

“…Damage in some situations has been so extensive that it resulted in "collective stress" whereby the demand placed on a system exceeded its response capacity (Barton, 1969). Within this milieu, a variety of individual, community, and victim characteristics (some preexisting, others emerging in the aftermath of an incident) influenced the collective responses to disasters (Barton, 1969;Bolin, 1985;Drabek, 1986;Dynes & Quarantelli, 1980;Quarantelli & Dynes, 1977). Quarantelli and Dynes (1977), for example, explained that the response of groups to disasters is understood very much in the context of preevent "readiness.…”

Physical and Mental Health Consequences of Katrina on Vietnamese Immigrants in New Orleans: A Pre- and Post-Disaster Assessment

“…Between T 1 and T 2 , physical and mental health status increased (improved) at a statistically significant level for six of the eight subscales and for the mental health component summary score. 2 Even more remarkably, the improvements between T 1 and T 2 brought most of these measures to a level that is statistically indistinguishable from their original levels pre-Katrina; the only exceptions were RP and GH, which remained depressed at statistically significant levels compared with their pre-Katrina values.…”

“…[40] for specific results regarding these comparisons. 2 In fact, all the scores indicated improvement, but given the small sample size, the improvement did not reach statistical significance for two subscales and the physical summary scale. business jobs before Katrina (P = 0.01), and those who reported severe Katrina-related property damage (P = 0.001) all suffered significant post-Katrina mental health declines relative to the reference categories.…”

“…A major theme within the disaster-research literature is that some populations are much more affected than others [2][3][4][5][6][7]. Despite this consensus, a weakness of this literature is its almost exclusive focus on the welfare of mainstream populations, with an occasional special focus on the poor.…”