Hope Floats: African American Women's Survival Experiences after Katrina

Abstract

This article describes how 15 African American women 18 to 55 years of age coped with traumatic life events during and in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. The study's main question is how did African American women cope with traumatic events during and following Hurricane Katrina? Second, we explore how the intersection of race, gender, and social class influenced their experiences. An exploratory design of primary and secondary data using grounded theory methods generates a mid-level theory about resilience, spirituality and coping among Black women in the aftermath of the storm.

KEYWORDS:

• Black women
• resilience
• spirituality
• hurricane Katrina

Notes

The Hurricane Katrina Research Collaborative was funded by the National Science Foundation. Current publication's research was funded by The Polly Dickson Faculty Research Award.