Children Displaced by Hurricane Katrina: A Focus Group Study

Abstract

Focus groups were conducted with 23 children and adolescents, aged 9 to 17 years, who relocated from Louisiana to Texas following Hurricane Katrina to explore their disaster, evacuation, and resettlement experiences. The resilience described by some was remarkable and, despite evidence of cultural disparity and stigma, many identified positive aspects of the new communities in which they resided. Attempts to help displaced children must begin with a full understanding of the individual experiences and reactions of those being served rather than being based on assumptions about what may have occurred.

This project was supported in part by the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network. We appreciate the assistance of the Denton and Dallas chapters of the Texas Federation of Families for Children's Mental Health and the Mental Health Association of Greater Dallas Katrina Mental Health Services Task Force in recruiting the sample and for insight into the needs of relocated disaster survivors. We acknowledge Pushpa Narayanan, Mitch Hargis, Parul Ajmani, and J. Hayden Younger, for their assistance in data collection and analysis.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Betty Pfefferbaum

Betty Pfefferbaum, M.D., J.D., is a board-certified general and child psychiatrist and Professor and Chairman in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine where she holds the Paul and Ruth Jonas Chair. Dr. Pfefferbaum is the Director of the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network and Head of the Child Research Section of the National Center for Disaster Mental Health Research.

J. Brian Houston

J. Brian Houston, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and Program Director of the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Karen Fraser Wyche

Karen Fraser Wyche, M.S.W., Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and Project Director of the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Richard L. Van Horn

Richard L. Van Horn, Ph.D., is President Emeritus, Regent's Professor Emeritus of Management Information Systems, and Clarence E. Page Professor Emeritus of Aviation and Aerospace Studies at the University of Oklahoma. He is also Volunteer Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine.

Gilbert Reyes

Gilbert Reyes, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and Associate Dean in the School of Psychology at Fielding Graduate University and Project Director of the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Haekyung Jeon-Slaughter

Haekyung Jeon-Slaughter, Ph.D., is Volunteer Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Oklahoma College of Medicine and Senior Research Statistician for the Terrorism and Disaster Center of the National Child Traumatic Stress Network.

Carol S. North

Carol S. North, M.D., M.P.E., is a board-certified psychiatrist and psychiatric epidemiologist and the Nancy and Ray L. Hunt Chair in Crisis Psychiatry and Professor of Psychiatry and Surgery/Division of Emergency Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and Director, Program in Trauma and Disaster at the VA North Texas Health Care System at the Dallas VA Medical Center.