Making Meaning of the September 11 Attacks: Spanish- and Mandarin-Speaking Focus Groups

ABSTRACT

This article examines experiences and perceptions related to the September 11, 2001, attacks among members of two immigrant groups (Spanish-speaking and Mandarin-speaking) in New York City. Focus groups were conducted 1–2 years after the attacks. Qualitative analysis was conducted using ATLAS.ti. Three major themes emerged: (a) Immediate Experience of the Attacks, (b) Evolving Psychological Adjustment, and (c) Long-Term Issues of Public Concern. The groups’ discussions diverged with temporal progression across these themes, reflecting increasing congruence with broad conceptualizations of their respective cultures. The findings suggest that, over time, culture increasingly influenced the meaning these people made of the disaster.

KEYWORDS:

• 9/11 attacks
• culture
• disaster mental health
• disaster psychiatry
• focus group study
• Mandarin-speaking
• meaning
• Spanish-speaking

Acknowledgments

Special thanks go to Helena Sung, MPH for her Mandarin translation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Anne E. Johnson

Anne E. Johnson, MD, MA completed psychiatry residency at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas and will soon begin geriatric psychiatry fellowship at the same institution. In addition to geriatric psychiatry, her areas of focus include transcultural psychiatry, medical education, and the humanities in psychiatry.

Carol S. North

Carol S. North, MD, MPE serves as Medical Director of the Altshuler Center for Education & Research at Metrocare Services in Dallas, Texas. She holds The Nancy and Ray L. Hunt Chair in Crisis Psychiatry and is Professor of Psychiatry at The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas. Her research interests include psychiatric effects of disasters, terrorism, and other trauma, psychiatric epidemiology, community psychiatry, and psychiatric aspects of medical illnesses.

David E. Pollio

David E. Pollio, PhD is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Social Work at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His areas of focus include mental health responses to disaster; and homelessness, addiction and mental health services.