When disasters arise, they disrupt the normal functioning of a community. In the wake of such adverse events, some people are more vulnerable than others. For instance, as stated by the Administration for Community Living (2015), the elderly groups have always been considered high-risk populations during natural disasters. Cherry et al. (2010) assert that the elderly people are “less likely to receive warning, acknowledge dangerous situations, evacuate, and survive, compared to their younger counterparts” (p.2). This group is also more likely to experience longer-term effects of disasters, post-disaster disruption than the other generations.
Background Information
Hurricane Katrina made landfall at Gulf Coast as a Category 3 storm on August 29, 2005, causing havoc at Mississippi and Louisiana's coasts. Although New Orleans had been considered safe, a levee would break later in that morning, letting floodwater surge into the low-lying city. The waters led to the destruction of other levees (National Geographic, 2019). Within 24 hours, the city was 80% covered by water. According to Reid (2019), over 1,800 people died, over 400,000 people were displaced, and properties worth $161 billion were damaged. This made the storm rank as the costliest natural disaster ever in the US. Moreover, the federal government’s response to the disaster was further subjected to controversies, making the disaster termed a 'natural disaster that turned man-made' by former President Barack Obama.
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The elderly people were more affected by Hurricane Katrina compared to other populations. During the storm, the elderly, due to their chronological age and other underlying health conditions, faced difficulties evacuating. Such conditions made it impossible for them to risk leaving their homes. Likewise, there was no sufficient supportive evacuation for the elderly during the crisis. Further, given that elderly people are more prone to diseases, such as diabetes, cardiovascular conditions, kidney diseases, etc., they received insufficient care during the disaster and the months that followed (Quast et al., 2019). This further complicated their lives as they could not return to their normal lives due to unsettled circumstances. Those who opted to return were faced with hardships as the city had been ruined, making them struggle for recovery.
Life Course Perspective Themes
Sociologists use the life-course perspective to explain how human lives are shaped by their experiences. According Hutchison (2019), life-course perspective is a multidisciplinary approach that “looks at how chronological age, common life transitions, and social change shape people’s lives from birth to death” (p.20). There are several themes used by sociologist to explain life course approach. These themes are as follows:
The interplay of Human Lives and Historical Time
This theme holds that people born in different periods experience “different social, political, and economic worlds” (Hutchison, 2019, p.5). Therefore, this theme calls for an understanding of human development in a historical context. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the elderly cohort faced numerous challenges. This cohort, due to its advanced age, was unable to evacuate and sought shelter either at their homes or at the Superdome, where conditions would later become intolerable.
Timing of Lives
Life Course scholars refer to age-specific events, and life transitions occurrences as the timing of lives (Hutchison, 2019). Therefore, scholars associate specific roles and behaviors with specific age groups. Five dimensions of age explain this theme: chronological, biological, psychological, social, and spiritual ages. Biological age indicates the biological development and physical health of an individual (Hutchison, 2019). Although difficult to measure, one may compare the physical condition, such as bone strength, with that of others. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the aged, due to their limited physical conditions, we're unable to move from their homes. Psychological age consists of behavioral and perceptual elements. The behavioral element explains how people use their capabilities and skills to adapt to changing environmental demands (Hutchison, 2019). The perceptual, on the other hand, explains how the elderly perceive themselves. During Hurricane Katrina, most of the elderly affected were unsettled from their places, never to return. Likewise, some of them perceived themselves as not capable of evacuating and preferred to stay back at their homes.
Linked or Interdependent Lives
Life Course scholars hold that humans are interdependent. The family is viewed as the primary source of social support (Hutchison, 2019). Likewise, links with the wider world also influence human interdependence. According to Stephens et al. (2009), some of those who opted to stay back in the wake of Hurricane Katrina cited interdependence and connection with others. In fact, even with limited resources due to the destruction caused by the storm, the survivors, including the elderly, relied on each other for survival.
Human Agency in Making Choices
Life-course theorists hold that an individual’s life course is shaped by their choices (Hutchison, 2019). People tend to make choices based on the notion of “possible selves”, which is the idea of what people want to be in the future. This either motivates or demotivates an individual from taking action. With uncertainties in their future, most of the elderly, especially those that lacked the mean to evacuate, decided to remain back in their homes. The decisions to either evacuate or remain both carried some risks. For instance, some of the elderly were in nursing homes, and evacuating them would have jeopardized care delivery (Hyer, 2019). Likewise, those that stayed back also posed challenges due to the destruction of infrastructure, leading to fifty deaths in the nursing homes.
Diversity in Life Course Trajectories
This theme holds that cohorts belong to different social groups, such as social class, gender, race, and ethnicity, etc. (Hutchison, 2019). There are benefits and drawbacks of getting associated with these social groups. For instance, African American elderly people were the most affected by Hurricane Katrina than other races (Doherty, 2015). The government’s response to the disaster was gravely based on racial lines, which subjected the minority blacks to the hurricane's full wrath. Likewise, based on the social class diversity, the blacks also had a higher poverty rate than other racial groups. This made it difficult for them to evacuate.
Developmental Risk and Protection
According to life course theorists, one life transition experience can either positively or negatively impact the course trajectory (Hutchison, 2019). Sociologists argue that social institutions and societal structures set mechanisms through which well-resourced individuals in the early stages of life continue to enjoy life advantages while those struggling will continue to struggle (Hutchison, 2019). This leads to societal inequalities, such as economic or health disparities, especially those in late life stages. These social inequalities accelerated the problems faced by the elderly in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The residents with cars were able to evacuate earlier, while those in abject poverty had to rely on government help for buses to transport them.
Theoretical Perspectives
Systems Perspective
This theoretical perspective looks at how the interactions between humans and their environments shape their behaviors (Hutchison, 2019). This perspective overlaps with the timing of lives theme. Therefore, the Hurricane Katrina disaster called for the elderly to adjust to the would-be new norms. These people were permanently displaced from places they used to call homes. Likewise, for most of the elderly with underlying health conditions, their health deteriorated further due to inadequate care.
Conflict Perspective
This theory holds that human behaviors are greatly shaped by the “conflict, dominance, and oppression in social life” (Hutchison, 2003, p.45). This theory overlaps with the developmental risk and protection theme. As discussed earlier, social institutions and societal structures influence how people benefit or struggle within the communities. Social inequalities within communities cause conflict, oppression, and dominance, which give some people privileges and oppress others. Therefore, these inequalities made it difficult for elderly people, especially those with low economic status, to evacuate.
Implications for Engagement, Assessment, and Intervention
Engagement is a crucial step in social work. Engagement marks the first interaction between the social worker and their clients (OpenLearn, 2019). This is when the social worker must have near-perfect listening and questioning skills to probe their clients' problems (OpenLearn, 2019). This helps the social worker understand the historical context of their clients' problems; that is, how the events have shaped their clients’ behaviors. For instance, while dealing with Hurricane Katrina's elderly victims, it is important to understand how this disaster affected them.
Assessment is the stage by which the social worker and the client engage in reviewing the information regarding the problems presented (OpenLearn, 2019). This assists in the development of intervention strategies. The social worker seeks clarification from their clients in this stage. The client also shares the systems that affect them, enabling the social worker to understand how such systems affect their clients either positively or negatively. Consequently, an action plan for change can be developed based on this information (OpenLearn, 2019). While dealing with elderly victims of Hurricane Katrine, the social worker needs to understand how the disaster experiences have shaped their clients’ behavior so that an action plan for change can be developed. Finally, the intervention stage requires the implementation of the identified changes (OpenLearn, 2019). Revisions are made to the action plan as deemed necessary by the client and their social worker. The social worker also monitors their clients’ progress. Effective implementation leads to the achievement of the desired goals.
Social work Values
Following are ways how social work values guide the practice of populations who experienced the hurricane disaster. Social workers must demonstrate competence while attending to their clients (University at Buffalo, 2019). They must portray their professional experiences while dealing with clients. For instance, they should not refer the clients to new interventions if they have insufficient evidence about their effectiveness. Likewise, social workers should demonstrate self-determination, where they should respect their clients' autonomy (University at Buffalo, 2019). This enhances effective goal setting leading to the achievement of desired outcomes. Moreover, social workers must demonstrate a commitment to their clients (University at Buffalo, 2019). The interests of the clients should be their primary focus.
In conclusion, it is evident that although all communities are prone to disasters, some are more vulnerable than others. To be more specific, the elderly groups, especially from minority communities, are more affected by disasters than other populations. Hurricane Katrina offers a good example of how the elderly from the black communities, due to low economic status and evacuations based on racial lines, caused them to remain behind and suffer the storm's consequences. Therefore, using life course perspective themes can explain why this population suffered more than others during the storm.
References
Administration for Community Living. (2015). No One Left Behind: Including Older Adults and People with Disabilities in Emergency Planning . https://acl.gov/news-and-events/acl-blog/no-one-left-behind-including-older-adults-and-people-disabilities
Cherry, K. E., Galea, S., Su, L. J., Welsh, D. A., Jazwinski, S. M., Silva, J. L., & Erwin, M. J. (2010). Cognitive and Psychosocial Consequences of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita Among Middle-Aged, Older, and Oldest-Old Adults in the Louisiana Healthy Aging Study (LHAS). Journal of Applied Social Psychology , 40 (10), 2463–2487. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1559-1816.2010.00666.x
DOHERTY, C. (2015). Remembering Katrina: Wide racial divide over government’s response . Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2015/08/27/remembering-katrina-wide-racial-divide-over-governments-response/
Hutchison, E. (2003). A Life Course Perspective .
Hutchison, E. D. (2019). An Update on the Relevance of the Life Course Perspective for Social Work. Families in Society: The Journal of Contemporary Social Services , 100 (4), 351–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/1044389419873240
Hyer, K. (2019, September 3). Stay or go? Why hurricane evacuation of nursing homes remains an unsolved challenge . PBS NewsHour. https://www.pbs.org/newshour/nation/stay-or-go-why-hurricane-evacuation-of-nursing-homes-remains-an-unsolved-challenge
National Geographic. (2019, January 16). Hurricane Katrina facts and information . Environment. https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/hurricane-katrina
OpenLearn. (2019). An introduction to social work . OpenLearn. https://www.open.edu/openlearn/health-sports-psychology/social-care-social-work/introduction-social-work/content-section-1.3
Quast, T., Andel, R., & Sadhu, A. R. (2019). Long-term Effects of Disasters on Seniors with Diabetes: Evidence From Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Diabetes Care , 42 (11), 2090–2097. https://doi.org/10.2337/dc19-0567
Reid, K. (2019, November 25). 2005 Hurricane Katrina: Facts, FAQs, and how to help. World Vision. https://www.worldvision.org/disaster-relief-news-stories/2005-hurricane-katrina-facts
Stephens, N., Hamedani, M., Markus, H., Bergsieker, H., & Eloul, L. (2009). Why Did They “‘Choose’” to Stay? Perspectives of Hurricane Katrina Observers and Survivors . https://web.stanford.edu/group/mcslab/cgi-bin/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2011/06/Why-did-they-choose-to-stay.pdf
University at Buffalo. (2019, August 13). Social Work Core Values and Code of Ethics - University at Buffalo School of Social Work - University at Buffalo . Buffalo.edu. http://socialwork.buffalo.edu/admissions/is-social-work-right-career-for-me/values-ethics.html
