Emotional Adaptation and Incorporation Following Post-Disaster Relocation

University Of South Florida, Tampa FL

Investigators

Abstract

This project will examine how people moving from a region that has undergone a natural disaster fare upon relocation to the continental U.S. The project will advance scientific knowledge about the conditions under which those moving as a result of a disaster struggle or prosper upon relocation and resettlement. This study will contribute theoretical innovations to what we know about incorporation and the ramifications for the emotional well-being of those who relocate by examining adaptation after moving regions due to a disaster. This research advances the health and welfare of a marginalized and vulnerable group living in the continental U.S. by understanding the mechanisms that support their resettlement and how the context that receives them creates the conditions that would offer them opportunities to succeed, or otherwise blunt them. This study will provide a knowledge base to guide the development of future work with those who relocate following a disaster and will identify what interventions are needed to uplift the economic, social, and emotional well-being of these populations. This study involves three stages of data collection. First, 900 people who relocated subsequent to a hurricane will be interviewed by phone. The second stage will consist of 50 interviews of about two hours with heads of households. Third, members of a subsample of 10 families will be interviewed. The project's main research question concerns how individual attributes interact with the context of reception (e.g., the locality or region, including the labor market reception, demographic characteristics of a community, and the state and federal conditions that can facilitate or make adaptation more difficult) to shape their pathways of incorporation into mainstream society, including their emotional well-being, an oft-neglected dimension of integration. This study will enhance our understanding of a relocated community, its heterogeneity, and its resettlement experiences, and possible linkages to civic incorporation and participation. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.