Constructions of Haitian Earthquake Survivors in the New Diaspora:

Constructions of Haitian Earthquake Survivors in the

New Diaspora:Implications for Psycho-

Social RecoveryPatricia Weldon, MSW, SUNY at AlbanyJuliana Svistova, MSW, SUNY at AlbanyLoretta Pyles, PhD, SUNY at Albany

Background• Media constructs disaster victims as helpless, hopeless, criminal and otherwise inadequate actors (e.g. Davis & French, 2008; Garfield, 2007; Sommers, 2006; Cox et al, 2008; Franks, 2006).

• Haitians have been historically represented as “…synonymous with poverty, backwardness, and evil”; “always…in need of an intermediary”(Ulysee, 2010, p. 39)

• Smith (2001) identifies 4 persistent characteristics - “a preference for dependency on more powerful others (a dependency/slave mentality),” - “a fatalism leading to apathy and resignation,” - “an inability to think analytically or constructively about their situation,” and - “a chronic resistance to working cooperatively and effectively in the interest of the collective good” (Smith, 2011, p. 31).

Background• Less is known about the representation or experience of Haitians who moved from Haiti to the U.S. after the earthquake, which may be influenced by the strong anti-immigrant sentiment in the U.S. (History of Haitian immigration);

• There is scare literature about the effects of representations of disaster survivors on their well-being and recovery;

• The interplay or disconnect between micro and macros issues is rarely explored regarding disaster recovery;

• Research focusing on trauma reactions often has examined only the negative outcomes such as PTSD, depression or anxiety (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 1995).

Representation and Social Construction

• Theoretical orientation – social constructionism

• Media and political discourses socially construct disaster recovery and development thereby influencing public agenda setting, social relations and institutional practices Garfield, 2007; Hartwig, 2010).

• Schneider and Ingram (1993) - how social construction of target populations affects citizenship, participation, power etc.

Hegemony and Counter-Hegemony

• People acquiesce to domination when societal ideas lead them to believe in the naturalness of the present order of oppression, the idea that the Italian Marxist thinker Antonio Gramsci called hegemony (Kaufman, 2003).

• This hegemony is a social construction dependent upon daily reinforcement in the media, workplace, and educational and social welfare institutions as well as economic arrangements.

• Liberation is achieved through the disruption of this hegemonic order through various forms of resistance and de-constructions known as counter-hegemony.

Conceptual Model

Hegemony

Counter-

Hegemony

Congressional Record

New York Times

In-depth Interviews

Constructions of

Earthquake

Survivors

Psycho-Social Recovery

Research goal …was to determine whether there was disconnect between the framing of disaster victims in the discourses of those with political and cultural power versus those of actual disaster survivors• Research question: - What are political, media and local discourses of U.S. Haitian earthquake survivors?

MethodologyExploratory designSample: - Congressional Record Documents (n=50) - New York Times articles (n=235) - In-depth interviews with U.S. Haitians (n=19)Data Analysis: - Secondary analysis - Critical Discourse Analysis - Grounded Theory

Findings: Congressional RecordHegemonic Discourse

Haitian CitizensHaitians are illustrated as overtaken by sorrow and grief; predominantly positioned as powerless, needy and passive actors; the “struggling island nation”;

Minor themes of: resilience, strength, poverty and previous vulnerability, hopefulness, spiritual resilience;

Haitians are receiving the action of someone else, not performing it;

There exists a general consensus that they can and will recover, but it is through the help of others that this will happen.

Findings: Congressional RecordHegemonic Discourse

U.S. Citizens The role of the U.S. is hyper-visible with its “do-gooding” and order sustaining practices;

Prevalence of heroic and generous stories of the U.S. involvement; exemplified through such language as: “commending generosity”, “recognizing the bravery,” and “honoring the heroism” of U.S. citizens;

Largely portrayed as hardworking and skilled;“Our military sent ships and planes and troops. We have responded as America does. We are, after all, the wealthiest, most powerful Nation on Earth. Morality requires us to help those, especially neighbors, so severely damaged.”

Findings: New York TimesHegemonic Discourse

Experts/expertise• Emphasizes outside experts from all over the globe bringing technologies and other forms of expertise (telecommunications, engineering/construction, green energy, school reform, medical) overlooking Haitian expertise

• Heroic work of foreigners and other Americans

Reinforcing the ineptitude of the Haitian government• The Haitian government is portrayed as “ineffective,” “unstable,” “absent,” “corrupt,” “dragging its feet over decision-making,” “overwhelmed,” and generally clueless

• “In a country scarred by endemic corruption and waste, relief funds and projects need to be carefully monitored.”

Findings: New York TimesHegemonic Discourse

Recovery, development and disaster capitalism •Clinton - “build back better” “new Haiti”•Private capital investment, garment factories•Opportunity for the American construction industry (which is in a recession) to meet Haiti’s needs for housing, roads, bridges, etc.

Haitians as victims, “the other”•patients; victims; women and girls living in constant fear•stories about amputees, the plight of children, the plight of the elderly; being buried alive dominate the discourse •exotic and overly dramatic descriptions - “toiling” “languishing”•lawlessness, looters, counterfeiters printing fake tickets for rice rations

Findings: New York Times Counter-Hegemonic Discourse

Acknowledgement of colonialist and post-colonialist realities •The issues of debt, foreign occupation, trade embargoes, post-colonial abandonment and deterioration of the public sector

•“Haiti's long history of foreign intervention, including an American occupation, normally makes the influx of foreigners a delicate issue.”

Critique of current aid structure and importance of public investment•Public investment (roads, electricity and the like) and investment in Haiti’s government: “But there is no chance of building even a minimally effective Haitian government without some direct cash.”

•Critiques of Haiti’s Interim Recovery Commission•Negative impact of aid on local doctors•Critical of famous people showboating

Findings: New York TimesCounter-Hegemonic Discourse

Participation of Haitians in recovery• Current efforts of participation as well as the

importance of Haitian participation• Neighbors digging neighbors from the rubble and

other local rescue efforts• Camp leaders clear rubble, lobby aid groups,

volunteer translators, Haitian workers engaged in major rebuilding projects

• Informal economy in the tent camps and on the streets

Resilience and Resistance• Art and culture: mixed media art renderings of the

devastation, language (goudougoudou), faith in participation in the democratic process

• Critique, Protest and Advocacy efforts (lack of governmental coordination, military aid over food/housing aid, sexual assault)

• Coping with loss; moving forward; adapting to circumstances (such as losing a limb)

Methodology• 19 in person interviews, 3 interviews done completely in English, 3 completed in English and Creole and 13 completed completely in Creole with an interpreter

• Interviews were 1-2 hours long• Follow up interviews were conducted as needed for clarification or obtaining additional details

• Purposive sampling was done. Participants were located through Haitian service organizations in the Boston, MA and Spring Valley, NY areas.

• Demographics

Post-traumatic growth

Recovery

Survival

BaselineFunctioning

TraumaticEvent

Possible trauma outcomes

Adapted from Bonanno, Galea, Bucciarelli, & Vlahov, 2007

Time

Outcomes• Nine participants reported some negative trauma responses for a period of time after the disaster.

• There were two participants who responded that they never experienced any significant problems or changes in their lives following the earthquake.

• During the qualitative interviews, each participant reported some aspects of growth that were interpreted to match one of the five domains of post-traumatic growth: personal strengths, appreciation of relations, changes in life philosophies, increased appreciation of life and changes in spirituality.

Available assistance• 3 of the 19 participants mentioned assistance obtained from NGO’s or formal organizations outside of their local area. E.g. medical tents, water, transportation to hospitals

• Most reported assistance from family neighbors or complete strangers

I just was with this kid he didn't know where he was, he didn't know where his family was, he didn't know anything…he was just freaking out so the whole night I wrapped my arms around him and tried to comfort him and get him water - Marie

After the earthquake I have friends that lost everything they lost their houses. They came. I gave them a place to stay even though it wasn't a huge house, it had a big backyard and they stayed with me for some time - Franz

Everyone came, they all helped… Everybody put their hands in, in the case of an emergency, we all came together, after the earthquake we were helping and we didn't even know, we help people and they helped us. - Claude

Immediately after the quake

Strengths in coping • I had a business, a grocery store during the quake I gave everything away and this is the first time that I saw the solidarity among Haitian people in the neighborhood. Whatever we have in stock we shared with people. – Sabrina

• It was like a community coming together whatever one had they shared with the others. We had a neighbor who had a spare tent and put together and let us use it and even those that didn't have much came together and they all shared. – Martina

• I was already strong but I became more stronger when I saw the earth shaking I could have fallen on the floor and die, but I was strong in looking for my family. I called “Jesus, help me, I have to find my children, my husband! – Elizabeth

• Sometimes some of the problems seems like a test that God is giving me to see how I will fair, to see what will happen will I fail or not. So I have to stick to it and strive harder. - Leila

Long term recovery• I told myself that I need to restart everything. It is a new life. It was very difficult but it I see it as a new beginning. - Yvonne

• I thank God for everyday that I'm alive… Last night I was praying and I said I want be a better person every day, do the best that I can every day. - Vanessa

• What changed in me was I came to realize that we are visitors here on earth. We come and we will and must go at some point . You realize the importance of helping others, helping your neighbors, the importance of sharing and having others. – Pierre

• I see life that you measure life by the numbers of days you have lived not by how many days you still have to live. - Andre

Discussion• There exists a disconnect between the framing of disaster victims in the discourses of those with political and cultural power versus those of actual disaster survivors.

• Broader systems of representation may dictate how earthquake survivors are seen: helpless, hopeless, passive victims and objects acted upon,

• But not necessarily how they see themselves: helpful, resilient, resourceful, generous, emphatic actors united in solidarity.

Discussion• Identity formation through narratives (outsider or insider perspective)

• Our data suggests that the way people see and narrate themselves and how they make meaning of disaster may affect their well-being (e.g. PTSD vs post-traumatic growth)

• The disparity and interaction between outsider and insider perspectives may have an effect on their post-disaster psycho-social recovery and overall well-being and health;

Implications• The implementation of disaster response and immigration policies and interventions need to consider both the hegemonic and counter hegemony perspectives;

• Due to the disconnect in the construction of survivors, disaster response and recovery policies and interventions might not reach and bring change for people they target and their actual needs;

• Alignment of insider and outsider construction is critical for effective disaster relief and recovery practices;

• NGOs need training, resources, staffing that allows them to be more culturally competent and that reflects an empowering stance toward Haitians in spite of the negative social constructions.

Implications• Disaster response and recovery efforts need to be considered from both a macro and micro perspective as well as the interplay between these 2 systems.

• Recovery or growth from experiencing a disaster involves the interactions of individual and their environments. Policy makers, clinical practitioners and media should consider the variety of constructions of Haitian immigrants to include not just deficits but capacities.

• Researchers, practitioners and policy makers need to examine the impact and implications of the disconnect between the insider and outsider perspectives and possible long term effects on recovery and well being.

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