IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v62y2006i8p1853-1864.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mental and social health in disasters: Relating qualitative social science research and the Sphere standard

Author

Listed:
  • Batniji, Rajaie
  • Van Ommeren, Mark
  • Saraceno, Benedetto

Abstract

Increasingly, social scientists interested in mental and social health conduct qualitative research to chronicle the experiences of and humanitarian responses to disaster We reviewed the qualitative social science research literature in relation to a significant policy document, the Sphere Handbook, which includes a minimum standard in disaster response addressing "mental and social aspects of health", involving 12 interventions indicators. The reviewed literature in general supports the relevance of the Sphere social health intervention indicators. However, social scientists' chronicles of the diversity and complexity of communities and responses to disaster illustrate that these social interventions cannot be assumed helpful in all settings and times. With respect to Sphere mental health intervention indicators, the research largely ignores the existence and well-being of persons with pre-existing, severe mental disorders in disasters, whose well-being is addressed by the relevant Sphere standard. Instead, many social scientists focus on and question the relevance of posttraumatic stress disorder-focused interventions, which are common after some disasters and which are not specifically covered by the Sphere standard. Overall, social scientists appear to call for a social response that more actively engages the political, social, and economic causes of suffering, and that recognizes the social complexities and flux that accompany disaster. By relating social science research to the Sphere standard for mental and social health, this review informs and illustrates the standard and identifies areas of needed research.

Suggested Citation

  • Batniji, Rajaie & Van Ommeren, Mark & Saraceno, Benedetto, 2006. "Mental and social health in disasters: Relating qualitative social science research and the Sphere standard," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(8), pages 1853-1864, April.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:8:p:1853-1864
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00468-5
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Sideris, Tina, 2003. "War, gender and culture: Mozambican women refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 56(4), pages 713-724, February.
    2. Bracken, Patrick J., 2001. "Post-modernity and post-traumatic stress disorder," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 53(6), pages 733-743, September.
    3. Muecke, Marjorie A., 1992. "New paradigms for refugee health problems," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 35(4), pages 515-523, August.
    4. Bracken, Patrick J. & Giller, Joan E. & Summerfield, Derek, 1995. "Psychological responses to war and atrocity: The limitations of current concepts," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 40(8), pages 1073-1082, April.
    5. Munczek, Débora S. & Tuber, Steven, 1998. "Political repression and its psychological effects on Honduran children," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 47(11), pages 1699-1713, December.
    6. Ong, Aihwa, 1995. "Making the biopolitical subject: Cambodian immigrants, refugee medicine and cultural citizenship in California," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 40(9), pages 1243-1257, May.
    7. Englund, Harri, 1998. "Death, trauma and ritual: Mozambican refugees in Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 46(9), pages 1165-1174, May.
    8. Rousseau, C.Cécile & Rufagari, Marie-Claire & Bagilishya, Déogratias & Measham, Toby, 2004. "Remaking family life: strategies for re-establishing continuity among Congolese refugees during the family reunification process," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 59(5), pages 1095-1108, September.
    9. Eisenbruch, Maurice, 1991. "From post-traumatic stress disorder to cultural bereavement: Diagnosis of Southeast Asian refugees," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 33(6), pages 673-680, January.
    10. Summerfield, Derek, 1999. "A critique of seven assumptions behind psychological trauma programmes in war-affected areas," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 48(10), pages 1449-1462, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pedersen, Duncan & Tremblay, Jacques & Errázuriz, Consuelo & Gamarra, Jeffrey, 2008. "The sequelae of political violence: Assessing trauma, suffering and dislocation in the Peruvian highlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 205-217, July.
    2. de Mel, Suresh & McKenzie, David & Woodruff, Christopher, 2008. "Mental health recovery and economic recovery after the tsunami: High-frequency longitudinal evidence from Sri Lankan small business owners," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 582-595, February.
    3. Ahmet Ekici & Forrest Watson, 2022. "A model of consumer life‐satisfaction amidst the COVID‐19 pandemic: Evidence and policy implications," Journal of Consumer Affairs, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 56(1), pages 158-179, March.
    4. Tol, Wietse A. & Kohrt, Brandon A. & Jordans, Mark J.D. & Thapa, Suraj B. & Pettigrew, Judith & Upadhaya, Nawaraj & de Jong, Joop T.V.M., 2010. "Political violence and mental health: A multi-disciplinary review of the literature on Nepal," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 35-44, January.
    5. Brigitte Muller & Barry Munslow & Tim O'Dempsey, 2017. "When community reintegration is not the best option: interethnic violence and the trauma of parental loss in South Sudan," International Journal of Health Planning and Management, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(1), pages 91-109, January.
    6. Hall, Brian J. & Tol, Wietse A. & Jordans, Mark J.D. & Bass, Judith & de Jong, Joop T.V.M., 2014. "Understanding resilience in armed conflict: Social resources and mental health of children in Burundi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 114(C), pages 121-128.
    7. Cho, Sun Mi & Park, Chan-ung & Song, Min, 2020. "The evolution of social health research topics: A data-driven analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 265(C).
    8. Tay, Alvin Kuowei & Rees, Susan & Chan, Jack & Kareth, Moses & Silove, Derrick, 2015. "Examining the broader psychosocial effects of mass conflict on PTSD symptoms and functional impairment amongst West Papuan refugees resettled in Papua New Guinea (PNG)," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 132(C), pages 70-78.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rasmussen, Andrew & Keatley, Eva & Joscelyne, Amy, 2014. "Posttraumatic stress in emergency settings outside North America and Europe: A review of the emic literature," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 109(C), pages 44-54.
    2. Lynne Briggs & A. D. (Sandy) Macleod, 2006. "Demoralisation - A Useful Conceptualisation of Non-Specific Psychological Distress Among Refugees Attending Mental Health Services," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 52(6), pages 512-524, November.
    3. Zenker, Olaf, 2010. "Between the lines: Republicanism, dissenters and the politics of meta-trauma in the Northern Irish conflict," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 236-243, July.
    4. Pedersen, Duncan & Tremblay, Jacques & Errázuriz, Consuelo & Gamarra, Jeffrey, 2008. "The sequelae of political violence: Assessing trauma, suffering and dislocation in the Peruvian highlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 205-217, July.
    5. Kienzler, Hanna, 2008. "Debating war-trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in an interdisciplinary arena," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 67(2), pages 218-227, July.
    6. Beiser, Morton & Wiwa, Owens & Adebajo, Sylvia, 2010. "Human-initiated disaster, social disorganization and post-traumatic stress disorder above Nigeria's oil basins," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(2), pages 221-227, July.
    7. Miller, Kenneth E. & Rasmussen, Andrew, 2010. "War exposure, daily stressors, and mental health in conflict and post-conflict settings: Bridging the divide between trauma-focused and psychosocial frameworks," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(1), pages 7-16, January.
    8. Budden, Ashwin, 2009. "The role of shame in posttraumatic stress disorder: A proposal for a socio-emotional model for DSM-V," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(7), pages 1032-1039, October.
    9. Judith Zur, 1996. "From PTSD to Voices in Context: From an "Experience-Far" to an "Experience-Near" Understanding of Responses to War and Atrocity Across Cultures," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 42(4), pages 305-317, December.
    10. Abramowitz, Sharon A., 2005. "The poor have become rich, and the rich have become poor: Collective trauma in the Guinean Languette," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 61(10), pages 2106-2118, November.
    11. Moscardino, Ughetta & Axia, Giovanna & Scrimin, Sara & Capello, Fabia, 2007. "Narratives from caregivers of children surviving the terrorist attack in Beslan: Issues of health, culture, and resilience," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(8), pages 1776-1787, April.
    12. Barber, Brian K. & McNeely, Clea & Olsen, Joseph A. & Belli, Robert F. & Doty, Samuel Benjamin, 2016. "Long-term exposure to political violence: The particular injury of persistent humiliation," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 156(C), pages 154-166.
    13. Briggs, Charles L., 2011. "“All Cubans are doctors!” news coverage of health and bioexceptionalism in Cuba," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 73(7), pages 1037-1044.
    14. Correa-Velez, Ignacio & Gifford, Sandra M. & Barnett, Adrian G., 2010. "Longing to belong: Social inclusion and wellbeing among youth with refugee backgrounds in the first three years in Melbourne, Australia," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 71(8), pages 1399-1408, October.
    15. Theodore T. Bartholomew, 2016. "Mental Health in Namibia," Psychology and Developing Societies, , vol. 28(1), pages 101-125, March.
    16. Tachibana, Towa & Goto, Rie & Sakurai, Takeshi & Rayamajhi, Santosh & Adhikari, Angel & Dow, William H., 2019. "Do remittances alleviate negative impacts of disaster on mental health? A case of the 2015 Nepal earthquake," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 238(C), pages 1-1.
    17. Patrick Heuveline & Angela K. Clague, 2024. "Parental Loss and Mental Health in Post-Khmer-Rouge Cambodia," Population Research and Policy Review, Springer;Southern Demographic Association (SDA), vol. 43(4), pages 1-18, August.
    18. Neil Harris & Fiona Rowe Minniss & Shawn Somerset, 2014. "Refugees Connecting with a New Country through Community Food Gardening," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 11(9), pages 1-15, September.
    19. Bjertrup, Pia Juul & Bouhenia, Malika & Mayaud, Philippe & Perrin, Clément & Ben Farhat, Jihane & Blanchet, Karl, 2018. "A life in waiting: Refugees' mental health and narratives of social suffering after European Union border closures in March 2016," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 215(C), pages 53-60.
    20. Alean Al-Krenawi, 1999. "Explanations of Mental Health Symptoms By the Bedouin-Arabs of the Negev," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 45(1), pages 56-64, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:8:p:1853-1864. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.