A Case Study, May 2016: A Snapshot of Psychosocial Issues in Camp Living - A Sri Lankan Landslide in the Kegalle District
Vol 6, Issue 2, 2021, Article identifier:
VIEWS - 668 (Abstract) 342 (PDF)
Abstract
This paper seeks to explore the aspects of being made homeless or internally displaced person (IDP) and how the team attempted to assess this. The team of 10 psychological researchers and statisticians spent a day at five camps in four locations within Kegalle, Sri Lanka. The languages within the team are Tamil, English, and Sinhalese. The aim to find out if depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms are evident within child, adolescents, and adults categories, 3 months after the landslide triggered by the Storm Roanu, May 2016. The participants volunteered to be interviewed using self-report measures. The psychological researchers did have undergraduate and postgraduate degrees in psychology. While the project lead had clinical experience, the researchers did not and so this was their first field trip. The research was granted ethical clearance by the ethics board at the Cooperative Institutional Research Program (CIRP), Colombo. Unfortunately, due to low numbers, a significance is problematic and so this paper addresses the experience and lessons learned by implication for professional growth and future research with IDP. However, the impact on men’s health becomes clear as the team discovers the psychosocial aspects of being homeless. Purpose – This paper seeks to explore the aspects of being made homeless or internally displaced person (IDP) and how the team attempted to assess this. Design/methodology/approach – The team of 10 psychosocial researchers headed up by Matt BroadwayHorner, Consultant Nurse in Mental Health and Learning Disabilities, spent a day at five camps in four locations within Kegalle, Sri Lanka. The languages within the team are Tamil, English, and Sinhalese. The aim was to find out if depression, anxiety, and trauma symptoms are evident within child, adolescent, and adult categories, 3 months after the landslide triggered by the Storm Roanu, May 2016. The participants volunteered to be interviewed using self-report measures. The research was granted ethical clearance by the ethics board at CIRP, Colombo. Findings – unfortunately, due to low numbers, a significance is problematic for child and adolescents. The significance is seen in the adult population and so this paper addresses the experience and lessons learned by implication for professional growth and future research with IDP. However, the impact on men’s health becomes clear as the team discovers the psychosocial aspects of being homeless. Research limitations/implications – due to the unpredictability of IDP, the numbers were less than what was predicted by the Red Cross and UNICEF. Furthermore, we were not allowed a second visit and so could not compare and contrast data. Originality/value – much is written on IDP, but this is the first paper on this specific landslide and so adds to the knowledge base.
Keywords
Full Text:
PDFReferences
1. Bandara RMS. Landslides in Sri Lanka2005.
2. Chan EY, Kim JJ. Characteristics and health outcomes of internally displaced population in unofficial rural self-settled camps after the 2005 Kashmir, Pakistan earthquake. European Journal of Emergency Medicine 2010; 17(3): 136-141.
3. Tribe R, Thompson K. Exploring the three-way relationship in therapeutic work with interpreters. International Journal of Migration, Health and Social Care 2009; 5(2): 13-21.
4. UNHCR Mission Statement. Geneva: UNHCR 2002.
5. Tribe R. Mental health of refugees and asylum-seekers. Advances in psychiatric treatment 2002; 8(4): 240-247.
6. Åslund C, Larm P, Starrin B, et al. The buffering effect of tangible social support on financial stress: Influence on psychological well-being and psychosomatic symptoms in a large sample of the adult general population. International Journal for Equity in Health 2014; 13(1): 1.
7. Maulik PK, Eaton WW, Bradshaw CP. The effect of social networks and social support on common mental disorders following specific life events. Acta Psychiatrica Scandinavica 2010; 122(2): 118–128.
8. Raffaelli M, Andrade FCD, Wiley AR, et al. Stress, social support, and depression: A test of the stress-buffering hypothesis in a Mexican sample. Journal of Research on Adolescence 2013; 23(2): 283–289.
9. Ubesekera DM, Jiaojiang L. Marriage and Family Life Satisfaction: A Literature Review. Sabaragamuwa University Journal 2008; 8(1): 1-17.
10. Frosh S. Sexual difference: Masculinity and psychoanalysis. Routledge, 2002.
11. De Jong, J. ed. Trauma, war, and violence: Public mental health in socio-cultural context. Springer Science & Business Media,2006.
12. Hinds J. Exploring the psychological rewards of a wilderness experience: An interpretive phenomenological analysis. The Humanistic Psychologist 2011; 39: 189–205.
13. Fiori KL, Denckla CA. Social support and mental health in middle-aged men and women: A multidimensional approach. Journal of Aging and Health 2012; 24(3): 407–438.
14. Grav S, Hellzèn O, Romild U, et al. Association between social support and depression in the general population: The HUNT study, a cross-sectional survey. Journal of Clinical Nursing 2012; 21(1–2): 111–120.
15. Mair C, Diez Roux AV, Morenoff JD. Neighborhood stressors and social support as predictors of depressive symptoms in the Chicago community adult health study. Health & Place 2010; 16(5): 811–819.
16. Davies B, Harré R. Positioning: The discursive production of selves. Journal for the theory of social behaviour 1990; Mar 1; 20(1): 43-63.
17. Connell RW, Messerschmidt JW. Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society 2005; 19(6): 829–859.
18. Feinberg L. Transgender warriors: making history from Joan of Arc to Dennis Rodman. Beacon Press, 1996.
19. Fernando S.Mental Health Worldwide. London: Palgrave Macmillan.Fiori, K.L., Antonicci, T.C. and Cortina, K.S. (2006) ‘Social network typologies and mental health among older adults.’ The Journal of Gerontology 2014; 61b, 1: 25–32.
20. Foucault M.The History of Sexuality – Volume I: An Introduction. Trans. Robert Hurley. New York: Vintage Books, 1990.
21. Derrida J. The personal is the political: Justice and gender in deconstruction. Economy and society 1999; 28(2): (300-311).
22. Layton L. Who's that girl? Who's that boy?: Clinical practice meets postmodern gender theory. Routledge, 2013.
23. Butler J. Gender Trouble: Feminism and the Subversion of Identity. New York, Routledge, 1990.
24. Sedgewick EK. The Epistemology of the Closet. Harvester Wheatsheaf, London, 1990.
25. Bhugra D, Gupta S, editors. Migration and mental health. Cambridge University Press, 2010.
26. Cockersell P, Oladosu M, Kydd-Williams R, et al. Anti-discriminatory Practice in Mental Health Care for Older People.Jessica Kingsley Publishers, 2017.
27. Raval H, Tribe R. Working with interpreters in mental health. Routledge, 2014.
28. Jacobs GA, Meyer DL. Psychological First Aid. Psychological interventions in times of crisis 2006; 57-71.
29. Leaning J. Ethics of research in refugee populations. The Lancet 2001; 357(9266): 1432-3.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18063/esp.v6.i2.705
(668 Abstract Views, 342 PDF Downloads)
Refbacks
- There are currently no refbacks.
Copyright (c) 2021 Broadway-Horner M, Koreshi Khan S, Perera K, Ariyabandu S, Hettiarachchi D, Munasinghe M, Amarathunga K, Nimaladasa S, Vishwalingam A
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.