Resilience in a cultural context: Taiwanese female earthquake survivors

Abstract

The aim of the current study was to examine how females survive natural disaster in non-western culture and to gain understanding of their unique experiences in rebuilding their lives. In September 1999, a major earthquake, named '921 Earthquake,' measuring 7.3 on the Richter Scale occurred in Taiwan. Many people survived, struggling a great deal in their efforts to reconstruct their lives. Five years after this earthquake, many survivors, including women, were reported to have rebuilt self-sufficient lives. Given the vulnerability of women and their greater difficulties in resuming their lives, an important question was how these women were able to be successful in this endeavor. Utilizing a grounded theory approach, 16 female 921 Earthquake survivors who had been helped by social workers, no longer received government aid and had successfully regained their selfsufficiency, voluntarily participated in this study. The study findings revealed that the coping strategies guided by female gender norms in the family, embedded in Taiwanese culture, including: children's needs are the first priority as a maternal role norm; men working outside and women working inside; and female gender norms of supporting the family when husbands could not, were the major resources participants accessed and utilized to successfully cope with the difficulties after the 921 Earthquake. The participants' narratives demonstrated that cultural norms can serve as coping resources for survivors. Implications for social work practice are addressed.

The Journey towards resilience following a traumatic birth: A grounded theory

“…I decided to focus only on women because traumatic birth is specific to women and I believe these studies closely match the clinical sample in this study. For example, a qualitative study conducted by Liu and Mishna (2014) investigated resilience in the cultural context of Taiwanese female earthquake survivors. They found that the women used coping strategies influenced by female gender roles in the family, which includedputting their children as a first priority in their role as a mother, accepting the role of working within the home while the men were the providers, and taking over this role when the men were not able to provide.…”

Post-disaster social work research: A scoping review of the evidence for practice

“…Seven articles examine mediating factors that reduce the negative impacts of disaster events on people: (1) four identify social connectedness as a mediator (Drolet et al, 2018, Hawkins and Maurer, 2010, Liu and Mishna, 2014, Marlowe, 2015; (2) another three identified higher socioeconomic status as a mediator (Kulkarni et al, 2008, Alipour et al, 2015, Pentaraki, 2013; (3) three comment on reconstruction and recovery policies and responses as mediators (Kulkarni et al, 2008, Pentaraki, 2013, Alipour et al, 2015; and (4) one highlights the mediating effect of the degree of exposure to the disaster (Kreuger and Stretch, 2003).…”

“…For example, following Hurricane Katrina in the US, people used connections and close ties for immediate support (that is, bonding social capital), and bridging and linking social capital to revitalise their communities (Hawkins & Maurer, 2010). Thus, it is important for social workers to build community capacity by harnessing social capital, while also recognising, where appropriate, the value of cultural norms in promoting resiliency (Liu & Mishna, 2014). Further, recovery and reconstruction policies that exacerbate socioeconomic and structural inequalities can mean that the effects of disasters are more acutely felt by vulnerable, low income groups within a community affected by a natural disaster (Kulkarni, Bell, Beausoleil, Lein, Angel, & Mason, 2008).…”

“…The effects of disasters on people and mediators of these effects. Nineteen articles in this scoping review focused on the effects and/or mediating influences in disasters (Alipour et al, 2015;Bell, 2008;Chae et al, 2005;Dominelli, 2014;Doostgharin, 2009;Drolet et al, 2018;First et al, 2018;Harms et al, 2015;Hawkins and Maurer, 2010;Huang and Wong, 2013;Kreuger and Stretch, 2003;Kulkarni et al, 2008;Lemieux et al, 2010;Liu and Mishna, 2014;Marlowe, 2015;Pentaraki, 2011;Plummer et al, 2008;Prost et al, 2018;Tosone et al, 2015).…”

Support, Sense of Community, and Psychological Status in the Survivors of the Yaan Earthquake

“…Despite frequent disasters, the research on disaster survivors’ psychological status and its associated factors in China is still thin. Given that psychological status and its associated factors such as resilience and other coping strategies of disaster survivors are likely to be influenced by social and cultural contexts (Gunnestad, ; Ibañez, Buck, Khatchikian, & Norris, ; Liu & Mishna, ), more research is critical to develop evidence‐based interventions to work with disaster survivors in China.…”