The Psychosocial Consequences of Natural Disasters: A Case Study

Abstract

Background: Earthquake is one of the most important and destructive natural hazards in Iranian cities, and the psychological and social consequences of catastrophe vary according to age, gender, economic and social class. Materials and Methods: The present study is qualitative research that we conducted with the method of grounded theory research and to understand the social consequences of earthquakes in the social group of women living in Bam in 2017. We collected data, interpreted the extracted concepts, and analyzed the discovered social consequences using in-depth interview techniques and purposeful and theoretical sampling in Bam women's community. Results: After interviewing five experts and 27 women, we reached the data saturation in 2 groups of the middle and lower economic class of Bam city and performed three coding steps for each narrative. According to the research findings, one of the direct and indirect consequences of the Bam earthquake disaster in women has been psycho-social trauma. Conclusion: Earthquake, death of parents and close family members with Interventional conditions such as economic and cultural status, level of education of the individual and family have affected the experience of psycho-social trauma in women. Also, women who based on pre-crisis and pre-disaster chose irrational and passive strategies experienced more negative consequences than women who chose rational and active coping strategies. Finally, the theoretical inference is that there is a direct relationship between the intervening social context and the psychological and social harms caused by the disaster in women, which in addition to the functional relationship is also effective in aggravating the consequences of this impact.