Women's roles in a disaster

Abstract

In this study I examine women's roles in the 1997 Grand Forks flood. Based on field research and sixty in-depth interviews, I explore women's community, family, and work roles before, during, and after the disaster. By examining the ways in which women's roles shifted and the meanings the women attached to the roles, I find that the women experienced role accumulation, which resulted in an expansion of both their roles and their sense of self. By successfully performing the “greedy” family role, the emergent community role, and expanding work roles the women often discovered a new sense of confidence, self-worth, and competence.