One measure commonly used to assess posttraumatic stress disorder is the PTSD Checklist (PCL). Lang and Stein (2005) extracted 4 subsets of PCL items, validating 2 of them for possible use in screening in primary care settings. The viability of the 4 item subsets was evaluated psychometrically in the present study with a sample of Hurricane…

In August and September 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita devastated large portions of the U.S. Gulf Coast, resulting in nearly 2,000 deaths and severe damage to 305,000 houses and apartments. Thousands of families relocated to communities throughout the United States and enrolled their children in local public or private schools. Some families…

In August 2005, the world witnessed one of the most destructive natural disasters on America's mainland. Hurricane Katrina, followed a month later by Hurricane Rita, brought more than broken levees, flooded streets and homes, and destroyed businesses. It caused changes in the dynamics and the demographic and cultural makeup of the region. One of…

This paper examines the decision of Hurricane Katrina evacuees to return to their pre- Katrina areas and documents how the composition of the Katrina-affected region changed over time. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we show that an evacuee's age and the severity of damage in an evacuee's county of origin are important determinants…

In this article, the author reports what the administrators and educators in Bay St. Louis-Waveland, the last district in Mississippi to reopen following Hurricane Katrina, are doing in order to keep their students in school after Hurricane Katrina. Students in this district attend classes in portable classrooms linked by wooden boardwalks that…

Seven months after Hurricane Katrina, 183 five- to eight-year-old children were surveyed about their own intrusive thoughts and tested on their level of cognitive functioning (knowledge about the mind and the mind's operations). Basic developmental research suggests that children who lack sufficient knowledge about the mind should have…

The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina brought devastation and confusion to the Mississippi Gulf Coast region on August 29, 2005. A desperate need for leadership, collaboration, and coordination of relief and recovery efforts was revealed during a March 2007 strategic planning session involving 96 organizations, groups, agencies, and researchers…

Hurricane Katrina, the disastrous storm that struck the Gulf Coast in late August of 2006, displaced an estimated 1 million people. Historians are already calling the resulting exodus of families from hard-hit communities in Louisiana and Mississippi the greatest mass migration in the United States since the Civil War. The diaspora extended north…

Experts have long suggested that re-establishing routines, particularly school routines, can be therapeutic for children who have experienced upheaval in their home lives. This article briefly describes an 8th grader's experience with this, after losing her home to Hurricane Katrina and having her life moved to suburban Washington.

Eighteen months after Hurricane Katrina devastated the Mississippi coastal community of Hancock County on August 29, 2005, volunteers and organizations assisting with recovery in the area found chaos, confusion, and a desperate need for leadership. This qualitative study reflects the efforts of two University of Southern Mississippi professors as…

The current study tests a theoretical model illustrating a potential pathway to reactive aggression through exposure to a traumatic event (Hurricane Katrina) in 166 adolescents (61% female, 63% Caucasian) recruited from high schools on the Gulf Coast of Mississippi. Results support an association between exposure to Hurricane Katrina and reactive…

Long before Katrina, the South functioned in the social imaginary to contain racism and poverty, and the Mason-Dixon acts then in the national imagination as a buffer to safeguard the nation from the taint of such undemocratic realities. More and more, in many countries of America, a system known as "neoliberalism" prevails; based on a…

In August and September 2005, Hurricanes Katrina and Rita caused devastating damage to states along the Gulf Coast. In the aftermath of the storms, many questions were raised about the status of the thousands of children living in the affected areas. The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) prepared this preliminary information under the…

Perhaps one of the worst disasters in United States history, Hurricane Katrina is expected to have a lasting impact on the economies of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida with losses in the billions of dollars. Given that the economic foundation of the approximately 600 schools and libraries affected was far from ideal before the…

As a teacher educator who regularly teaches a multicultural education course, the author has often employed service-learning as a pedagogical strategy in assisting preservice teachers to understand better the various multicultural topics they discuss, such as racism, heterosexism, and sexism that impact their schools. Therefore, when she was…