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Annotated Bibliography

Supporting children to prepare for and recover from the

negative effects of natural disasters on their well-being.

Gabriela Warner Behrens

Introduction

Children are an at-risk population at the negative consequences of natural disasters. These adverse effects have been vastly studied, being post-traumatic stress disorder, sleep disorders, emotional distress (Makwana, 2019), depression, anxiety (Makwana, 2019; Rubens, 2018), unnecessary fear, violent reactions, sensitive disorders, and aggressive behavior (Rubens, 2018), and existential anxiety (Sattler & Smith, 2020), recurrent. All these adverse effects decline children's well-being and achievement in the short- and long term and can be reduced with resilience and coping skills (Bernstein & Pfefferbaum, 2018).

The last decade of research has shown that schools are relevant places to prepare, respond, and recover from the experience of a natural disaster. Schools are essential due to playing the role of social setting where students, family, and community can relate with others, participate in communal activities and receive social support. In addition, schools facilitate routine after a disaster, help children continue with their daily activities, and allow the development of skills and learning related to natural disasters (Masten, 2021).

Resilience and coping skills are natural child responses to natural disasters (Bernstein et al., 2018). Therefore, they should be strengthened in school settings to prepare children for the harmful effects of natural disasters in their lives. The purpose of this annotated bibliography is to provide relevant academic literature to guide schools to curate and implement a media program focused on reducing the adverse effects of natural disasters in children through strengthening their resilience and coping skills.

Articles

Maclear, Kyo. (2018). Protected or prepared? Children in a stormy world. Journal of Curriculum and Pedagogy, 15(2), 127–157. https://doi.org/10.1080/15505170.2018.1462743

This essay reflects on how to bring the narratives of the effect of climate change closer to children, from a humanist and new materialism philosophy. Two discussed ideas are relevant to guide media mentors that work with children living and learning in contexts of natural disasters. The first is related to the child's role under both approaches, and the second is about some negative implications of maintaining a humanist perspective.

Firstly, Maclear (2018) promotes the urgency to transition from the humanist notion of childhood to new materialist philosophy, echoing the voices of scholars, writers, and filmmakers and using interesting examples. He states that in humanism, children are considered pure, innocents, and under protection. Hence, it is preferable to avoid their exposure to traumatic narratives related to climate change. This perspective maintains children as passive actors and isolated to the actual state of the world. Conversely, in new materialism, children face the effects of a turbulent world, assuming an active role in facing the trauma without losing their innocence. All the contrary, they use it as a key to overcome difficult circumstances and take action in their journey. Hence, a posthumanist approach could be more positive in preparing children to deal with the effects of climate change.

Secondly, the author points out that the humanist children's notion should be avoided because it could perpetuate social segregation and non-inclusivity. The omission of the real state of the world could be harmful to children in vulnerability because they will face a different reality than the one they knew in books and movies. In addition, the notion of children as pure and innocent is based on heteronormative beliefs which do not include queer or lateral possibilities, excluding the children who are out of the hetero norm. A posthumanist approach embraces a non-binary understanding of the world. Hence humans in all their forms, as well as non-human beings, are included as equals.

Vries, D. D, Brennan, Z., Lankin, M., Morse, R., Rix, B., & Beck, T. (2017). Healing with books: A literature review of bibliotherapy used with children and youth who have experienced trauma. Therapeutic Recreation Journal, 51(1), 48. https://doi.org/10.18666/TRJ-2017-V51-I1-7652

This literature review aims to examine the outcomes of bibliotherapy when used with children who have experienced trauma. As Vries et al. (2017) documented, bibliotherapy is a validated therapy to assist individuals in mental health recovery. Vries et al. (2017) begin by presenting the effects of trauma on children and youth. Then, they introduce bibliotherapy historically and explain how to implement it with children that have experienced trauma. Besides, they suggest the best types of bibliotherapy to use with these children and the therapeutic outcomes after its implementation.

The authors dedicated a section on therapeutic outcomes specific to children affected by natural disasters. They mention that bibliotherapy helps in developing coping skills, strengthening social support, and promoting self-identification. They used the case of a bibliotherapy program implemented after Hurricane Katrina, where 15 books were read through 2 years with children that experienced the hurricane. In addition, the authors mention that the program's success can be understood because of the use of contextualized books with characters easy to connect and identify with.

This article fits with the purpose of the curatorship because it presents a research-based strategy on the use of books in educational contexts to treat post-traumatic disorders. Interestingly, the 2-years-bibliotherapy-program mentioned above highlights that materials used should be carefully cured based on contextualization to achieve the aims of the programs. This suggestion follows the same pattern as Becnet et al.'s (2015) suggestion that librarians select local books based on real disaster experiences.

Becnel, K & Pope, J. C. (2015). Stories of a Storm: A Content Analysis of Mainstream, Small-Press, and Self-Published Picture Books about Hurricane Katrina. New Review of Children's Literature and Librarianship, 21(2), ​​161-177. https://doi.org/10.1080/13614541.2015.1078622

A recurrent cultural response to historical events such as natural disasters is literature production at mainstream, self-published, and small-press levels. These pieces help people to deal with the trauma. Due to children being an at-risk population, a vast literature has been written to this audience. Becnel et al. (2015) state it is crucial to examine how this literature reproduces the experience of a natural disaster because these pieces mediate people's memories of the events and sometimes become more meaningful than the event itself. However, scholars have discovered that media coverage, outsider writers, and mainstream titles have developed a false narrative about the hurricane and its impact. This misunderstanding is problematic because victims are not necessarily attended as they need to be, and historical records are erroneous.

In this study, researchers analyzed the content of 3 mainstream picture books and eight small-press and self-published picture books, all for children and about Hurricane Katrina. Results show that small-press and self-published titles about survivor experiences in Hurricane Katrina are more representative and meaningful than mainstream publications that benefit an audience that was not directly affected by the storm. For instance, mainstream titles tended to communicate that Hurricane Katrina only affected the African-American population. Also, it was a local and not a national problem, so state aid was unnecessary, and those affected could recover among themselves. Finally, that evacuation was avoided by "pure popular culture" when, in fact, a large part of the community did not have means of transport to get out of the disaster zone. Conversely, small-press and self-published titles showed to tell authentic stories with diverse perspectives, providing real opportunities for young readers to engage with the topic and process their own experiences.

The article is relevant to the purpose of this curatorship because it suggests that librarians should consider local small-press and self-published titles rather than wait for national or international interpretations of the experience of a natural disaster.

Mohammadinia, L., Ardalan, A., Khorasani-Zavareh, D., Ebadi, A., Malekafzali, H. & Fazel, Mo. (2018). Domains and indicators of resilient children in natural disasters: A systematic literature review. International Journal of Preventive Medicine, 9(1), 54–54. https://doi.org/10.4103/ijpvm.IJPVM_1_18

This literature review aims to answer the research question "What are the criteria, factors or indicators for child resilience in the context of a natural disaster?". It thematically analyzes 28 peer‐reviewed articles to determine the criteria and domain of children's resilience in disasters.

Mehammadinia, Ardalan, Khorasani-Zavareh, Ebadi, Malekafzali & Fazel (2018) mention that resilience can be strengthened previously and after a disaster. Therefore, they seek to provide practical information to help planners and policymakers of disaster risk management and child healthcare facilitators develop programs, policies, and materials.

The research findings provide enough evidence to design the LM-CRID model, a logical model for child resilience in disasters. The model comprises internal (personal characteristics) and external (social behavior) factors, sub-themes, and codes. Sub-themes are mental health, spiritual health, physical factors, social behavior, ecological factors, and environmental factors. Identified codes were 600 and were organized by subtheme. For instance, some codes are expressing emotions and empathy, sense of humor, good social environment, and access to natural resources for recreation, for naming a few.

The LM-CRID model can be used as an evidence-based thematic guide to select media resources. For instance, using the model, teachers or facilitators can choose specific books or movies that develop some sub-themes or specific codes that the model provides in their stories.

Crawford, P. A, & Roberts, S. (2017). Literature as Support: Using Picturebooks to Assist Young Children in Coping with Natural Disasters and Human Crises. In Assisting Young Children Caught in Disasters (pp. 171–180). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62887-5_16

This chapter introduces the relevance of literature to develop coping skills before and after natural disasters and humanitarian crises. In the words of Crawford & Roberts (2018), literature is an opportunity for children to understand that in life, there will be difficult circumstances to afford. The chapter includes an annotated bibliography to guide selecting books related to natural disasters and humanitarian crises. Books can be used to inform, console under challenging times, and model coping, resilience, and empathetic strategies.

The authors suggest titles categorized in types of natural disasters such as drought, blizzards, storms and tornadoes, earthquakes, tidal waves and tsunamis, hurricanes, and floods, and mention recommended age. Titles are mainly narrated in the first person, with children and animals as protagonist characters. There are also some stories about children in disability situations and families. Values underlined in stories are resilience, bravery, knowledge about procedures during a disaster, and coping strategies. Stories are about pre, post, and after disaster periods, for instance, preparing the house before the arrival of a hurricane, evacuating the school, and rebuilding the devastated city after an earthquake with the community.

Titles suggested are relevant to the purpose of this curatorship due to serve as a starting point to select quality picture books that close children to the effects of natural disasters. However, research should be done on each book to acknowledge which kind of titles are, following the suggestion of Becnel et al. (2015) on prioritizing small-press and self-published books to use with children affected by natural disasters.

Shereff, D., Palmer, R. & Cannon, P. (2017). Every Reader Her Book: Creation of a Therapeutic Library at a Women's Residential Treatment Facility. Journal of Hospital Librarianship, 17(1), 42-52. https://doi.org/10.1080/15323269.2017.1259444

Shereff, Palmer & Cannon (2017) analyzed the process of creating a therapeutic library in a residential treatment facility for women in rehabilitation, based on bibliotherapy as a theoretical framework. The authors begin with a presentation of the project and then explain the value of bibliotherapy as a therapeutic method to recovery from different mental health issues. Even though the theme of this annotated bibliography is not about mental health problems related to substance abuse, the article provides relevant insights on the process of design, curate and implement a bibliotherapy program for specific patients.

The authors mention that it is important to be clear about the necessary theoretical resources for specific treatments and specific patients when defining the booklist of the therapeutic library. For instance, in the case of the woman in the rehabilitation of drug and alcohol abuse, the resources they define were (1) psychoeducation resources, (2) gender-specific needs, (3) cultural and language needs, and (4) life skills. To be therapeutic, the library should attach these domains to its booklist. Non-fictional books can be used for recovery support and health information, and fictional books can be used as mirrors. Some books should be chosen for each patient in coherency with their recovery process, and others could be for free choice.

Another interesting input that this article provides to my curatorship is orientation on collecting and selecting titles. Professionals in charge of the therapeutic library collected their titles based on reading lists from the library and information science professional resources, from health counselors working on women and substance abuse, and from asking patients for their recommendations. The authors suggested that the community it will serve is the most relevant variable in creating the booklist.

Conclusion

This annotated bibliography is intended to be a guide for schools to cure and implement a media program to accompany children in their process of preparing for and recovering from the possible effects of natural disasters on their well-being. The first article promotes a relevant reflection on how children are participating in discussions and actions related to the effects of natural disasters in their lives. The second article provides an evidence-based strategy that could serve as a framework for program design and development, and the last four articles provide suggestions for collecting and selecting titles that are meaningful to children and that address the therapeutic needs that children experience they will need before and after a disaster.

Given that this work aims to provide a holistic vision of curating and implementing a media program to prepare children for natural disasters, the review of articles focused on other media such as movies or games is still pending to fully comply with the objective. This deficiency is not due to a lack of intention but because it was challenging to find academic articles that address the effects of natural disasters in children, using media different from books.

Finally, it will be interesting to go in-depth in this review to provide useful information to Spanish speakers because Latin America and the Caribbean are and will continue to be the most damaged territories of the effects of natural disasters (World Meteorological Organization [WMO], 2021)

References

Bernstein, M. & Pfefferbaum, B. (2018). Posttraumatic Growth as a Response to Natural Disasters in Children and Adolescents. Current Psychiatry Reports, 20(5), 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-018-0900-4

Makwana, N. (2019). Disaster and its impact on mental health: A narrative review. Journal of Family Medicine and Primary Care, 8(10), 3090–3095. https://doi.org/10.4103/jfmpc.jfmpc_893_19

Masten, A. (2021). Resilience of children in disasters: A multisystem perspective. International Journal of Psychology, 56(1), 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1002/ijop.12737

Sattler, D., & Smith, A. (2020). Facilitating Posttraumatic Growth in the Wake of Natural Disasters: Considerations for Crisis Response. In Positive Psychological Approaches to Disaster. (pp. 169–185). Springer International Publishing. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-32007-2_11

World Meteorological Organization (2021). State of the Climate in Latin America and the Caribbean 2020.  https://library.wmo.int/doc_num.php?explnum_id=10765