Analyze

In Louisiana, governing elites have long found it more profitable to deny the connections between health outcomes and the structural inequities of an anti-Black petrostate. Their denial is made possible by the existence of data divergence–that is, inconsistencies between data sets or between a data set and the realities it purports to represent (Encyclopedia of Social Measurement 2005). These inconsistencies range from missing or “undone” (i.e. incomplete or ignored) data (Frickel et al. 2007) to the production of different measures (and the selection of different priorities) by institutional silos. Recognition of the need for public health capacities that address the systems and structures impacting health–especially children’s health–has motivated health equity advocates in Louisiana to fill the data gaps through collaborative datawork, that is, the work of making data meaningful across social and scientific communities. In 2022, a coalition of community organizations, academic researchers, and public health workers led by the Louisiana Center for Health Equity (LCHE), a community-based organization created by a registered nurse, worked together to examine the links between adolescent mental health and disciplinary practices in schools. Ensuring their agendas were informed by community priorities led them to incorporate the contributions of adolescents advocating for better access to physical and mental healthcare resources and the abolishment of discriminatory and punitive disciplinary actions in schools. Their collaborative datawork revealed how data gaps around adolescent mental health are a structuring component of schools’ discriminatory and punitive climates–much as gaps in environmental health data benefit polluting industries. They found that existing figures around adolescent mental health are inaccurate, as many youth are unable to receive an official diagnosis owing to lack of healthcare access. LCHE advocates at a house committee meeting in January 2023 reported that students who exhibit behavioral issues rooted in trauma or mental health more often receive punitive disciplinary actions rather than rehabilitative and restorative services. This work generated the support needed to pass legislation to expand public health infrastructure and access to mental health resources. In June 2023, House Bill 353 authorized the allotment of "mental health days" as an excused absence for students; introduced procedures for schools to connect students to medical treatment and services; and required the Louisiana Department of Education to develop and administer a pilot program for implementing mental health screening, among other changes. By mobilizing advocates and scholars from across the social and institutional silos, LCHE’s collaborative datawork tentatively expanded children’s public health infrastructures. 

Fisher, Margaux. 2023. "Collaborative Datawork and Reframing Adolescent Mental Health in the Deep South." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

Our project has been conducted in so-called ‘Kelowna’ , located in ‘British Columbia’ , ‘Canada’. This land on which we live and work is the unceded, ancestral territory of the syilx Okanagan nation. Prior to European colonisation in the 19th century, the syilx people stewarded the land for thousands of years, guided by an ethos that sees the nonhuman world as an inheritance to be protected rather than owned and exploited. In spite of the violence of settler colonialism, syilx culture endures. A compelling example of the mobilisation of syilx knowledge systems and philosophies against environmental injustice is the restoration of kokanee and coho salmon to the Okanagan. Since the 1990s, the Okanagan Nation Alliance has led efforts to restore habitats, build fish passages over dams, and release fry. The salmon populations have rebounded from near extinction through a process guided by syilx environmental principles. While designing a class in place-based environmental humanities methods we have collaborated with syilx colleagues to integrate their philosophies and approaches to land-based learning. 

Image source 'Mission Creek in Kelowna', Daisy Pullman

Pullman, Daisy, Astrida Niemanis, Natalie Forssman and Haida Gaede. 2023.  "Place-based Learning on syilx Land." In 4S Paraconference X EiJ: Building a Global Record, curated by Misria Shaik Ali, Kim Fortun, Phillip Baum and Prerna Srigyan. Annual Meeting of the Society of Social Studies of Science. Honolulu, Hawai'i, Nov 8-11.

The authors all work at University of California San Francisco. Their names are Vicanne Adams, Taslim Van Hattum, and Diana English. Adams works at USCF and was the former director and vice-chair in the department of anthropology, history, and social medicine. She focuses her research in Global Health, Asian Medical Systems, Social Theory, Critical Medical Anthropology, Sexuality and Gender, Safe Motherhood, Disaster Recovery, Tibet, Nepal, China and the US. She has been involved in various publications and has received numerous grants from the NIH. Van Hattum and English are also within the department for Anthropology, History, and Social Medicine. 

The main argument made in this article is that the term "chronic disaster syndrome" can be used as a diagnosis of Katrina survivors as opposed to PTSD. They use this term on the basis of factors including: individual suffering (trauma), the workings of disaster capitalism tied to the undermining of public infrastructures of social welfare and their replacement with private-sector service provision through contracts with for-profit corporations, and the ways that displacement functions within disaster capitalism. They make the point that this term can be used in link with disasters. In this case, Katrina caused "chronic disaster syndrome" to most survivors in that they were affected (and still are) socially, politically, and individually. The trauma experienced and the lack of leadership and governmental response created stressful situations for all residents of New Orleans pre-Katrina. 

The argument is supported through various anecdotes and testimonials. The authors use quotes from various victims in order to highlight the ways in which they were affected by Katrina. Notably, Sally, a 56-year-old woman from St. Bernard Parish who was still living in a FEMA trailer 50 miles from her original residence 2 1/2 years after the storm was interviewed. She talks about the living conditions post-Katrina. She describes families being torn apart, the National Guard using unnecessary force, and dead bodies floating in the water. The authors also use statistics and facts in order to back up their point about the horrendous conditions the survivors were in post-Katrina. A psychological and anthropological analysis also helps strengthen their argument regarding chronic disaster syndrome.

1. "Despite the overwhelming need for mental health services, few residents were able to access mental health support for their symptoms, simply because health care facilities and health care personnel were so scarce. Most health personnel were themselves experiencing the trauma of displacement, and few clinical facilities survived the disaster."
2. "...in the months following Katrina, that the suicide rate had tripled..."
3. "Lakeview, a predominantly Caucasian upper-middle class community, had perhaps made the most progress in rebuilding."
4. "However, for most urban poor residents, it became clear fairly soon after the disaster that they would not be welcomed back to the city."

Through extensive data analysis and interviews, the authors were able to produce claims and formulate their argument. They used information from the NIH and other research and data already obtained to explore displacement in relation to race, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, and age. 

Emergency response is a vital aspect of this article. The authors highlight the ways in which lack of leadership and reaction to Katrina had devastating results. Initially, emergency response had no idea what it was dealing with. Lack of resources and personnel created great issues. Many people helped neighbors and others instead of waiting for help. Long-term discussion of emergency response is also discussed and critiqued as there were vast issues with that. Inappropriate allocation of funds and the lack of leadership created a mess for both emergency responders and the survivors. 

I was able to find that this article was cited in 51 other publications or papers. While many of the publications also discuss the shortcomings of disaster response in Katrina, others citation examples include studies involving anthropology, aging, or security issue. This article also is used as a way to highlight Katrina and how to prepare for future disasters. 

With a very long bibliography, it can be assumed that a lot of research was put into this paper in order to strengthen the argument. The authors clearly did a lot of research, citing not only governmental sources, but other researchers as well. Variety in the articles present in the bibliography can be seen.