Puerto Rican College Students and Cascading Disasters: Narratives on Perceived Social Vulnerability and Mental Health Inequities

This study aims to examine the experiences of Puerto Rican college students with cascading disasters that occurred in recent years, paying particular attention to differences among undergraduate students by where they were attending college. The data analyzed drew on 12 interviews with Puerto Rican college students living in metropolitan Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico. In this study, I ask: How do Puerto Rican college students experience cascading disasters? What are Puerto Rican college students' perception of mental health inequity and social vulnerability in relation to cascading disasters? How do Puerto Rican college students in the island experience cascading disasters differently than Puerto Rican college students in the mainland? Using the ‘Cascading Hazards to disAsters that are Socially constructed eMerging out of Social Vulnerability’ (CHASMS) conceptual model, this study aims to examine how Puerto Rican college students experience cascading disasters and how they perceive mental health inequities and social vulnerability. Findings highlight their experiences, vulnerability differences between Puerto Rican college students in the island and in the mainland, and a shared desire for change in Puerto Rico among all Puerto Rican college students.

Author

• Diaz Quintana, Lauren Marie

Language

• en

Keyword

• Disasters
• Puerto Rican College Students
• Cascading Disasters
• Higher Education

Date created

• 2022

Type of Work

• Master's Thesis

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Sociology

Degree

• M.A.

Advisor

• Vaquera, Elizabeth

Committee Member(s)

• Price, Marie
• Ishizawa, Hiromi

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/cj82k808c