The Impact of Hurricane Katrina on the Duprees (Essay Sample)

ESSAY
Remember that an essay should be well written. Be sure to include an introduction and a conclusion. You may use your outline to guide your response.
In 2005, Hurricane Katrina devastated many parts of the Gulf Coast. Particularly hard hit was the Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana. Researchers later concluded that the damage was ultimately not caused by the fast winds of the hurricane but by flooding and breaking of the levees. In the wake of the hurricane, many people had to flee for their lives from the Ninth Ward and other areas. One family that had to leave was that of Mr. and Mrs. Jean Dupree, their four children, and Mr. Dupree’s elderly mother and father. The Dupree family had lived for many generations in New Orleans and had played an active role in their parish’s service organizations and their children’s school. Mr. Dupree was a highly skilled carpenter and Mrs. Dupree was a wonderful baker and had a small business from her home where she was helping to care for her frail mother-in-law and father-in-law and her young daughter.
FEMA temporarily relocated the Dupree family to a small town in western Pennsylvania. The Duprees arrived with only clothes handed out to them at a disaster center in Texas and little possessions since they did not have time to remove anything from their home and could only carry with them what was truly needed for survival. Mrs. Dupree was sad that they were not able to retrieve the book with their wedding pictures and a book of ancient photographs with pictures of her now deceased parents and her husband’s parents when they were younger and healthier. She was especially sad to leave behind a book containing baby pictures of their children. Family mementos and jewelry may also be lost to the waters forever. The Duprees were uneasy when they arrived. They were African American and Catholic and the townspeople seemed to be nearly all white and they only saw Protestant churches when they walked around the town.
The Duprees’ case was assigned to a local social service agency. They met with a counselor who reminded them that this was only a temporary solution until they could eventually return to their home in the Ninth Ward. The Duprees asked how long that would be and she replied that she did not know. The Duprees asked for a ballpark figure and again the counselor said that she did not know and that they must make the best of the situation now. She had found an apartment for them that she thought would be ideal. It had two bedrooms. The grandparents could sleep in one bedroom with the Duprees’ five-year-old daughter. The eleven-year-old son and the nine-year-old son could share the living room. The parents could sleep in the other bedroom with their two-year-old daughter. The counselor said that she had found daycare for their two-year-old.
The counselor said that the other sister and the two brothers could attend the local grammar school. She had found work for the father as a laborer in a construction crew. She said that Mrs. Dupree could work in the local high school cafeteria and she had found some homecare for the grandparents. She said that if these arrangements do not work out she might be able temporarily to place the grandparents in a nursing home. The Duprees sat silently during the counselor’s announcements rarely looking up. The counselor pressured them to respond to her and asked if they were not pleased that all the services seemed to be in place. Mr. Dupree tried to explain to her that his wife and he were accustomed to living in their own home and being self-employed and that the family preferred to take care of his parents rather than having them cared for by strangers. The family also preferred to take care of their young daughter rather than having her in daycare. He acknowledged that the school year had already started and that he did not want his children to miss too much more of school but he thought that the family still needed some time to settle in. Furthermore, the children were accustomed to attending their local parish school and he was concerned what values might be taught in the local school in this community. The counselor turned to the mother and asked if she saw things the same way that her husband did. Mrs. Dupree said that she did not want to be apart from her children, her husband, or her mother-in-law and father-in-law. She explained that people in their neighborhood had died or were still missing and that her family was still trying to recover from the shock.
The counselor asked the family to excuse her for a few minutes while she went to check on a few details. She went straight to her supervisor and expressed frustration with the family insisting that they were hostile and distant. Then, when she finally got them to talk, they got all emotional. Fortunately, for her, as her supervisor, you are a health counselor and educator who has good listening skills and who is sensitive to cultural differences. How would you have handled the first session with the Duprees differently?
1. How might counseling help the Duprees?
2. What are the potential multicultural issues about which you must be sensitive in working with the Dupree family?
3. How would you use your attending, empathy, and observational skills to help the
Duprees to tell their story?
4. What kinds of questions might you ask the Duprees to help the interview flow and gain critical information about them?
5. How would you use your active listening skills of encouraging, paraphrasing, and summarizing to build an empathic relationship with the Dupree family?
6. How might you reflect feelings to help the Duprees better understand and clarify their feelings and support their expressiveness in a way that helps both cognitive functioning and emotional regulation?
7. After helping the Dupree family to draw out and elaborate their story, what do you think are the major concerns and challenges for the Duprees and what are their strengths and resources?