Families Coping With Financial Loss Following the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

• Published date: 01 December 2020
• Author: Kathryn Sweet Keating,Sarah Becker,Ifeyinwa F. Davis,Thomas Chandler,Tim Slack,Jaishree Beedasy
• Date: 01 December 2020
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12510

K S K, S B,  I F. DLouisiana State

University

T CColumbia University

T SLouisiana State University

J BColumbia University

Families Coping With Financial Loss Following

the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

Objective: This study examines family strate-

gies for coping and adaptation to social disrup-

tion from the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill

(DHOS) in south Louisiana.

Background: The DHOS is a technological

disaster of unprecedented scale and ongoing

impact, including the socioeconomic disruption

of families.

Method: Using data from focus groups,

grounded-theory methods informed a the-

matic analysis of spill-related economic loss

and coping mechanisms among families in the

spill-affected region.

Results: Key ndings were as follows: (a)

long-term economic impacts persisted but were

nuanced and differed across places; (b) for

families living in multistressor environments,

concerns about the DHOS spilled over into

other aspects of social functioning and became

enmeshed with perceptions of other environmen-

tal stressors; and (c) economic exposure after

the DHOS affected families differently based on

social position and community social structure.

Department of Sociology, Louisiana State University, 26

Stubbs Hall, Baton Rouge, LA 70803 (keati7@lsu.edu).

Key Words: conservation of resources, Deepwater Horizon

oil spill, disaster resilience, family coping.

Conclusion: This study contributes to existing

knowledge on technological disaster and family

resilience in the face of environmental shocks

and stressors, underscoring the utility of the

conservation of resources model of stress in this

area of research.

Implications: This research offers information

about family-level response to oil spill impacts

and may be of interest to policymakers and prac-

titioners who work to support resilience in disas-

ter contexts.

Louisiana’s coastal communities are home to a

vibrant blend of cultures, livelihoods, and iden-

tities (Henry & Bankston, 2002). The State’s

abundant oil and gas reserves—both onshore

and offshore—have supported the development

of an oil and gas industry that employs workers

in all 64 of its parishes (U.S. Energy Infor-

mation Administration, 2019). The seafood

industry is another pillar of Louisiana’s econ-

omy. Commercial shers in Louisana are among

the nation’s top harvesters of oysters, crabs,

shrimp, and crawsh (Louisiana Department

of Health, 2019). Although rich with natural

and cultural resources, coastal environments

and communities of Louisiana also are uniquely

vulnerable to environmental hazards (Coastal

Protection and Restoration Authority, 2018).

Family Relations 69 (December 2020): 887–906887

DOI:10.1111/fare.12510

888 Family Relations

Sociodemographic vulnerability can com-

pound the impacts of disaster, as about one

in ve Louisianans lives below the poverty

line. Louisiana also has one of the highest

rates of poverty among children in the United

States (27.4%; U.S. Census Bureau, 2018).

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric

Administration estimates that communities

in Louisiana have sustained more than 70 sep-

arate “billion-dollar” natural disaster events

between 1980 and 2020 (National Centers for

Environmental Information, 2020). The present

study seeks to examine the effects of a parallel

and exacerbating danger: a human-caused tech-

nological disaster, the BP Deepwater Horizon

oil spill (DHOS). Here, we provide a qualitative

account of family coping in the aftermath of the

DHOS in coastal areas of south Louisiana.

The DHOS is the largest offshore oil spill in

U.S. history. It is estimated more than 200 mil-

lion gallons of oil were released into the Gulf of

Mexico between the time of the initial rig explo-

sion in April 2010 and the time it took to nally

cap the wellhead 3 months later. Across the ve

Gulf states, more than 1,300miles of shoreline

were oiled. Because the Deepwater Horizon rig

was located off the coast of south Louisiana,

coastal areas of the state bore the brunt of this

impact (Mississippi–Alabama SeaGrant Consor-

tium, 2019). The resulting damage to natural

ecosystems, communities, and economies war-

ranted complex and long-term cleanup, com-

pensation, and monitoring efforts. The disaster’s

economic, ecological, and social impacts con-

tinue to unfold.

As part of a larger mixed-methods study,

Resilient Children, Youth, and Communities

(RCYC), this analysis employed qualitative

techniques to draw insights on family coping in

the aftermath of the DHOS. Data were drawn

from more than 9hours of recorded conver-

sations from focus groups with parents and

primary child caregivers living in six commu-

nities across south Louisiana. The objective

of this research was to obtain deeper insights

into the post-spill experiences of Louisiana

families as participants described strategies for

coping and adaptation to the social disruption

resulting from the DHOS. Our study contributes

to the existing body of knowledge around

human-caused disaster and family resilience in

the face of environmental shocks and stressors

(e.g., Arata et al., 2000; Bonanno et al., 2010;

Osofsky & Osofsky,2018; Picou et al., 2004) by

highlighting how place shapes south Louisiana

parents’ and child caregivers’ individual and

family experiences.

B

Disaster has been characterized for social

inquiry as “the physical impacts of or problems

caused for human communities by unplanned

and socially disruptive events” (Kreps 1984,

p. 311). Exposure to a disaster can threaten

the things people value most—including social

relationships, nances, and property (Arata

et al., 2000; Hobfoll, 2012). Technological—or

human-caused—disasters, such as the DHOS,

differ from disasters that people view as “natu-

ral” in many ways. Rather than being perceived

as an “act of God” beyond human control,

technological disasters often result in contested

narratives around disaster impacts, responsibil-

ity, and blame that spur greater social disruption

due to rancorous discord, distrust, and pro-

tracted litigation (Arata et al., 2000; Baum

et al., 1983; Picou et al., 1992, 2004; Ritchie,

Gill, & Long, 2018). Such contexts have been

termed corrosive community (e.g., Freudenburg

& Jones, 1991; Picou et al., 2004).

Exposure to a disaster takes different forms.

In the case of a technological disaster like an

oil spill, people may experience direct expo-

sure to the spill through touch or smell. Indi-

rect exposure involves secondary contact with

a disaster-affected individual, environment, or

community. For example, a sher might come

into physical contact with oiled water or sh dur-

ing their work (i.e., direct exposure), but that

person also may experience economic disrup-

tion and social disorganization resulting from

the spill (i.e., indirect exposure). Indeed, indi-

rect exposures tend to affect much broader pop-

ulations (Arata et al., 2000; Palinkas, 2012;

Palinkas et al., 1993). For example, for com-

mercial and recreational shers in Louisiana

and across the Gulf, short-term disruption of

the industry after the DHOS included shery

closures and harvest bans, with longer last-

ing impacts related to public health concerns

about safety of seafood for consumption (Car-

roll et al., 2016; Simon-Friedt et al., 2016).

Those employed in the seafood industry, how-

ever, were not the only ones affected. Work-

ers in the oil and gas industry were challenged

with restrictions on platform work and a mora-

torium on drilling that halted employment in the