An Exploratory Study on the Post-Disaster Psychological Resilience of Urban Communities in Metro Manila: In the Case of Manila and Malabon

Abstract

This study looked into the experiences of urban communities to be able to describe their post-disaster psychological resilience in the individual, family, and community level. This study employed exploratory research method and utilized qualitative descriptive analysis to be able to explore the experiences of urban communities on the practice of building post-disaster psychological resilience. It was conducted in two research sites – Barangay 597 in Manila and Barangay Dampalit in Malabon City. The study used focus group discussions (FGD) as data collection method. Five sets of FGD were conducted in each research site wherein each set is composed of 4-7 participants. A total of 50 participants took part in the 10 sets of FGD in both sites. The practices of building post-disaster psychological resilience including the application of coping strategies and facilitating factors in the two communities were found to be similar. The findings show that the view of the two urban communities towards disasters are nearly the same. The two communities deal with the same sets of disaster-related problems which involve lack of access to basic necessities and possible damages and losses. The residents deal with these problems through utilization of comparable coping strategies and facilitating factors which are exhibited in the individual, family, and community level. Filipino traits and values which characterize the Filipino construct of psychological resilience are embedded in these strategies. Socio-demographic characteristics of individuals influence their way of coping due to the roles and responsibilities attached to their sex, age, and roles in the community.