Abstract:
Drawing on the human ecology framework, which describes social structure as dynamic and social action as environmentally contingent, this article examines behavior and attitudes around accepting help after disaster. Through two years of longitudinal in-depth interviews with 59 households in one community whose homes flooded during Hurricane Harvey, this study describes perceived shifts in the help provided by local organizations, institutions, and the social networks of community members—or what we call the local ecology of aid. While flood victims experienced an immense, and seemingly universal, outpouring of support in the immediate aftermath of the storm, in the ensuing months they reported a sharp decrease in this interpersonal support. In the absence of a local ecology of aid marked by the universal provision of aid, concerns about stigmatization began to inform decisions about accepting help. Our findings have implications for ecological theorizing, for understanding stigma and help-seeking or accepting help, as well as for fostering community resilience—a growing concern given the expanding scope and intensity of climate-related disasters.