Psychological effects of technological/human-caused environmental disasters: examination of the Navajo and uranium

• Published in: American Indian and Alaska native mental health research Vol. 11; no. 1; pp. 19 - 45
• Main Authors: Markstrom, Carol A, Charley, Perry H
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States American Indian and Alaska Native Programs 2003
• Subjects: Anxiety; Anxiety - etiology; At Risk Persons; Child; Compensation and Redress; Context Effect; Coping; Culture; Depression (Psychology); Depression - etiology; Disasters - history; Environmental Influences; Environmental Pollutants; Female; Futures (of Society); Government; Grief; Hazardous Materials; Health Education; History, 20th Century; Humans; Indians, North American - history; Indians, North American - psychology; Male; Medicine, Traditional; Mining; Mining - history; Navajo; Occupational Exposure; Occupational Safety and Health; Pollution; Poverty; Prejudice; Psychological Patterns; Quality of Life; Racial Bias; Science and Society; Socioeconomic Factors; Socioeconomic Status; Technology; Trust Responsibility (Government); United States; Uranium - poisoning; Wastes; United States
• ISSN: 0893-5394; 1533-7731; 1533-7731
• DOI: 10.5820/aian.1101.2003.19

Disasters can be defined as catastrophic events that challenge the normal range of human coping ability. The technological/human-caused disaster, a classification of interest in this article, is attributable to human error or misjudgment. Lower socioeconomic status and race intersect in the heightened risk for technological/human-caused disasters among people of color. The experience of the Navajo with the uranium industry is argued to specifically be this type of a disaster with associated long-standing psychological impacts. The history of the Navajo with uranium mining and milling is reviewed with a discussion of the arduous efforts for compensation. The psychological impacts of this long-standing disaster among the Navajo are organized around major themes of: (a) human losses and bereavement, (b) environmental losses and contamination, (c) feelings of betrayal by government and mining and milling companies, (d) fears about current and future effects, (e) prolonged duration of psychological effects, (f) anxiety and depression, and (g) complicating factors of poverty and racism. The paper concludes with suggestions for culturally-appropriate education and intervention.