Resiliency among people who are homeless during the washington-area sniper attacks of October 2002

The natural and man-made disasters in the first decade of the 21st century have raised issues of race, poverty, and inequality in federal, state, and local emergency response and recovery systems. In various studies, reports, and media accounts of these events, little is mentioned about people who were homeless at the time of the disaster, showing a further marginalization of some populations of people who are poor during such times. For this study, researchers interviewed 151 people who were homeless during the Washington, DC, sniper shootings of 2002 to ascertain how they behaved and coped during the shootings, and how long it took them to return to how they were before the shootings. Implications of the findings are drawn for social work research, education, and practice.