Micro disasters: Expanding the social work conceptualization of disasters

Abstract

Environmental problems, like environmental disasters, mirror oppressive structural forces in society, as the primary victims of environmental degradation are also the main victims of other injustices. However, scholarship is lacking on the impacts of environmental disasters in these populations. Using a participatory phenomenological approach from a social work standpoint, this study uses the concept of slow violence to explore disasters in several poor communities in Kenya. Findings include the development and operationalization of a new term, micro disasters. Micro disasters are everyday problems that are linked to development and have no formal aid support for survivors, which deepens poverty.