Vb. Brown et al., PSYCHOLOGICAL FUNCTIONING AND SUBSTANCE-ABUSE BEFORE AND AFTER THE 1992 LOS-ANGELES RIOT IN A COMMUNITY SAMPLE OF WOMEN, Journal of psychoactive drugs, 26(4), 1994, pp. 431-437
An ongoing study of interventions designed to increase nontraditional
social supports among women at high risk for HIV infection was in the
field during the 1992 Los Angeles riot in those neighborhoods most aff
ected by the urban unrest. Using data from structured interviews, the
psychosocial characteristics, drug abuse patterns, and distress levels
among the women who were recruited for the project in the six months
before and after the riot were examined. While substance abuse levels
among participants did not increase or decrease as a function of the r
iot, there were a smaller number of social supports and marginally gre
ater levels of already high psychological distress. Women in the commu
nity specifically mentioned a lack of social supports from counselors
available in affected areas after the riot. An ethnographic analysis d
iscusses the experience of the participants in the community during th
e same period of time. Problems in social supports are pointed out. Th
e results are discussed in terms of a general theory of service provis
ion by increasing nontraditional social supports, especially immediate
ly after a major cataclysm.