William W. Harris

At the outset of the 21st century, perhaps the most interesting feature of the Levant (in Arabic, Bilad al-Sham), in the midst of an overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim Arab world, is the command of the entire coastal zone from Cilicia south to Sinai either by non-Arabs or by Arabs who are not Sunni Muslims. This reality overshadows the Levantine interior. In the central Levant the mountain has come to town with the Alawi political ascendance in Damascus in the south, Israeli military and economic power dominates the Palestinians and Jordanians. The transformation in less than a century is remarkable. The revolutionary alteration in the affairs of the Levant through the 20th century has obviously caused great tension. The character and viability of all of the new states created in Bilad al-Sham since 1920 is in continuous flux; national, ethnic, and sectarian frictions have shaped the contemporary geopolitics of the region.

A Fractured Mosaic

The Levant

Joy D. Osofsky

Howard J. Osofsky

Hurricane Katrina resulted in a disaster of proportions not previously known in the United States. The traumatic experiences of children and families during Hurricane Katrina, the flooding that resulted from the breach of the levees, the evacuation, and the aftermath are unprecedented. In responding to the enormous mental health needs of children post-Katrina, the Trauma Team of skilled mental health professionals from the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center (LSUHSC) Department of Psychiatry provided crisis intervention and services. This paper discusses the work of the LSUHSC Trauma Team and provides a snapshot of the current mental health status of several thousand children and adolescents in post-Katrina New Orleans (not including those who were still displaced). Almost one half of the 4th to 12th grade students and over one quarter of younger children (based on parental report) met criteria for mental health services, based on the number and severity of their behavioral symptoms. Children who were separated from their parents or who had experienced previous trauma or loss were most likely to meet criteria. Ongoing risk relates to poverty, slowness of recovery, job loss, and family problems. Recommendations for rapid deployment of mental health services to children are provided, based on the Trauma Team's experiences. Educational efforts, school-based services, after-school care, resilience-enhancing programs, and community-building strategies are also discussed. Most important, a clearly articulated national disaster plan for children and families is urgently needed. This plan should be trauma-focused and based on developmental principles, research, and lessons learned from this and prior disasters. Knowledge gained from this disaster can aid in understanding and meeting the needs of children and families impacted by disasters, promoting resilience and self-efficacy, and providing evidence-based therapeutic services. (Contains 1 endnote.) [Commentaries from James Garbarino, Christina W. Hoven, Judith Wicks and Cheryl A. Boyce are included. Commentaries are individually referenced.].

Social Policy Considerations for Children in Disasters. Social Policy Report. Volume 21, Number 1

Katrina's Children

William Harris

Offers a perspective on the antecedents of modern multi-communal Lebanon, tracing the consolidation of Lebanon's Christian, Muslim, and Islamic derived sects from their origins between the sixth and eleventh centuries. Modern Lebanon arose out of European and Ottoman intervention in the 1860s to secure sectarian peace. Harris contends that Lebanon has not found a new equilibrium and has not transcended its sects. This book offers readers an understanding of how modern Lebanon acquired its precarious social intricacy and its singular political character

William W. Harris

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