“Every day is difficult for my body and my heart.” Forced evictions in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Women’s narratives of risk and resilience. Colleen McGinn Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy under the Executive Committee of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 2013 © 2013 Colleen McGinn All rights reserved ABSTRACT “Every day is difficult for my body and my heart.” Forced evictions in Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Women’s narratives of risk and resilience. Colleen McGinn This study uses narrative analysis to explore the question: How do forced evictions impact the psychosocial health of displaced women in Phnom Penh, and what sources of risk and resilience frame how they manage the exigencies of displacement? I use Stress and Coping Theory to frame analysis of the narratives of evicted women in order to understand their lived experiences and pathways of adaptation. Analysis of 27 interviews with 22 women demonstrated highly diverse experiences and divergent outcomes. I present a typology of post-eviction socioeconomic pathways because women’s coping strategies and adaptation are deeply grounded in the nature and degree of economic harm that they experienced. From this context, I explore how women coped with their displacement. Stress tended to manifest in the form of somatic ailments and rumination. Social support and livelihood capacity emerged as key protective factors. The better-off participants for whom eviction tended to represent harm to assets, community, and aspirations typically exhibited a great deal of anger and/or anxiety, and they experienced forced eviction as a discreet, tragic, and even traumatic event. By contrast, those who lived in poverty tended to manifest depression, hopelessness, and passive resignation. These women spoke of their forced eviction as a terrible but somehow normal event within lives characterized by the exploitation and suffering shouldered by the very poor. I conclude with recommendations for policymakers and social work practitioners. Table of Contents Acknowledgements and Dedication ..................................................................................... iv Chapter 1: Introduction and Overview. ..................................................................................... 1 1.1 Introduction and Problem Statement. ........................................................................ 1 1.2 Background and Context. ............................................................................................ 2 1.3 Problem Statement. .................................................................................................... 6 1.4 Research Question. ..................................................................................................... 7 1.5 Rationale and Significance of the Study. ..................................................................... 8 1.6 Research Approach. .................................................................................................... 8 1.7 Theoretical Framework. ............................................................................................ 10 1.8 Outline and Conclusion. ............................................................................................ 11 Chapter 2: Literature Review. ................................................................................................... 13 2.1 Overview of the Literature Review and Rationale for Topics .................................... 13 2.2 Global Context of Forced Evictions. ........................................................................... 14 2.3 Forced Evictions in Cambodia. ................................................................................... 26 2.4 Mental Health and Coping in Cambodia. ................................................................... 45 2.5 Conclusion. ................................................................................................................ 56 Chapter 3: Methodology .......................................................................................................... 57 3.1. Introduction. ............................................................................................................. 57 3.2. Overview of Methodology ........................................................................................ 58 3.3. Research Design. ....................................................................................................... 60 3.4. Research Site. ............................................................................................................ 61 3.5. Research Sample. ...................................................................................................... 62 3.6. Data Collection Methods. .......................................................................................... 64 i 3.7. Staffing. ..................................................................................................................... 66 3.8. Language and Translation Considerations. ................................................................ 66 3.9. Data Analysis. ............................................................................................................ 68 3.10. Limitations of the Data. ......................................................................................... 71 Chapter 4: Findings – Socioeconomic Trajectories .................................................................... 75 4.1 Introduction and Overview. .......................................................................................... 75 4.2 Variable Socioeconomic Outcomes ........................................................................... 76 4.2.1. High Levels of Livelihood Harm……………………………………………………………………………78 4.2.2 High Levels of Asset Harm…………………………………………………………………………………….92 4.2.3. High levels of Both Livelihood and Asset Harm…………………………………………………102 4.2.4. Neutral or Improved Impact of Forced Eviction…………………………………………………106 4.3. Conclusion. ................................................................................................................. 113 Chapter 5. Findings – Stress, Coping, and Adaptation. .......................................................... 114 5.1 Overview of Stress and Coping Theory. ...................................................................... 114 5.2 Assessment of the Stressor ........................................................................................ 119 5.3 Post-Eviction Coping Strategies. .................................................................................. 122 5.4 Social Support. ........................................................................................................... 130 5.5 Expressions of Stress and Distress. ............................................................................. 137 5.6 Desperate Coping Strategies......................................................................................... 148 5.7 Structural Violence and Social Suffering. .................................................................... 149 5.8 Conclusion. ................................................................................................................... 153 Chapter 6: Discussion and Conclusion. ................................................................................... 154 6.1 Introduction. ........................................................................................................... 154 6.2 Implications for Public Policy, Social Work Practice, and Further Research. ........... 154 6.3 Conclusion: Risk, Resilience, and Adaptation. ......................................................... 171 ii References .............................................................................................................................. 175 Appendix A: Definitions of Key Terms. ................................................................................... 194 Appendix B: Interview Guides. ............................................................................................... 203 Appendix C: Translation Protocols (based on Baker, 1992). ................................................... 216 Appendix D: Profiles of the Five Evicted Neighborhoods and Participants. ............................ 223 Appendix E: Extended Excerpts from Selected Narratives. ..................................................... 245 iii Acknowledgements and Dedication My greatest thanks is to the women who shared their stories of displacement and its aftermath with me. I have tried to honor them in the writing of this dissertation, and the thousands of others displaced by forced evictions in Phnom Penh and across the world. Their stories, voices, and experiences can and should shape a better future for Cambodia. This dissertation would not have been possible without the immense personal and scholarly support that I have received throughout several years of fieldwork, data analysis, and writing. First and foremost, I would like to thank my committee. My sponsor, J. Denise Burnette, has been a champion and true mentor throughout. The chair of my committee, James M. Mandiberg, was also my academic advisor during my years in the Columbia doctoral program and was essential in helping me navigate it. Leakhena Nou, Rogério M. Pinto, and Michael G. Wessells all provided critical guidance at different points of my studies and research. Warren Green, the director of the Columbia