Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf | Qeios

Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf

University of Florida

Social Sciences

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Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf

University of Florida, United States

Aug 7, 2024
Review Article

The Relationship Between Housing Conditions and Social Vulnerabilities: A Literature Review

The real estate market in the US has historically been shaped by social systems that influence economic foundations, political environments, and social norms, leading to socioeconomic inequality and segregation. Social vulnerabilities, rooted in these systems, result in unequal risk distributions across communities, particularly during disasters. Many case studies have highlighted how marginalized communities suffer disproportionately due to poor housing conditions. This disparity is compounded by historical policies such as the Indian Removal Act, Jim Crow Laws, and the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation mapping system, which entrenched housing inequities. Addressing these vulnerabilities requires comprehensive housing policies, community-based initiatives, and interdisciplinary approaches that focus on equitable access to resources, improved housing quality, and resilience against natural hazards. By tackling the root causes of social inequalities, policymakers can foster more inclusive, sustainable, and healthy living environments, mitigating the impacts of disasters on vulnerable populations.
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Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf et al.

University of Florida, United States

Sep 7, 2023
Research Article

The 2020 Pandemic Outbreak Impact on the Wellbeing of Short-Term Migrants in Gainesville, Florida: Mixed Method Research Study

A major characteristic of U.S. college towns is the continuous influx of migrants who come to study and work under a visa. Unfortunately, these groups are underrepresented in pandemic and disaster studies. Migrants can be more vulnerable in the face of pandemics due to the limited access to resources, cultural differences, and social discrimination. The main goal of our study is to help close this research gap by answering the following research questions: How did the COVID-19 outbreak impact the wellbeing of migrants in Gainesville, Florida? And how did the changes in visa regulations and deportation threats during the COVID-19 outbreak affect the anxiety and depression levels among migrants in Gainesville, Florida? The data was collected through a mixed-methods approach. This involved semi-structured interviews with eleven migrants from Gainesville. Following the interviews, we conducted a cross-sectional survey based on previously validated depression and anxiety questionnaire tools (PHQ-9 and GAD-7), and it was completed by 165 migrants from Gainesville. Three main themes resulted from the qualitative analysis of the interviews; 1) Emotional struggles and socioeconomic challenges, 2) Discrimination and lack of government and institutional support, and 3) Communication challenges. Simultaneously, due to the visa changes, the survey sample had mild to moderate depression and anxiety levels on average based on the PHQ-9 and GAD-7 scales. Our findings offer practical policy insights which can help in developing effective and equitable pandemic and disaster risk-reduction strategies.
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Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf

University of Florida, United States

Jun 28, 2023
Review Article

Toward a Comprehensive Behavioral Model of Hurricane Preparedness: The Protective Behavior Model

Although literature regarding hurricanes and human behavior has been growing, there is generally a paucity of research that considers comprehensive behavioral models in a severe weather hazards context, and the question of “why do some people choose to take hurricane preparedness actions, while others do not?” remains answered only in part. With regard to explaining and predicting human behaviors, it is common in disaster studies to use generic models developed for other purposes in another field. Not having a specific model built for a particular set of protective behaviors is problematic as it overlooks many critical factors that influence people’s intention to prepare for hurricanes. Consequently, the recommendations built on such incomplete models should also be questioned. This paper introduces a new comprehensive behavioral model, The Protective Behavior Model (PBM), which explains why people choose to engage in hurricane preparedness behaviors using constructs from 23 different theories in human behavior. After the PBM was initially constructed based on the review of critical literature, a Subject Matter Expert’s Validation was conducted, where five expert scholars in the field agreed to review the model and make recommendations to improve it. The review process was done through multiple rounds of comments and alteration of the model until the experts were satisfied with the final model.
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Review of: "Are mental health dimensions included in disaster and climate change interventions in St. Lucia?"
Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf

University of Florida, United States

Apr 29, 2023
I appreciate the intention to contribute to the disaster studies; however, the methodology is missing a lot of details, and the discussion should go more in-depth as it seems very light. The topic is not new, and many studies have been conducted on that topic, so I don't know why there are only 32 papers cited in the references.Check the following papers; you might find them helpful to extend the discussion part of your paper.Cohen, S., Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2022). The Growing Mental Health Crisis Among America’s Children, Adolescents, and Young Adults. Academia Letters, Article 4903. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL4903Abukhalaf, A. H. I. (2021). The risk behind communicating to people in their second language during the hurricane season. Academia Letters. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3572Cohen, S., & Abukhalaf, A. H. I. (2021). Necessity to Plan and Implement Mental Health Disaster Preparedness and Intervention Plans. Academia Letters. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3507Cohen, S., Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). COVID-19’s Negative Mental Health Impact Goes Well Beyond Standard At-Risk Populations: Action Needs To Be Taken to Combat Long-term Nationwide Emotional Disruption. Academia Letters, Article 3621. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3621Cohen, S., von Meding, D., Abukhalaf, A.H.I. (2021). Successful Pandemic and Disaster Mental Health Preparedness Requires Widespread Community Collaboration. Academia Letters, Article 3987. https://doi.org/10.20935/AL3987For the methodology, let me see the reliability and validity tools/checks you used.Great effort overall,
Review of: "Historical evolution of culture, mind, and language. Considerations basing on Everett´s study upon the Pirahã"
Amer Hamad Issa Abukhalaf

University of Florida, United States

Apr 15, 2023
I believe I was identified by the algorithm as a good fit to review this paper based on my study, which the author may want to take a look at: "Abukhalaf, A. H. I., & von Meding, J. (2021). Psycholinguistics and Emergency Communication: A qualitative descriptive study. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 55, 102061. doi:https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2021.102061"For the current paper, it is over 21,000 words, excluding references and supplementary data! Most journals won't accept this as a paper because it's lengthy and that makes it hard for the reader to stay focused while reading it. It is more appropriate to be a book chapter than a paper. I recommend that the author divide it into two papers; a literature review paper and a research paper. But still, that doesn't take away from the good content we have here in this paper.Overall, it is a well-written paper, but I have three main comments about the content. The main argument of the paper is based on Linguistic-Relativity, also known as the Sapir-Whorf hypothesis, which is very interesting, and we may have a lot of data over the years to support the hypothesis; however, the reader needs to be reminded that these are not facts. Also, the language used in the paper in some parts felt overconfident, which may lead some readers to see Linguistic-Relativity as a fact. For example, when the author says ‘It is clear that only developmental psychology can explain..’ I recommend using more neutral language, such as ‘The developmental psychology is among a few research fields that can explain..’Second, Linguistic-Relativity has been used in the past to justify terrible actions that were taken against the indigenous people, as one of the reviewers already mentioned. I find it surprising that in 21k long paper, the author didn’t discuss that. It is a critical part to discuss in this paper, because that will help the reader understand how such research papers and research findings can be misunderstood and misused. And it should be clear in the paper that the comparison between the members of the tribe and the children is for research purposes, and not to take away from the fact that these societies have been functional for centuries, even with the limitation of their language, which children are unable to do.Finally, I was hoping to see a section for the limitations in this paper, and I strongly recommend that the author add one. Overall, good paper and great effort!