Journals Information
Sociology and Anthropology Vol. 4(7), pp. 615 - 625
DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040712
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The Stages of Recovery from Trauma after an Industrial Disaster
Anna L. Prehoda 1,2,*
1 Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Sociology, Eotvos Lorand University, Hungary
2 Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Sociology, Pazmany Peter Catholic University, Hungary
ABSTRACT
In this paper I would like to point out the typical stages of recovery from trauma after an industrial disaster. My research results are based on a comparative analysis between two interviewing period (first in 2010 and second in 2013). The interviews have been taken with affected people after the most wrecker industrial disaster ever in Hungary, named as "red sludge disaster". The uniqueness of my research is that I recorded my first interviews very shortly (within one and a half month) after the traumatic event with life story method, thus I had chance to complete my research with a participant observation as well. After the second period of interview making in 2013, my goal was to reveal what is the trauma-coping by affected people like, within a longer time after the case. I give a conceptual clarification of the notion of trauma. This notion is inseparable from the process of memory work. Hence I give a brief explanation also of this notion. I would like to underline the importance of Hungarian specialized literature of this two research areas in the last few decades. After analysing my data I have found three main stadiums in the coping process, what I name as 1.) phase of connecting, 2.) phase of cleaning and 3.) phase of various practices. My conclusion is, that the truly effective trauma-coping needs to use not only behavioural methods but mental interpretations as well.
KEYWORDS
Personal and Collective Trauma, Coping with Trauma, Personal and Collective Memory, Narrative Identity, Industrial Disaster, Red Sludge Disaster
Cite This Paper in IEEE or APA Citation Styles
(a). IEEE Format:
[1] Anna L. Prehoda , "The Stages of Recovery from Trauma after an Industrial Disaster," Sociology and Anthropology, Vol. 4, No. 7, pp. 615 - 625, 2016. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040712.
(b). APA Format:
Anna L. Prehoda (2016). The Stages of Recovery from Trauma after an Industrial Disaster. Sociology and Anthropology, 4(7), 615 - 625. DOI: 10.13189/sa.2016.040712.