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Trauma of Chechen Refugee Women Living in Istanbul: Meaning Making and Coping Strategies

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Trauma of Chechen Refugee Women Living in Istanbul: Meaning Making and Coping Strategies TRAUMA OF CHECHEN REFUGEE WOMEN LIVING IN ISTANBUL: MEANING MAKING AND COPING STRATEGIES by HATİCE ÖZEN Submitted to the Graduate School of Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Conflict Analysis and Resolution Sabancı University January, 2014 TRAUMA OF CHECHEN REFUGEE WOMEN LIVING IN ISTANBUL: MEANING MAKING AND COPING STRATEGIES APPROVED BY: Emre Hatipoğlu ………………………. (Thesis Supervisor) Teri Murphy ……………………….. Çağla Aydın ………………………… DATE OF APPROVAL: 19.12.2013 i © Hatice Özen 2014 All Rights Reserved ii ABSTRACT TRAUMA OF CHECHEN REFUGEE WOMEN LIVING IN ISTANBUL: MEANING MAKING AND COPING STRATEGIES Hatice Özen Conflict Analysis and Resolution, Master of Arts, 2014 Emre Hatipoğlu, Thesis Supervisor Keywords: Russian Chechen conflict, refugees, trauma, coping strategies, religion This research aims to explore how Chechen refugee women living in Turkey who lived through the distress of war made sense of what happened to them. More specifically, it examines the meaning making and coping strategies of the Chechen refugee women, in particular traumatic loss of a family member. The semi-structured interviews which are conducted with 11 Chechen refugee women provided the main data of this research. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used as the basic methodology for the data analysis. The analysis of the accounts of the Chechen refugee women showed that the traumatic experiences that these women lived through influenced their psychology profoundly, they have became vulnerable and distressed. In response to the traumatic experiences of war, they deepened their religious and spiritual beliefs, yet these beliefs provide resources for dealing with their traumatic memories. Considering the meaning making and coping strategies of the Chechen women in my study, the accounts of these women revealed 10 recurrent themes: increased religious service, submitting to the will of God, Elhamdilullah, theological explanations for the causes of war, depersonalization of traumatic experience, what makes a martyr, expected benefits of martyrdom, deserving the honor of martyrdom, idealized martyr, and obliged narrative of happiness. All coping strategies, except obliged narrative of happiness were found to be important source of strength, coping and resilience for Chechen refugee women. However, obligatory narrative of happiness appeared to interfere with the healing processes of these women. iii ÖZET İSTANBULDA Kİ ÇEÇEN MÜLTECİ KADINLARIN TRAVMASI: ANLAMLANDIRMA VE BAŞETME STRATEJİLERİ Hatice Özen Uyuşmazlık Analizi ve Çözümü, Yüksek Lisans, 2014 Tez Danışmanı: Emre Hatipoğlu Anahtar Kelimeler: Rus-Çeçen savaşı, mülteci, travma, başetme stratejileri, din Bu çalışma Türkiye de yaşayan savaş mağduru Çeçen mülteci kadınların başlarına gelen olayları nasıl anlamlandırdıklarını, ve bunlarla nasıl baş ettiklerini araştırmayı amaçlamaktadır. Daha belirgin olarak, savaş stresiyle, özellikle de savaş sonucunda yakın aile üyelerinin kaybıyla yüzleşen Çeçen mülteci kadınların stresle başa çıkma stratejilerini araştırmaktadır. Onbir Çeçen mülteci kadın ile yapılan yarı- yapılandırılmış görüşmeler bu çalışmanın verilerini oluşturmaktadır. Çeçen mülteci kadınlarla yapılan görüşmelerin analizleri, bu kadınların yaşadığı travmatik olayların onların psikolojisini derinden etkilediğini, ve onları korunmasız ve endişeli hale getirdiğini göstermiştir. Yaşadıkları travmatik deneyimler sonucunda, bu kadınlar manevi ve dini inançlarını derinleştirmiş, ve bu inançlar onlara stresle baş etmelerinde kaynak oluşturmuştur. Stresle başetme stratejileri göz önüne alındığı zaman, bu kadınlarla yapılan görüşmelerin analizleri 10 tekrarlayan tema açığa çıkarmıştır: artan ibadet, Tanrı’nın iradesine itaat, şükür (Elhamdilullah), savaşın sebepleri için dinsel açıklamalar, şehitlik mertebesinin beklenilen faydaları, şehitlik mertebesini hak etme, idealleştirilen şehit, ve zorunlu mutluluk anlatısı. Zorunlu mutluluk anlatısı hariç, bahsedilen bütün başetme stratejilerinin Çeçen kadınlara güç verdiği, ve stresle baş etmeleri ve rahatlamları için önemli kaynak oluşturduğu bulunmuştur. Zorunlu mutluluk anlatısının ise bu kadınların acılarını ve yaslarını ifade etmelerini engelleyerek iyileşme süreçlerini negatif yönde etkilediği bulunmuştur. iv To my family, v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................. 1 1.1. AIM OF THE STUDY ........................................................................................................ 1 1.2. SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY .................................................................................. 4 1.3. OUTLINE OF THE STUDY ................................................................................................. 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .................................................................................... 9 2.1. REFUGEE EXPERIENCE .................................................................................................... 9 2.1.1. MENTAL HEALTH OF REFUGEES ............................................................................... 9 2.1.1.1. PRE-FLIGHT STRESSORS AND REFUGEE MENTAL HEALTH ....................... 12 2.1.1.2. POST-FLIGHT STRESSORS AND REFUGEE MENTAL HEALTH .................... 15 2.1.1.3. REFUGEE CHARACTERISTICS AND MENTAL HEALTH ................................. 16 2.1.2. MENTAL HEALTH OF ASYLUM SEEKERS ............................................................. 17 2.1.3. ASYLUM SEEKER-REFUGEE COMPARED .............................................................. 18 2.1.4. CULTURAL RESPONSES TO REFUGEE EXPERIENCE: COPING STRATEGIES .............................................................................................................................. 19 2.2. WOMEN REFUGEE EXPERIENCE ................................................................................ 22 2.2.1. MENTAL HEALTH OF WOMEN REFUGEES ........................................................... 23 2.3. MARTYRDOM CULTURE ................................................................................................ 27 2.3.1. PSYCHO-SOCIAL MOTIVATIONS OF MARTYRDOM .......................................... 28 vi 2.3.2. ISLAMIC SCRIPTURAL REFERENCE TO MARTYRDOM .................................... 32 2.3.3. CULTURE OF MARTYRDOM ....................................................................................... 34 2.3.4. MARTYRDOM CULTURE IN CHECHEN SOCIETY ............................................... 36 2.3.5. WOMEN’S UNDERSTANDING OF LOSS: MARTYRDOM .................................... 38 2.4. A CASE STUDY OF RUSSO-CHECHEN CONFLICT ................................................... 40 2.4.1. HISTORY OF THE RUSSO-CHECHEN CONFLICT ................................................. 40 2.4.2. CONSEQUENCES OF THE RUSSO-CHECHEN CONFLICT .................................. 45 2.4.3. CHECHEN REFUGEE EXPERIENCE .......................................................................... 48 2.4.4. MENTAL HEALTH OF CHECHEN REFUGEES ....................................................... 49 2.4.4.1. MENTAL HEALTH OF CHECHEN CHILDREN REFUGEES .............................. 51 2.4.4.2. MENTAL HEALTH OF CHECHEN WOMEN REFUGEES ................................... 52 CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................. 55 3.1. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................ 55 3.2. RESEARCH QUESTIONS .................................................................................................. 56 3. 3. COLLECTING EMPIRICAL DATA ................................................................................ 57 3.3.1. INTRODUCTION TO THE COMMUNITY .................................................................. 57 3.3.2. PARTICIPANTS ............................................................................................................... 58 3.4. DATA GATHERING METHODS: SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW.................... 60 3.4.1. SEMI-STRUCTURED INTERVIEW.............................................................................. 61 3.4. 2. INTERVIEW AGENDA .................................................................................................. 63 3.4. 3. AUDIOTAPE-RECORDING ......................................................................................... 65 vii 3.4.4. TRANSLATION ................................................................................................................ 66 3.4. 5. TRANSCRIBING ............................................................................................................. 68 3.5. ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS......................................................................................... 69 3.6. METHODOLOGY: INTERPRETIVE PHENOMENOLOGICAL ANALYSIS ........... 71 3.6.1. CONSTRUCTING A RESEARCH QUESTION ............................................................ 73 3.6.2. SAMPLE ............................................................................................................................. 73 3.6.3. COLLECTING DATA, TAPE-RECORDING, AND TRANSCRIPTION .................. 74 3.6.4. ANALYSIS ......................................................................................................................... 74 3.6.4.1. LOOKING FOR THEMES IN THE FIRST CASE .................................................... 76 3.6.4.2.
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