"They Gave Hungary Away": Depression and Traumatic Cultural Identity Among Hungarians
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Western Washington University Western CEDAR WWU Graduate School Collection WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship Summer 2016 "They Gave Hungary Away": Depression and Traumatic Cultural Identity Among Hungarians Katarina Gombocz Western Washington University, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet Part of the Anthropology Commons Recommended Citation Gombocz, Katarina, ""They Gave Hungary Away": Depression and Traumatic Cultural Identity Among Hungarians" (2016). WWU Graduate School Collection. 525. https://cedar.wwu.edu/wwuet/525 This Masters Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the WWU Graduate and Undergraduate Scholarship at Western CEDAR. It has been accepted for inclusion in WWU Graduate School Collection by an authorized administrator of Western CEDAR. For more information, please contact [email protected]. "THEY GAVE HUNGARY AWAY": DEPRESSION AND TRAUMATIC CULTURAL IDENTITY AMONG HUNGARIANS By Katarina Gombocz Accepted in Partial Completion Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts Kathleen L. Kitto, Dean of the Graduate School ADVISORY COMMITTEE Chair, Dr. Joan Stevenson Dr. Judith M.S. Pine Dr. Kathleen Young MASTER’S THESIS In presenting this thesis in partial fulfillment of the requirements for a master’s degree at Western Washington University, I grant to Western Washington University the non‐ exclusive royalty‐ free right to archive, reproduce, distribute, and display the thesis in any and all forms, including electronic format, via any digital library mechanisms maintained by WWU. I represent and warrant this is my original work, and does not infringe or violate any rights of others. I warrant that I have obtained written permissions from the owner of any third party copyrighted material included in these files. I acknowledge that I retain ownership rights to the copyright of this work, including but not limited to the right to use all or part of this work in future works, such as articles or books. Library users are granted permission for individual, research and non‐ commercial reproduction of this work for educational purposes only. Any further digital posting of this document requires specific permission from the author. Any copying or publication of this thesis for commercial purposes, or for financial gain, is not allowed without my written permission. Katarina Gombocz July 22nd, 2016 "THEY GAVE HUNGARY AWAY": DEPRESSION AND TRAUMATIC CULTURAL IDENTITY AMONG HUNGARIANS A Thesis Presented to The Faculty of Western Washington University In Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts By Katarina Gombocz July 2016 ABSTRACT Depression and suicide rates have been and continue to be high in Hungary relative to other European countries. An investigation of cultural and social circumstances in Hungary that might exacerbate these rates needs to be undertaken to elucidate potential risk factors for these rates. This study investigated how four Hungarian women (both native and from immigrant families) living in the United States make sense of depression in their families with a particular focus on triggers. Data was gathered in the form of family stories about depression during interviews and analyzed using grounded theory analysis. In making sense of depression in their families these four women narrate stories of identity loss, a negative Hungarian worldview, and historical references to collective Hungarian traumas, drawing upon family stories in constructing a particular Hungarian Traumatic Cultural Identity in explaining origins for depression. The construction of this identity also provides therapeutic value as the women make sense of their and their family members’ depression. This study has important implications for mental health professionals in culturally-competent screening and diagnosis of both Hungarian immigrants and descendants suffering from depression in the United States. iv Acknowledgements I would like to thank my chair, Dr. Joan Stevenson, and my committee members, Dr. Judy Pine and Dr. Kathleen Young in their support and encouragement over the past few years. The academic as well as emotional support that I received from my committee was so important in my completion of this project. My friends and family deserve thanks as well. My mother, Dr. Carol Leibiger, has been especially supportive and insightful during this process in various ways, but especially emotionally and technically. My graduate cohort and other anthropology students have been nothing but supportive and encouraging and I am blessed to be surrounded by such patient and helpful people. Marinel Kniseley, Julia Rowland, and Megan Stephenson—thank you for all of your help during this journey. You have all been so good to me in various ways. My friends have also been incredibly patient and loving, always ready to offer whatever support they could. Thank you, everybody, for always having faith in me that I would finish this. Thank you to Western Libraries in helping me access important and valuable online and print resources. Finally, thank you to this study’s participants, who provided me with the wonderful narrative data with which I was able to complete this project. v Table of Contents Abstract……………………………………………………………………………………. iv Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………...v List of Figures……………..…………………………………………………………….....viii List of Tables………………………………………………………………………….........ix Chapter One: Introduction……………………………………………………………..... 1 Chapter Two: The Social Construction of Ethnic Identity…………………………….. 8 Chapter Three: Hungarian History and Cultural Background……………………...... 12 Early Hungarian History…………………………………………………………… 12 Austro-Hungarian Empire and WWI…………………………………………......... 14 Interwar Hungary…………………………………………………………………... 20 Hungary as a Soviet Satellite………………………………………………………. 23 Hungarian Political Scene Today…………………………………………………...24 Trianon Trauma………………………………………………………………......... 26 Trauma of the Revolution of 1956…………………………………………………. 26 Trauma of Communism……………………………………………………………. 27 Erasure of the Trauma of the Hungarian Holocaust……………………………...... 28 Chapter Four: Illness Beliefs and Making Sense of Illness…………………………….. 29 The Illness Narrative……………………………………………………………...... 32 Family Stories as Illness Narrative and Cultural Resource…………………........... 33 Chapter Five: Theoretical Framework……………………………………...................... 35 Chapter Six: Methods…………………………………………………………………….. 38 Sample Design……………………………………………………………………... 39 Analysis……………………………………………………………………………. 40 Chapter Seven: Results……………………………………………………………………42 A Note on My Position as a Researcher………………………………………….... 42 Description of Research Participants……………………………………………..... 44 Tables of Triggers...................................................................................................... 46 Codebook…………………………………………………………………………... 48 Chapter Eight: Discussion………………………………………………………………... 48 Disruption of a Sense of Belonging………………………………………………... 50 Negative Worldview……………………………………………………………….. 60 Memories of Collective Traumas…………...…………………………………........67 Limitations of the Study………………………………………….....………………73 vi Chapter Nine: Conclusion………………………………………………………………... 74 Works Cited……………………………………………………………………………….. 77 Appendix A – Interview Questions and Schedule………………………………………. 91 Appendix B – Participant Consent Form……………………………………………….. 93 vii Figures 1) Map of Pre-Trianon Austria-Hungary…………………………………………...17 2) Map of Post-WWI Hungary……………………………………………………… 17 3) Map of Hungarian diaspora on European continent……………………........... 18 viii Tables 1) Trigger references in family stories…………………………………………........ 46 2) References to collective traumas as triggers………………………...................... 46 3) References to generational, negative worldview as triggers…………................ 47 4) References to disruption of sense of belonging as triggers………………........... 47 5) Codebook………………………………………...………………........................... 48 ix Chapter One: Introduction Many countries that were part of the former USSR exhibited high rates of suicide ranging from 13 to 42 per 100,000 people before the bloc broke apart December 26, 1991 (Rihmer et al. 20131). Hungary, a former satellite of the Soviet Union, had a suicide rate that was one of the highest in the world at 44.9 per 100,000 in 1980. Hungary’s rate declined to 24.25 per 100,000 people in 2011 after the Hungarian economy transitioned from a USSR- dominated satellite and Communist-based economic system to an independent parliamentary representative democratic republic with a neo-liberal capitalist economy (Székely et al. 2013). This much-reduced rate of suicide is still high-ranking 16th relative to all countries for both sexes and is one of the highest in the European union (Zonda et al. 2005, Székely et al. 2013). The goal here will be to determine what about Hungarian culture and cultural identity increases risk for suicide. Szanto et al. (2007) note that depression is often the antecedent to suicide and thus, determining the triggers for depression in Hungarians might provide insights into their vulnerability to suicide. The World Health Organization (2016) describes depression as a “common mental disorder” that can be characterized as “mild, moderate, or severe” and that can result in “some difficulty in continuing with ordinary work and social activities, but will probably not cease to function completely” in a mild case. In the case of a severe episode, such functionality might cease completely and may result in suicide.