THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF INDIRECT EXPOSURE TO ONGOING TERRORIST ATTACKS ON A GROUP OF TURKISH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF SOCIAL SCIENCES OF MIDDLE EAST TECHNICAL UNIVERSITY BY DENİZ OKAY IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF SCIENCE IN THE DEPARTMENT OF PSYCHOLOGY SEPTEMBER 2017 Approval of the Graduate School of Social Sciences Prof. Dr. Tülin Gençöz Director I certify that this thesis satisfies all the requirements as a thesis for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy. Prof. Dr. Canan Sümer Head of Department This is to certify that we have read this thesis and that in our opinion it is fully adequate, in scope and quality, as a thesis for the degree of Master of Science. Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı Supervisor Examining Committee Members Prof. Dr. Özlem Bozo (METU, PSY) Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı (METU, PSY) Prof. Dr. Cengiz Kılıç (HU, PSYC) I hereby declare that all information in this document has been obtained and presented in accordance with academic rules and ethical conduct. I also declare that, as required by these rules and conduct, I have fully cited and referenced all material and results that are not original to this work. Name, Last name : Deniz Okay Signature : iii ABSTRACT THE PSYCHOLOGICAL IMPACTS OF INDIRECT EXPOSURE TO ONGOING TERRORIST ATTACKS ON A GROUP OF TURKISH UNIVERSITY STUDENTS: A QUALITATIVE ANALYSIS Okay, Deniz M.S., Department of Psychology Supervisor: Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı September 2017, 208 pages The purpose of the current study was to explore the psychological impacts of indirect victimization to ongoing terrorist attacks on college students. For this purpose, qualitative research methodology was adopted. 10 undergraduate students who were living in Ankara, Turkey were recruited as participants. They were vicariously exposed to ongoing terrorist attacks through various media resources. Semi-structured interviews were conducted and these data were analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The results of this analysis revealed four superordinate themes. These themes were: evaluations about terrorism and Turkey, the characteristics of events, psychological impacts and coping. The results iv displayed that the ongoing attacks seemed to have become a significant traumatic experience for the youth in this study, which affected various aspects of their lives. Though most of the psychological impacts were more short-lived, there were still many positive and negative impacts that were still enduring. Further, it was found that participants used various coping strategies, both in the short- and long-term to deal with the situation. These results were in accordance with the current literature and pointed out to extensive psychological impacts of ongoing terrorism that spread out to the indirect population; and thus reflect the need for a well-organized disaster preparedness system. Keywords: Terrorism, Psychological Trauma, College Students, Indirect Victimization, Psychological Effects v ÖZ SÜREĞEN TERÖR OLAYLARINI DOLAYLI DENEYİMLEMENİN ÜNİVERSİTE ÖĞRENCİLERİ ÜZERİNDEKİ PSİKOLOJİK ETKİLERİ: NİTEL ANALİZ Okay, Deniz Yüksek Lisans, Psikoloji Bölümü Tez Yöneticisi: Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı Eylül 2017, 208 sayfa Bu çalışmanın amacı, süreğen terör olaylarını dolaylı deneyimlemenin üniversite öğrencileri üzerindeki psikolojik etkilerini incelemektir. Bu amaç doğrultusunda nitel bir araştırma yürütülmüş ve Ankara’da yaşayan 10 üniversite öğrencisi çalışmanın örneklemi olarak seçilmiştir. Bu katılımcılar, süreğen terör olaylarına çeşitli medya kaynakları üzerinden maruz kalmışlardır. Yarı yapılandırılmış görüşmeler yapılan katılımcılardan elde edilen veriler, yorumlayıcı fenomenolojik analiz yöntemi ile analiz edilmiştir. Bu analiz sonucunda, dört adet üst tema ortaya çıkmıştır: Terörizm ve Türkiye’nin değerlendirilmesi, olayların nitelikleri, psikolojik etkiler ve baş etme biçimleri. Bu sonuçlar, süreğen terör olaylarının vi çalışmadaki gençler için önemli bir travmatik deneyim olduğunu ve hayatlarının birçok alanını etkilediğini göstermiştir. Çalışmanın sonucunda bulunan çoğu psikolojik etkinin daha kısa süreli olduğu görülse de, halen devam eden pozitif ve negatif birçok etkinin katılımcılar tarafından deneyimlendiği gözlenmiştir. Ayrıca, katılımcıların bu olaylarla başa çıkmak adına hem kısa hem de uzun dönemde birçok farklı baş etme biçimi kullandığı görülmüştür. Bu çalışmanın sonuçları genel olarak alanyazındaki var olan bilgilerle tutarlıdır. Tüm bunlar, bir kez daha süreğen terör olaylarının, dolaylı olarak deneyimleyen kitlelerde dahi yaygın birçok psikolojik etkiye sebep olabileceğini göstermiş ve bu sebeple de iyi organize edilmiş bir afet müdahale sistemine yönelik ihtiyacı yansıtmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Terörizm, Psikolojik Travma, Üniversite Öğrencileri, Dolaylı Deneyimleme, Psikolojik Etkiler vii To all the victims of terrorist attacks in Turkey, but especially to Berkay Baş and Ozancan Akkuş viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my gratitude to my supervisor Prof. Dr. A. Nuray Karancı for her endless support. I thank you for your reassuring attitude, your belief in my work and me. You believed in the psychological growth of people and carried your positive and hopeful attitude in every tough life event. You became an inspiration to me, a light of hope and a guidance. Thank you for all of your contributions. I would like to thank my examining committee members; Prof. Dr. Özlem Bozo and Prof. Dr. Cengiz Kılıç for their informative, constructive and supportive comments and suggestions. I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my family; Oğuz Okay, Oya Okay and Doğa Okay for their limitless support and encouragement during my whole education life. I feel like I am carrying the family tradition of being an academician and I am proud. Thank you for your love and guidance at every step of my life. I would like to express special thanks to Kutlu Kağan Türkarslan for being there for me, for motivating me, for always being patient, understanding, supportive and inspiring. I want to thank to the best roommate and friend Elif Bürümlü, who was the first person I met in METU, who gave her invaluable support for all the years and to whose friendship I know I can always rely on. I would like to express my special thanks to my dear friend Ceren Şimşek for sharing my best memories as well as my worst fears, to which we can always find a way to laugh. I would also like to thank my dear friend Mustafa Çevrim for sharing my last-minute anxieties and for being always there with me throughout all my university life. I also want to acknowledge Aykut Erdoğan for being my guarantor during my master’s education. Finally, I want to acknowledge TUBITAK-BIDEB for supporting me financially during my master’s education. ix TABLE OF CONTENTS PLAGIARISM........................................................................................................... iii ABSTRACT ............................................................................................................. iv ÖZ ............................................................................................................................. vi DEDICATION ....................................................................................................... viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ..................................................................................... ix TABLE OF CONTENTS .......................................................................................... x LIST OF TABLES ................................................................................................. xiv LIST OF FIGURES ................................................................................................. xv CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 1 1.1 Definition of Traumatic Events ............................................................. 1 1.2 Qualities of Traumatic Events ............................................................... 2 1.3 Mental Health Consequences of Traumatic Events .............................. 3 1.3.1 Negative Mental Health Consequences of Traumatic Events ... 3 1.3.2 Some Psychological Models on the Mental Health Consequences of Traumatic Events ...................................................... 5 1.3.2.1 The Risk Factor Model .................................................. 5 1.3.2.2 The Conservation of Resources Model ......................... 7 1.3.2.3 The Stress Response Theory ......................................... 8 1.4 Positive Psychological Outcomes Following Traumatic Events ........... 9 1.4.1 A Conceptual Framework to Explain Positive Outcomes of Crises ................................................................................................... 12 1.5 Types of Victims of Traumatic Events ................................................ 16 1.6 Types of Traumatic Events.................................................................. 18 1.7 Human-made Community Disasters ................................................... 18 1.8 The Concept of Terrorism and Its Definition ...................................... 20 1.8.1 General Psychological Effects of Terrorism ........................... 22 x 1.8.2 Psychological Effects of One-Time Only Terrorist Attacks ... 25 1.8.3 Psychological Effects of Ongoing Terrorism .......................... 30 1.8.4 Coping Processes in the Aftermath of Terrorist