Abstract
This study is a part of an ongoing research project at The Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (NKVTS).
Aims of the study: Research is needed to further the understanding of the challenges faced by youth survivors of trauma. Such understanding can be used to formulate adequate treatment methods for these youth. On the 26th of December 2004 a Tsunami disaster took place in South- and East-Asia. This study sought to explore the fundamental assumptions (Janoff-Bulman, 1992) of youth survivors of this disaster.
Methods: 56 Norwegian youth who had experienced the Tsunami were interviewed 10 months after and 2 ½ years after the Tsunami. The youth were born in the years of 1987 – 1993. The writer of the thesis took part as an interviewer alongside other trained interviewers. The youths’ answers and reflections to five questions regarding the youths’ fundamental assumptions (Janoff-Bulman, 1989) were analysed using both quantitative and qualitative approaches.
Results: A majority of the youth expressed a negative fundamental assumption of the world’s meaningfulness and a positive assumption of the world’s benevolence in both interviews.
The youth who initially expressed positive assumptions tended to hold on to these assumptions. The youth who initially expressed negative assumptions tended to change to express positive assumptions between the interviews. However, these tendencies were not found to be significant. The youth expressed individual differences, both regarding the degree of their challenges and which beliefs they felt had been challenged. The youths’ reflections evolved around interesting aspects for the five different questions, giving vital information to the discussion of the quantitative results.
Conclusions: The Tsunami experience affected these youth more negatively on their assumption of the world’s meaningfulness than their assumption of the world’s benevolence. A majority of the youth gave an impression of positive stability and change. Individual differences to which beliefs that were challenged and to what degree they were challenged were expressed. Most of the youth hold a solidified assumption of the world’s benevolence.