Victims Of Political Violence And Terrorism: Making Up Resilient Survivors

Description

This book examines the survivors of political violence and terrorism, considering both how they have responded and how they have been responded to following critical incidents. As this work demonstrates, survivors of comparatively rare and spectacular violence hold a mirror up to society’s normative assumptions around trauma, recovery, and resilience. Drawing on two years of observational field research with a British NGO who work with victims and former perpetrators of PVT, this book explores contested notions of ‘resilience’ and what it might mean for those negotiating the aftermaths of violence. Examining knowledge about resilience from a multitude of sources, including security policy, media, academic literature, and the survivors themselves, this book contends that in order to make empirical sense of resilience we must reckon with both its discursive and practical manifestations. An accessible and compelling read, this book will appeal to students and scholars of criminology, sociology, victimology, criminal justice, and all those interested in the stories of survivors. Cover Endorsement Half Title Series Information Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents Acknowledgements Introduction Making Up Resilience A Note On Theory and Method Structure of the Book Part I Resilience as Discourse and Practice Part II Turning Points and Processes of Resilience Part III Repurposing Resilience References Part I Resilience as Discourse and Practice Chapter 1 Setting the Scene of the ‘Terror–Trauma–Resilience’ Nexus in the 21st Century Declared Resilience in the Face of Terror and Trauma: An Ascendant Relationship? Securing Resilience: Building ‘Bounce-Back-Ability’ Into Counterterrorism, Critical Incident Recovery, and Civil Society Taking ‘Resilience’ Seriously Shifts in Temporality: ‘Resilience’ as Always-Already Conclusion References Chapter 2 To Survivors Themselves: Why, Where, and How to Study Survivors of Political Violence and Terrorism? Why Turn to the Narratives of Survivors Themselves? The Tim Parry Johnathan Ball Foundation for Peace (FfP): A Brief History Surviving What? How to (Not) Define Political Violence and Terrorism Pre-Defining and A Priori Reasoning Post-Defining and A Posteriori Reasoning Dynamically ‘Defining’: Violence as Necessarily Contested Making Sense of the Past in the Present: Making Up People Conclusion Note References Part II Turning Points and Processes of Resilience Chapter 3 ‘Resilient’ to What?: Mapping the Impacts of Political Violence and Terrorism Direct Impacts On Individual Survivors Physical Injuries Over Time Short-term Emotional Responses: Anger Bereavement and Grief Indirect Impacts On Survivors and Their Families Long-term Emotional Responses: Fear, Anxiety, and Hypervigilance Negotiating Media Attention Effects On Personal Relationships Conclusion References Chapter 4 Sources of Resilience for Survivors Narrating Responses to Adversity: Inherent Resilience Economic Factors Victim Compensation Communal Support Systems Religion and Faith Survivor Solidarity Resilience as Doing: Practice-Oriented Support The Foundation for Peace Therapy and Counselling Peace and Reconciliation Activities Conclusion References Chapter 5 Exploring Temporalities of (In)Security and Resilience Factors Influencing Retroactive and Prospective Narrative Formation Violence ‘From Above’ and ‘From Below’: Official Inquests, Justice, and Peace Campaigning Relating the Everyday to the Spectacular Narrating Suffering and Journeys of Recovery Embodied Proximity Retroactive and Prospective Ways of Shaping ‘Resilience Narratives’: Two Ideal-Typical Cases ‘They Want to Drag You Back and We Don’t Want to Be Dragged Back’ (Anne and Kevin) ‘If I’d Still Have Been Working, I’d Be Flying High By Now’ (Chandani) Conclusion References Part III Repurposing Resilience Chapter 6 Temporality, Resistance, and Solidarity: The Making and Moulding of Resilient Survivor Communities Accounting for Time Within Practices of Resilience Making Space for Anger, Contestation, and Resistance Within Studies of Resilience The Terrorism Survivor and Group Solidarity: ‘Making Up’ Resilient Survivor Communities Conclusion References Chapter 7 Am I Invictus? From the General to the Specific and Back Again: Five Framings of Resilience Resilience as a Reformulation of Self Or Experience Resilience as Group Solidarity Resilience as Tacit Peer Support Resilience as Transcending the Past Resilience as Resisting Injustice Survivor Resilience(s) Responding to Harm and Bereavement: The Politics of Engaging With Victim Policy Key Recommendations for Policy and Practice Conclusion References Conclusion Issues of Representation: A Methodological Note ‘Mind the Gap’: Discourse, NGO Practice and ‘Feedback Loops’ From ‘Public Issues’ to ‘Private Troubles’: Fostering a Sociological Imagination Back to Front? Argumentum Ad Hominem: Researching a ‘Noisy’ Concept Future Research Trajectories Facing the Emotional Consequences of Suffering, Harm, and Loss: On Sameness and Difference, Uniqueness and Commonality Further Inquiry Into the Temporal Dialectics of Ontological Security Resilience in Action: The Making and Moulding of ‘Resilient’ Communities Reappraising Violence and Its Spaces Conclusion References Methodological Appendix Research Questions Research Design Negotiating Access, Building Rapport, and Getting a Glimpse of Organisational Practice Data Collection Participant Information and Sample Diversity Participant ‘Pen Portraits’ Amanda Anne Barry Bridget Chandani Claire Colin Danielle Ganesh George Jane John Karen Kathy Kelly Kevin Liz Louise Lynn Paul Stephen Data Analysis: Producing Ideal Types Using Abductive Reasoning Research Ethics References Index