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Psychosocial Framework for Understanding Psychological Distress Among Survivors of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai Terror Attack: Beyond Traumatic Experiences and Emergency Medical Care

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 June 2014

Jacquleen Joseph  and
Surinder Jaswal
Jacquleen Joseph*
Affiliation:
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai India
Surinder Jaswal
Affiliation:
Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Deonar, Mumbai India
*
Correspondance: Jacquleen Joseph, PhD Jamsetji Tata Center For Disaster Management Tata Institute of Social Sciences Post Box No 8313 Opp Deonar Bus Depot Mumbai, Maharashtra 400088 E-mail jacquleenjoseph@tiss.edu
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Abstract

The field of “Public Health in Disasters and Complex Emergencies” is replete with either epidemiological studies or studies in the area of hospital preparedness and emergency care. The field is dominated by hospital-based or emergency phase-related literature, with very little attention on long-term health and mental health consequences. The social science, or the public mental health perspective, too, is largely missing. It is in this context that the case report of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attack survivors is presented to bring forth the multi-dimensional and dynamic long-term impacts, and their consequences for psychological well-being, two years after the incident. Based on literature, the report formulates a theoretical framework through which the lived experiences of the survivors is analyzed and understood from a social science perspective.

This report is an outcome of the ongoing work with the survivors over a period of two years. A mixed methodology was used. It quantitatively captures the experience of 231 families following the attack, and also uses a self-reporting questionnaire (SRQ), SRQ20, to understand the psychological distress. In-depth qualitative case studies constructed from the process records and in-depth interviews focus on lived experiences of the survivors and explain the patterns emerging from the quantitative analysis.

This report outlines the basic profile of the survivors, the immediate consequences of the attack, the support received, psychological consequences, and the key factors contributing to psychological distress. Through analysis of the key factors and the processes emerging from the lived experiences that explain the progression of vulnerability to psychological distress, this report puts forth a psychosocial framework for understanding psychological distress among survivors of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai terror attack.

Joseph J, Jaswal S. Psychosocial Framework for Understanding Psychological Distress Among Survivors of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai Terror Attack: Beyond Traumatic Experiences and Emergency Medical Care. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2014;29(3):1-8.

Keywords

frameworkmumbaipsychological distresspsychosocialterror attackvulnerability
Type
Case Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 29 , Issue 3 , June 2014 , pp. 330 - 338
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2014 

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