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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*
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.

Information

Type
Case Report
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2014 
Figure 0

Figure 1 Theoretical Framework: The Constituent Domains of Vulnerability to Psychological Distress

Figure 1

Figure 2 Distribution of Injured and Deceased by Gender

Figure 2

Figure 3 Distribution of Sole Earning Member Among Injured and Deceased, by Gender

Figure 3

Figure 4 Occupation of the Injured and Deceased

Figure 4

Table 1 Nature and Part of the Body Injured

Figure 5

Figure 5 Hospitalization Details

Figure 6

Figure 6 Average (Median) Days of Hospitalization by Setting

Figure 7

Table 2 Details of Ex Gratia Payments Received by the Injured and the Families of the Deceased

Figure 8

Figure 7 Psychological Distress Among Survivors (Injured and Relatives of the Deceased)

Figure 9

Figure 8 Psychological Distress Among the Injured and Relatives of the Deceased, by GenderAbbreviation: SRQ, self-reporting questionnaire.

Figure 10

Figure 9 A Psychosocial Framework for Understanding Psychological Distress Among Survivors of the November 26, 2008 Mumbai Terror Attack