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Maila Dinia Husni RahiemUniversitas Islam Negeri (UIN) SyarifHidayatullah Jakarta, IndonesiaApril 25, 2017

Contact Email: mailadinia@uinjkt.ac.idPresentation Type: Oral Presentation

Submission Title: The Narratives of the 2004 Child Tsunami Survivors: How Children Experienced the Disaster andTheir Changed Life After the TragedySubmission Number: 37701

Authors: Maila Dinia Husni Rahiem

Dear Dr. Rahiem,

On behalf of the IAFOR local organising committee and the ECERP2017 Organising Committee, I am pleased toinform you that your proposal, "The Narratives of the 2004 Child Tsunami Survivors: How Children Experiencedthe Disaster and Their Changed Life After the Tragedy", has met the accepted international academic standard ofblind peer review, and has been accepted for Oral Presentation at ECERP2017.

The conference will be held in Brighton, United Kingdom, at The Jurys Inn Brighton Waterfront from the afternoonof Tuesday, July 4th to Wednesday, July 5th, 2017. For more detailed information about the conference, please visitthe conference website.

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The Narratives of the 2004 Child Tsunami Survivors: How Children Experienced the Disaster and Their Changed Life

After the Tragedy Maila Dinia Husni Rahiem

Presented in The European Conference on Ethics, Religion & Philosophy “Identity, History & Narrative”

Brighton, 4-5 July 2017

The children are among the most vulnerable members of the community when disasters

occur (Balaban, 2006). Compared to adults, they are at a higher risk of distress and trauma (Ronan

& Johnston 2005). Children are physically vulnerable, and they are often also victims of disasters.

They're more susceptible to death, injury, and violence. They are also psychologically vulnerable

and may develop post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or other related symptoms (Peek, 2008),

including depression, anxiety disorders, and behavioral disorders (Balaban, 2006).

Children react to potential danger (Greenberg, Carr & Summers, 2002); they are not

passive beings and therefore need to understand their feelings and thoughts about a disaster. They

respond to fear, have a fighting or flight reaction, and also develop their own adaptive survival

mechanism. From an early age, humans develop a sense of their own agency in their adaptation

and attendant rewards (Masten et al. 2006b), so it is vital to consider the children's experience

carefully (Peek, 2008).

In this study, we look at the experiences of the Acehnese children who survived the tsunami

of 2004. We investigate how these youth in the aftermath of the tsunami dealt with the situation

and progressed with their lives after the tragedy. The researchers believe that by gathering the

stories of their personal experiences, we can gain a unique insight to allow a better understanding

of what is needed to support children after a tragedy from the viewpoint of the survivors. It is

crucial that the arrangements of the support services for victims should take into account the

perception by the victims of what has occurred, is happening, and could happen so that the

assistance meets the needs of the people (Rahiem, Abdullah, & Krauss, 2017).

We applied a qualitative, narrative research approach to this research. Narrative analysis is

a technique used to investigate experiences in the form of narratives, or stories, and this is a way

to capture and examine human experiences. The use of narrative analysis is to take a specific view

of reality as a phenomenon under study (Connelly and Clandinin, 2006). The narrative analysis

starts with reverence for the experience lived, as it examines both the individual and the social,

cultural, and institutional frameworks in which those experiences are represented, formed,

articulated, and enforced (Lessard, Caine, and Clandinin, 2015).

The narrative research was used to capture and analyze the human experience of those who

suffered the disaster, namely the Aceh Tsunami of 2004. We've done in-depth interviews with 27

survivors. As a result of the tsunami, they had all lost either one or both parents. All of the

respondents are now teens or young adults between the ages of 17 and 24, at the time of the tragedy;

they were 6-12 years old. The participants are from two districts in the regency of Banda Aceh,

namely Kuta Raja and Syah Kuala, and four areas in the regency of Aceh Besar, Lhoknga,

Seulimeum, Darussalam, and Baitussalam; We asked the respondents in the interview to share

their experience of living through the tsunami. Narratives focused on 1) how they coped with the

disaster's aftermath, and 2) how their lives are today.

The researchers used reflexive journals after the interviews to write notes about the key

issues that arose from the conversations (Fontana and Frey, 2003) and debrief. The interviews were

captured with audio and then transcribed. Some sections which we used as quotes have been

translated by a native speaker using vernacular English. Study To order to ensure consistency,

participants were asked to review and edit the contents of their transcripts. In order to capture as

complete an analysis as possible, the researchers conducted separate and then joint analysis

(Mafile'o and Kaise Api, 2009). The transcripts were analyzed for themes that originated from the

stories related to the research purposes, so that categories of interpretation' emerge from each story

text itself, rather than being set from the start as in quantitative studies ' (McCracken, 1988 cited

in Atkinson, 1998: 59). This is also consistent with a narrative strategy in which attention is given

to the complexity of each narrative and then to all stories (Chase, 2005; Mafile'o and Kaise Api,

2009).

Children are able to overcome adversity, to face the challenges of life (Dinkmeyer &

Dreikurs, 1979). This research has shown that the children survived in different ways, resulting in

various problems related to the aftermath of the tsunami. They used their inner strength, their

families, and their community to deal with the situation. All of the respondents lost one or both of

their parents, yet they still have their own survival capabilities.

Through this study, we further examined through the victims' eyes; how they overcame the

adversity, and how their lives are now. We looked at what factors got them to the stage that they

currently are. What we consider resilience is the desire and the ability to thrive. Resilience theory

is the core theory of this study, which describes and examines how children survive, cope, and

excel in traumatic events. Masten et al. (2008) described resilience as a mechanism, capability, or

consequence of positive adaptation in challenging or dangerous circumstances.

Most children and adolescents are resilient but also vulnerable to disaster psychosocial

consequences (Richard et al., 2008). After a tragedy, most children will be traumatized and

depressed before they gain a sense of support from the people around them. As human beings, we

are social beings, and our adaptive functioning is embedded in complex interdependent relations

and social systems (Masten, 2008). These relationships with others play a crucial role in fostering

resilience, and we can adapt these social systems to the situation around us. It is essential to support

children from close bonds such as parents, families, or friends in overcoming difficult times

(Prinstein et al., 2010). Children facing persistent adversity can better recover by having a positive

relationship with a competent adult (Masten et al., 2008). Resilience resides in relationships; for

young children, resilience primarily depends on the quality of parental relationships (Luthar,

2006). If kids lose one or both of their parents because of adversity, how do they get the support

they need, and who should support them? They require professional carers to help them become

resilient. Such competent adults create a sense of stability, have reliable patterns, and maintain

consistent support systems (Richards et al., 2008).

The findings from in-depth interviews revealed that the survivors shared many experiences

related to coping with post-tsunami: they didn't have someone they trusted enough to vent their

feelings and experiences; they kept their stories to themselves; they kept their feelings to

themselves; they still felt sadness, horror, and trauma; and they all even accepted the tragedy as

their destiny from God. The changes in their lives are closely linked to who supports them and

how they support them. Various responses indicate vast differences in how they see their future.

Some are highly optimistic, and still believe they play a role in society, while others are frustrated,

unemployed, and lost. The survivors also described the different types of assistance they provided.

Some still have one parent, friend, and/or close relatives who can help them get through it all while

others feel isolated and alone.

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Connelly, F. M., and Clandinin, D.J. (2006). “Narrative Inquiry.” In Handbook of Complementary Methods in Education Research. 3rd ed., edited by J. Green, G. Camilli, and P. Elmore, 477–487. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.

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