The meaning making process of parents who lost their children due to political violene: A phenomenological study
Keywords:
child loss, parents meaning-making, political violence, Semanggi 1 tragedyAbstract
This study aims to discover the experience of parents who lost their child as a result from political violence in 1998 and to outline their meaning-making process after the loss of their child. The study was conducted using qualitative method with phenomenological approach. Participants were parents of an undergraduate student who became the victim of the incident (some refer them as ‘Reformation Heroes’), approached through convenience sampling. Data were collected by using in-depth interviews. Several themes elicited from the interview results in both parents: sorrow and resentment; refusal of loss; loss of happiness, warmth, enthusiasm, and hope; detachment from social life; social support; justice effort; and faith. Analytical findings showed that eventhough the incident has occured more than 20 years ago, participants were still going through complicated grief. Parents construe their child’s death as an ongoing sacrifice effort for justice, hence they are commited to end it by demanding legal justice.
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Copyright (c) 2019 Winarini Wilman D. Mansoer, Stefany Valentia
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