TThe Long-Term Psychological Impact of Bloody Sunday on Families of the Victims

Author(s): Mark Shevlin and Karen McGuigan
Document Type: Article
Year: 2003
Title of Publication: British Journal of Clinical Psychology
Publisher: British Psychological Society
Place of Publication: Leicester
Volume: 42:4
Pages: 427-432
Subject Area(s): Health, Mental Health, Community, Criminal Justice, NI Conflict
Client Group(s) : Families, Victims


Background to the Research

  • It has been argued that people can experience psychological trauma to events in which they do not participate. This study assesses the psychological effects on the families of the 13 civilians shot dead on Bloody Sunday in Londonderry in 1972.

Research Approach

  • A questionnaire comprising The Revised Impact of Events Scale was administered to 72 members of the families of those killed in order to determine the levels of psychological distress.

Main Findings

  • The sample comprised 39 males (54%) and 33 females (46%), with ages ranging from 19-69 years.
  • The sample comprised 32 members of the immediate family, 17 children of the immediate family, 13 cousins of the immediate family and 10 second-cousins of the immediate family.
  • Four members of the immediate family were present at the scene of Bloody Sunday.
  • The immediate family and, to a lesser degree the children and cousins of the immediate family are experiencing significant psychological distress in relation to the events of Bloody Sunday which took place 30 years ago.
  • The children of the immediate family and cousins of the immediate family recorded levels of psychological distress that are consistent with exposure to life-threatening events.
  • The degree of psychological distress appears to co-vary with familial distance from the victim.
  • In part. the long-term effect of Bloody Sunday may be due to cumulative stressors related to the number of inquiries into the event and recent dramatizations of the events.

 


 

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