Experiences of Posttraumatic Growth in Witnesses to the July 15 Coup Attempt in Turkey

Abstract

The July 15, 2016 coup attempt in Turkey shocked the entire Turkish nation and left deep traces on Turkish citizens. People living in Ankara and İstanbul province were direct witnesses to these events and faced with images that resembled a battle scene. The aim of this research is to reveal the experiences of posttraumatic growth among individuals who directly witnessed the July 15 coup attempt. This qualitative research was carried out with a phenomenological design. Participants in the study consisted of 20 adults living in Ankara and İstanbul. Five themes were found in the analysis: self-perception, new possibilities in life, relating to others, religious/spiritual change, perspective on life, and perception of future. The results of the research showed that many positive changes occurred in the lives of individuals who had a coup experience.

Coping and Post-traumatic Growth Among COVID-19 Patients: A Qualitative Study

“…In the literature, the number of people who reported PTG following traumatic events many outnumbers those who reported mental health issues (Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2004 ). Previous studies indicated individuals who faced different life challenges such as war and immigration (Şimşir et al, 2021a ), spinal cord injury (Chun & Lee, 2008 ), earthquake (Taku et al, 2015 ), motor vehicle accidents (Nishi et al, 2010 ), conflict (Simsir & Dilmac, 2018 ), bereavement (Michael & Cooper, 2013 ), cancer illness (Schroevers et al, 2010 ), and heart disease (Sheikh, 2004 ) experience PTG.…”

The Psychological Impact of Torture and State Repression in Türkiye between 2015 and 2018: Reports from Turkish Refugees Seeking Asylum in Germany

“…To our knowledge, only one phenomenological study focused on posttraumatic growth in witnesses to the coup attempt exists so far (29), and ours is the first study to depict the human rights violations experienced by various Turkish citizens. No other study has interviewed politically or religiously active Kurdish or otherwise threatened Turkish citizens about their experience during the period of 2015 – 2018 before.…”

Posttraumatic growth experiences of refugees: A metasynthesis of qualitative studies

“…An examination of the extant literature revealed that a wide variety of events, such as life‐threatening physical illness (Hefferon et al, 2009), severe physical injury (Kampman et al, 2015), natural disaster (Nalipay et al, 2017), bereavement (Michael & Cooper, 2013), cancer (Ochoa‐Arnedo et al, 2020), childbirth (Delicate et al, 2018), interpersonal violence (Elderton et al, 2017), terrorist attacks (Park et al, 2012), coup attempt (Simsir & Dilmac, 2018b), and vicarious trauma (Cohen & Collens, 2013) may lead to PTG in a significant number of people. Additionally, PTG has been reported among refugee populations from different regions of the world, such as Kosovo, North Korea, Tibet, Turkey (Ai et al, 2007; *Hussain & Bhushan, 2013; *Kim & Lee, 2009; *Şimşir et al, 2018).…”