Social Problems of Iran

fa زیست تروماتیک پساجنگ: مطالعۀ حافظۀ جمعی تجربۀ جنگ‌زدگی ساکنان استان ایلام Post-War Traumatic Existence: A Study of Collective Memory among war-stricken Residents of Ilam Province مسائل اجتماعی Social problems پژوهشی اصیل Original Research <div style="text-align: justify;">جنگ ایران و عراق (۱۳۵۹-۱۳۶۷) به‌عنوان یکی از طولانی‌ترین و پُرمخاطره‌ترین جنگ‌های قرن بیستم، اثرات عمیقی بر جامعۀ ایران، به‌ویژه استان‌های مرزی مانند ایلام، برجای گذاشت. هدف از این پژوهش شناخت هرچه بیش‌تر ادراکات مردم این منطقه از تجربۀ جنگ است. آنچه قابل تأمل است این امر است که آسیب‌های روانی منبعث از جنگ کم‌کم با گذشت زمان از بُعد فردی خارج می‌شوند و همین روایت‌های دردناک، روح جمعی ساکنان جنگ‌زده را شکل خواهد داد. این مطالعه با هدف پاسخ به این سؤال انجام شده است که جنگ نزد مردم مناطق جنگ‌زده مرز غربی کشور چه معنایی دارد و آنان چگونه جنگ را تجربه کرده‌اند؟ مطالعۀ حاضر با رویکرد تفسیری-کیفی و روش نظریۀ زمینه‌ای (داده‌بنیاد) برساخت‌گرا اجرا شده است. شیوۀ نمونه‌گیری هدفمند از نوع در دسترس و نظری بود. با رسیدن نمونه‌ها به ۲۷ نفر، اشباع نظری حاصل شد. به‌منظور تحلیل داده‌ها در چارچوب روش نظریۀ زمینه‌ای برساخت‌گرا، متن در سه مرحلۀ اولیه، متمرکز و نظری کدگذاری شد. یافته‌ها نشان داد تجربۀ جنگ‌زدگی و آوارگی، علاوه بر گسست در زندگی روزمره، زیست پساجنگ را با بحران‌های گوناگونی مواجه ساخته که آسیب روانی آن همچنان دارای تداوم است. جنگ در حافظۀ جمعی ایلامیان به‌عنوان فاجعه‌ای تروماتیک یادآوری می‌شود که ابعاد گوناگون زندگی افراد در نسل‌های مختلف را متأثر ساخته و جنگ‌زدگی به‌عنوان هویتی جمعی، با خودبازدارندگی توسعۀ فردی و اجتماعی و اقتصادی و فرهنگی را به دنبال داشته است.  </div> <div style="text-align: justify;">The Iran-Iraq War (1980–1988), as one of the longest and most perilous wars of the 20th century, left profound impacts on Iranian society, particularly in border provinces such as Ilam. The aim of this research is to gain a deeper understanding of the perceptions of the people in this region regarding their experience of the war. Notably, the psychological traumas stemming from war gradually transcend the individual level over time, and these same painful narratives will shape the collective spirit of the war-stricken inhabitants. This study seeks to answer the following question: What does war mean to the residents of Iran's war-torn western border regions, and how have they experienced it? The present study was conducted using an interpretive-qualitative approach and a constructivist grounded theory methodology. Purposeful sampling of the convenience and theoretical types was used. Theoretical saturation was achieved when the sample size reached 27 individuals. For data analysis within the framework of the constructivist grounded theory method, the text was coded in three stages: primary, focused, and theoretical. Findings indicated that the experience of war and displacement, beyond disrupting daily life, has confronted post-war existence with various crises, the psychological damage of which continues to persist. In the collective memory of the people of Ilam, the war is recalled as a traumatic catastrophe that has affected various dimensions of individuals' lives across generations. Moreover, being war-stricken, as a collective identity, has led to the inhibition of individual, social, economic, and cultural development. Extended Abstract <ol> <li align="left" style="margin-left:8px; text-align:left">Introduction</li> </ol> The Iran-Iraq War (1979–1988), as one of the longest and most tragic conflicts of the twentieth century, had profound effects on Iranian society, particularly on border provinces such as Ilam. The scope of the war consequences on the lives of the people of Ilam can be examined in various dimensions, including economic, cultural, and social relations. The impacts of this eight-year war, both material and spiritual, are far more extensive and destructive than what can be confined to a few specific options or limited to an eight-year timeframe. One of the inseparable dimensions of the war experience, which can influence all aspects of individuals' lives, is the role of the war in disrupting everyday life and causing psychological trauma. What is worth noting is that the psychological injuries caused by war gradually move beyond the individual dimension and these painful narratives will shape the collective spirit of the war-affected population. Although in the media and some studies, the effects and outcomes of the war have been evaluated as both positive and negative, this study focuses on the traumatic aspects of this phenomenon. This research will explore how individuals confront the memory of war, the pain and psychological distress they have experienced, and more precisely, the traumatic image of war in the collective memory of the people of Ilam. In other words, this study seeks to answer the following questions: What meaning does war hold for the people of the war-affected western border regions? How have they experienced the war? What scenes do they recall? How do their individual narratives of war intertwine with the collective spirit of the war-affected society? Has the experience of war, in the individual dimension, based on what occurred in the past, influenced the collective life of people today? How does the Ilamis' narrative of war differ from the official narrative of the war? 2.Methodology In this study, considering the exploratory objective of the research, Charmaz's constructivist grounded theory method has been utilized. This approach is situated within the interpretive paradigm. Constructivists study how and sometimes why participants construct meanings and actions in particular situations. Charmaz believes that in the constructivist approach, we try to get as close as possible to the essence of an experience, but we cannot exactly replicate the participants’ experiences. The constructivist approach means that we must look for something beyond how individuals perceive their own situations. Researchers collected the necessary data by referring to individuals who had direct and firsthand experiences of war and displacement. Based on this, semi-structured interviews were conducted to gather the participants’ narratives of war and displacement. In order to understand how narrators recall their past and experiences of war and displacement, questions were asked about how they became aware of the war, their experiences of displacement and forced migration, how they chose a new place to live, and their first-hand experiences of war scenes, among others. In this study, purposive sampling, using availability and theoretical sampling, was used to select participants. The average duration of each interview ranged from 50 minutes to 3 hours. The number of participants was determined based on the logic of qualitative sampling until theoretical saturation was achieved. In this way, 28 participants were interviewed to reach theoretical saturation. To analyze the data within this framework, first, each interview was transcribed. After multiple readings of the text, we moved on to the coding and analysis phase. The text was coded in three stages: open, focused, and theoretical coding. In the open coding stage, each section of the interview text was assigned a conceptual code. Then, in the focused coding stage, more important and frequently occurring concepts were selected, and similar concepts with shared meanings were merged to form categories. In the final theoretical stage, the most important categories were selected and discussed in the data analysis. This process was iterative and involved constant comparison of raw data with concepts and categories. To assess the credibility of the findings, we used member-checking. In this way, after coding and analyzing the data, the findings were presented to some of the participants for their evaluation. 3.Findings The feeling of being a victim (individual or collective) is a fundamental part of the Ilamis’ narratives of the war. This trauma is perceived as unjust, unfair, and unethical, and the government failed to prevent it. Post-war traumatic living is a concept that emerges from the narratives of the people of Ilam province who were affected by the war. Experiences such as confronting death, living in the shadow of death, psychological trauma, and war-related trauma have created invisible wounds, the constant presence of non-being, and hidden psychological wounds, all of which are different dimensions of the Ilamis’ experience of war trauma, ultimately leading to the concept of post-war traumatic living. 4.Conclusion The narratives of the people of Ilam about the imposed war, as one of the most tense and affected areas during the war, contain complex and traumatic layers. These narratives are not only a historical description of events, but also a reflection of deep personal and collective experiences shaped by the war. Ilamis’ narratives are full of signs of collective and individual trauma. The horrific experiences of war, such as aerial bombings, the martyrdom of loved ones, and the destruction of infrastructure, have caused deep psychological wounds in the society of Ilam. The narratives of the Ilamis are a combination of personal and collective stories. In these narratives, individual experiences are intertwined with broader war and resistance stories. These narratives simultaneously express personal pain and suffering, and also serve as tools for preserving collective identity and transmitting experiences to future generations. The experience of war and its resulting suffering has shaped an identity that transcends ethnic and religious groups, and the narrator conveys the endless and irreparable pain of war on the people of war-affected regions. Accepting the non-official narratives of war victims, and paying special attention to war-affected regions in order to promote economic, social, political, and cultural development, can help diminish the traumatic nature of post-war life in this region. In the long run, this can also heal the pain and suffering embedded in the collective memory of the people of these regions.  </div> حافظۀ جمعی, جنگ, زیست تروماتیک, جنگ‌زدگی, تجربۀ گسست. Collective memory, War, Traumatic life, War-stricken, Experience of disruption, Constructism 285 326 http://jspi.khu.ac.ir/browse.php?a_code=A-10-3190-1&slc_lang=fa&sid=1 Mohammad Nademi محمد نادمی mohammadnademi72@yahoo.com 6169937361 0009-0005-2958-5609 No Ph.D Student, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran دانشجوی دکتری جامعه‌شناسی، گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه مازندران، بابلسر، ایران Ahmad Rezaei احمد رضایی a.rezaei@umz.ac.ir 6169937386 10031947532846008037 Yes Associate Professor in Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Human and Social Sciences, University of Mazandaran, Babolsar, Iran دانشیار گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدۀ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه مازندران، بابلسر، ایران Hamid Ebadollahi-Chanzanagh حمید عباداللهی چنذانق h_ebadollahi@guilan.ac.ir 2630818551 10031947532846008038 No Associate Professor in Sociology, Department of Social Sciences, Faculty of Literature and Humanities, University of Guilan, Rasht, Iran دانشیار گروه علوم اجتماعی، دانشکدهٔ ادبیات و علوم انسانی، دانشگاه گیلان، رشت، ایران