STUDY OF RESILIENCE, HAPPINESS AND LIFE SATISFACTION AMONG ACID ATTACK SURVIORS

Abstract

Introduction: Acid attack is a heinous crime, where the victims face lifelong trauma, with disfigurement of face and other body parts. This study focused on studying the different ways through which acid attack survivors dealt with their circumstances by understanding their levels of resilience, life satisfaction and happiness.Method: Homogenous purposive sampling was used for the study. 30 survivors answered for the quantitative analysis of the three components, followed by interview of 10 of them who agreed to be part of the semi-structured interview.Results: In the quantitative analysis, it was found that there was a significant correlation between happiness and resilience. In the interview, four major themes emerged. The first theme was the ability to adapt, with sub-themes of personal belief system, adaptive memories of the past, belief in the just world and social support received from their family and friends. The second theme was life satisfaction which was derived by living in the moment and being hopeful. The third theme was that of happiness as an experience, which was subjective in nature and needed the reintegration of the past memories. The last was that of the experience of being a victim, which was driven by the memories of the attack.Conclusion: Findings of this study indicate how the survivors have adapted to their circumstances at hand, but have past memories of the attack. These findings can further help to generate insights on the kind of interventions needed for the rehabilitation of the survivors.