Abstract

This study analyzed the experiences of victims of state violence, discovered differences between state violence and general trauma, and proposed ways to help heal trauma. Participants were composed of state violence victims and their families in total, including 11 from the Jeju 43 Incident, 11 from the YeosuㆍSunchoen 10.19 Incident and 6 form May 18th Democratic Uprising. As a result of using the grounded theory to analyze data, a total of 170 concepts, 57 subcategories, and 20 categories were derived. The central phenomenon was direct damage caused by state violence. This included ‘post-traumatic stress’, ‘social stigma’, ‘isolation from community’, ‘socio-economical issues’ and ‘family dissolution’. As a result of the process analysis, the participants experienced six phases: ‘trauma’, ‘isolation’, ‘resistance’, ‘resignation’, ‘recovery’, and ‘growth.’ Each phase is sequential but at the time mutually affect each other. Based on the results, this study verified the difference between state violence and general trauma, and emphasized social and cultural factors, such as community support, were important factors in healing state violence trauma. Besides, the implications and limitations as well as suggestions for future research were mentioned.