Trauma and Resilience: Examining the Impact of the APS Massacre on Pakistani Society

Abstract

This article attempts to explore the impact of the post-9/11 acts of terrorism in Pakistan. It particularly focuses on the devastating 2014 incident at the Army Public School (APS) in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). The pervasive nature of terrorism, as viewed through the conceptual lens of Structural Violence (Galtung, 1969), suggests that violence built into societal structures exerts significant psychological and social impacts at the micro-level of the population. In order to quantitatively assess these psycho-social effects on individuals, the research utilized two established measurement instruments: Lieber’s scale of PTSD was supplemented to gauge the level of post-traumatic stress, and the Social Capital was measured through Fang’s (2008) ‘Personal Social Capital Scale’ (PSCS). The methodology employs a deductive, quantitative approach, comparing direct victims (those who suffered irreparable losses, such as parents of the deceased) against indirectly exposed victims (those who experienced reparable losses or indirect exposure). The results obtained from the statistical analysis indicate a number of key findings. Foremost, they confirm that the level of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) is significantly higher for directly exposed victims compared to indirectly exposed victims. Correspondingly, the victims' social capital, i.e, the assets gained through social networks was found to be low among directly exposed victims than indirectly exposed victims. A notable and unanticipated finding was that male direct victims exhibited a significantly high level of PTSD and a lower level of social capital in comparison to women victims, suggesting that the intensity of structural violence varies amongst the demographics of the population. These empirical findings provide an addition to Galtung’s Structural Violence Theory by detailing its impacts at the micro-level and offer critical information for humanitarian aid organizations, including the government, for the effective management of victims in conflict-affected areas.

Keywords: Structural Violence, PTSD, Social Capital, APS Massacre, Psycho-Social Repercussions