Human existences is simple, we are born, we live and then we die. Although, everything must die, many aspects of life involve eluding death, whether physically or psychologically. When most people consider the inability of death, they commonly experience the emotional burden of anxiety and fear. On April 15, 2013, victims of the Boston marathon bombing were made aware of their mortality when an explosion suddenly brought the race to a violent halt. From previous research, its evident the majority of victims are resilient and recover following a traumatic event. Through the exploration of the Terror Management Theory, one may understand human existence for good or evil and assists survivors in recovery following a traumatic event.
The Terror
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There is no definitive way to determine how someone will recover or cope following a traumatic incident like the Boston marathon bombing. For some, the trauma ignites a life long struggle of anxiety, substance abuse and post traumatic stress disorder. Although, the physiological buffers purposed by the Terror Management Theory can be implemented in helping victims relieve anxiety and cope through close interpersonal relationships and ignoring mortality cues. Some terror management theorists argue that when an individual is made aware of their mortality their desire for affiliation overrides the need to maintain a positive self esteem. In periods of threat, one way victims relieve anxiety is through strengthening ties and affiliating themselves with groups they are close to. As media coverage in Boston shifted to demonstration of resiliency (e.g., “Boston Strong”) many Americans felt closer to the city Boston. In fact, New York Yankees made bitter rivalries between the Boston Red Sox seem meaningless in the wake of the attack. In a show of support, the New York Yankee posted a message on their video billboard outside the stadium, that read “United We Stand”. The video image portrayed the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox logos next to each other in a symbol of support. The message proves, in times of tragedy our identity as …show more content…
A fear for one’s life can lead to a conative shut down. The trauma derailed survivor’s life courses as many suffered life changing injuries. Victims struggled to understand their near death experience which affected their well-being. In addressing the applicability of the Terror Management Theory during the Boston Marathon bombings, perception of death and survival within victims were skewed. Death is commonly associated with fear. In terms of cognitive, heighten levels of fear created anxiety and a pessimistic future within the minds of Boston Marathon survivors. Being close to death calls for a new strategy in coping which can change the perception in victims. More often than not, near death experiences result in an appreciation and value of life. Its important to remember, not everyone responds to terror in the same way which makes it difficult in determining how a victim perception of death and survival might be
In unit six we learned about anthropology and entomology and how forensic scientist use it different cases. Even though entomology was not that useful in The Oklahoma bombing case, anthropology was extremely useful for identifying the victims. Since it was an explosion, Forensic anthropologist had to study different remains of the victim's body and use different techniques (such as examining bone development) to identify who they were. For example, the death toll was originally 169 people (one person higher) than it is now because of an unidentified left leg was found and they couldn’t find the body it originally came from. Later, medical examiners compared the size of the tibia of the leg to other victims right leg. Finally forensic found
"the shot heard round the world"-Ralph Waldo Emerson concord hymn. No this doesn't mean in 1770 all of the people in the world heard the shot. It means that this incident was known about throughout everywhere in the world. Ralph Waldo Emerson meant to say this to tell the significance behind the shooting and the outcome of the shooting as well. Many people also believed that this was the thing that's started it all. People thought that because of the outrages and protesting caused by the massacre it caused the start of the revolutionary war. The infamous Boston massacre was caused by colonists protesting unfair British actions and defensive British soldiers try to contain the crowd then sparking the revolution.
The United States, land of the free and the home of the brave, has been through many historical shootings and bombings, Events like the Boston Marathon bombing is a great example of a horrific event that happened to the American soil. The Boston Marathon bombing was a terrorist attack that killed 3 innocent civilians and estimated an amount of 264 other innocent civilians were injured. The Boston Marathon occurred on Patriot's Day, the third Monday of April. The Boston Marathon is an annual marathon hosted by several cities in greater Boston in eastern Massachusetts, United States(Wikipedia). The Marathon is always held on Patriots’ Day. Also, it is the world’s oldest annual marathon. Amateur and professional runners from all around the world,
It is common for those experiencing grief to deny the death altogether. Many people do this by avoiding situations and places that remind them of the deceased (Leming & Dickinson, 2016). However, by simply avoiding the topic of death and pain, the mourner only achieves temporary relief while in turn creating more permanent lasting agony (Rich, 2005). In this stage, mourners will begin to feel the full weight of the circumstance. Whether the death of a loved one was sudden or long-term, survivors will feel a full range of emotions, such as sadness, guilt, anger, frustration, hopelessness, or grief. While many of these emotions can cause serious suffering, it is important for the survivor to feel whatever emotions come up and deal with those feelings, rather than trying to suppress any
On March 5, 1770 a fight broke out in the streets of Boston, Massachusetts between a patriot mob and British soldiers. Citizens attacked a squad of soldiers by throwing snowballs, stones and sticks. British Army soldiers in turn killed five civilians and injured six others. The presence of British troops had been stationed in Boston, the capital of Province of Massachusetts Bay since 17681. The British existence was increasingly unwelcome. The British troops were sent to Boston in order to protect and support the crown-appointed colonial officials attempting to enforce unpopular Parliamentary legislation.
According to the textbook who was to blame for the Boston Massacre, several Boston resident were shot and killed by British Soldiers on the night of March 5, 1770, in what became known as Boston Massacre.
The Boston Massacre was and is still a debatable Massacre. The event occurred on March 5, 1776. It involved the rope workers of the colonial Boston and two British regiments, the twenty-ninth and the fourteenth regiments. Eleven people were shot in the incident; five people were killed and the other six were merely wounded. The soldiers and the captain, Thomas Preston, were all put on trial. All were acquitted of charges of murder, however the two soldiers who fired first, Private Mathew Killroy, and Private William Montgomery, the two soldiers were guilty of manslaughter. The causes were numerous for this event. There had been a nation wide long-term dislike towards the British, and a growing hatred towards them by the people of Boston. Even before the two regiments were sent in to monitor Boston there was a growing feud before the two sides.
The first article was a study done on the Oklahoma City bombing in 1995 and the body handlers who sorted through rubble and human remains to find all the victims of the tragedy. Going through experiences like these will often lead to stress disorders, such as PTSD. This study tests that idea using 51 of the body handlers and a survey to see what they went through psychologically at the time of the event and how that relates to their mindset years later. It also set out to test the idea that age, gender, physical exposure to the bombing, knowing a victim, or having disaster experience would change the likelihood of acquiring an anxiety disorder. It was also predicted that using “positive coping strategies including humor, favorable organizational and managerial factors, social support, level of training and use of rituals” (Doughty et al, 2002) would help reduce the chances of a disorder.
If we can acknowledge our fear, we can realize that right now we are okay. Right now, today, we are still alive, and our bodies are working marvelously. Our eyes can still see the beautiful sky. Our ears can still hear the voices of our loved ones”.
...onal Survey of Stress Reactions after the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks. New England Journal of Medicine, 345(20), 1507-1512.
Terror management theory (TMT) asserts that human beings have natural tendency for self-preservation if there is threat to one’s well–being (Greenberg, Solomon, & Pyszczynski, 1997). It notes that we are the cultural animals that pose self-awareness on the concept of past and future, as well as the understanding that one day we will die. We concern about our life and death but aware that it is unexpected by everything. The worse matter is that we become aware of our vulnerability and helplessness when facing death-related thoughts and ultimate demise (Pyszczynski & Greenberg, 1992). The inevitable death awareness or mortality salience provides a ground for experiencing the existential terror, which is the overwhelming concern of people’s mortality and existence. In order to avoid the continued existence of threats, people need faith in a relatively affirmative and plausive cultural worldview and meaning of life (Greenberg, Pyszczynski, & Solomon, 1995). Cultural worldview is a perceptual construction in the society which explaining the origins of life and the existence of afterlife. We have to invest a set of cultural worldviews by ourselves that are able to provide meaning, stability and order to our lives and to offer the promise of death transcendence (Solomon, Greenberg, & Pyszczynski, 2004). On the other hand, we hold a belief that one is living up to the standards of value prescribed by that worldview and social norm shared by a group of people. This belief is derived by self-esteem of individual. We maintain the perception and confident that we are fulfilling the cultural prescriptions for value in the society and are thus eligible for some form of personal immortality (Landau & Greenberg, 2006). We Together with the assump...
Throughout history, events are sparked by something, which causes emotions to rise and tensions to come to a breaking point. The Boston Massacre was no exception; America was feeling the pressure of the British and was ready to break away from the rule. However, this separation between these two parties would not come without bloodshed on both sides. The British did not feel the American had the right to separate them from under British rule, but the Americans were tired of their taxes and rules being placed upon them and wanted to succeed from their political tyrants. The Boston Massacre would be the vocal point in what would be recognized, as the Revolutionary War in American history and the first place lives would be lost for the cost of liberty. Even though the lives were lost that day, eight British soldiers were mendaciously accused of murder when it was clearly self-defense. People who are placed in a situation where their lives are threatened have the right to defend themselves. History does not have the right to accuse any one event those history may have considered the enemy guilty when they are fighting for their lives.
The terror management theory is a motivational theory which speculates that human beings have an underlying fear of death. These feelings are managed within that person by developing or maintaining a two- part cultural anxiety buffer; an individual worldview and a sense of self value or self-esteem. (Pyszczynski,Greenberg, & Solomon, 1997) According to the theory, high self-esteem reflects the successful participation in and internalization of meaningful cultural worldview. (Schmeichel, Gailliot, Filardo, MrGregor, Gitter, &Baumeister 2009) Goldenberg and Shakelford (2005) suggested that “the need for self-esteem is often seen as the master motive that underlies much o...
James, H., & John, R. (2012) .Well being after the Virginia tech mass murder: The relative effectiveness of face-to-face and virtual interactions in providing support to survivors. Traumatology, 18(4): 3-12.
Intro : Introduce the concept of death, and how the concept of death is shown to be something to be feared