Analyzing the impact of leisure as a coping strategy for the
female victims of Acid Attack in Bangladesh
REHNUMA KARIM
LEISURE STUDIES (HEALTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT)
Bangladesh is one of the poorest countries in the world with a population
of 131 million. Among many social problems, acid attacks, mostly on girls and
women, are on the rise. The number of acid attack rose from 47 in 1996 to 340 in
2003. The victims in most cases are young girls from 13 to 25 years of age
coming from low income or lower middle-income families. . Most of the attacks
are at the hands of spurned suitors, jealous husbands, or even mothers-in-law
angry over slow or no dowry payments. The level of severity of this type of tragic
incident is very high, as the victims in most cases have to live with disfigurement
throughout their lives, accompanied by the accentuated daily stressors rising
from navigating in the external world with the newly acquired label of acid
attacked victim. According to Thoite (1995), marginalized individuals tend to
experience social stress (powerlessness, alienation and lack of control) to a
much greater extent than the non-marginalized people. This social stress was
confirmed in a pilot study I conducted with these individuals. I found that although
some girls and women are getting along with their daily lives by accepting and
adjusting to their situation, most of the victims of acid attacks disassociate
themselves from taking part in regular day-to-day activities such as work,
recreation, or community life.
This unexpected negative life event thus causes stress resulting from the
sense of loss and lack of control, as well as other social and physical demands
that envelop them. Coping with this kind of life-altering incident generally requires
many kinds of personal and social resources. Many coping researchers have
found that leisure orientation and relationships can be important in reducing
stress. Leisure and leisure activity, however, may be virtually inconceivable in the
first instance to a person who has experienced a traumatic negative life event.
Along this line, it may seem that the acid attack victims might not be able to
identify the existence of leisure in their lives. My pilot study, however, indicated
that many female victims of acid attack are involved in leisure like activities,
which has helped them to cope better with their daily lives. Thus, a major
challenge is to understand how leisure-related activity helps in the coping
process.
The main purposes of this qualitative study are to explore how female
victims of acid attack experience and respond to the stress they experience in
their daily lives and to find out whether or not their conscious or subconscious
ways of participation in leisure-like activities help them to cope better with the
daily stress. Leisure researchers like Kleiber, Hutchinson and Williams (2002)
found leisure to play an important role in the lives of trauma victims by helping to
distract, generate optimism about the future, and preserve a sense of self. A
secondary, but related, purpose of this study will be to explore the role of
religious spirituality among the victims that might have some influence on how
they cope with their stress. Although the research is scant regarding the role of
spirituality in the stress-coping literature, some have suggested that leisure may
produce a sense of spirituality that can help individuals better cope with stressful
situations and events by promoting feelings of life meaning and purpose, and
being connected to others and nature (e.g., Heintzman, 2002 ; Heintzman &
Mannell, 2003). Thus, this study will extend the current literature by more closely
examining the role of leisure-related spirituality in helping the girls and women
who have been victims of acid attack.
This extension is important as most studies have been based on western
societies and very few researchers have examined the process of coping used
by people in developing (non-Western) countries under extreme conditions.
Thus, this study will examine the theoretical validity of current Western-based
stress-coping models to non-Westernized countries. Identifying the main factors
that contribute to stress reduction in the lives of this special population can
contribute to the emerging field of stress and coping. This knowledge can also
shed some light on understanding similar cases like victims of violence,
accidents and other traumas. As well, these findings my have clinical implications
by suggesting intervention strategies for counselors or therapists, which is an
area that receives scant attention in Bangladesh.
References
Heintzman, P. (2002). A conceptual model of leisure and spiritual well-being. Journal of Park and
Recreation, 20,147-169.
Heintzman, P., & Mannell, R. C. (2003). Spiritual functions of leisure and spiritual well-being: Coping
with time pressure. Leisure Sciences, 25, 207- 230.
Kleiber, A. D., Hutchinson, L. S., & Williams, R. (2002). Leisure as a resource in transcending negative life
events: Self-protection, self-restoration, and personal transformation. Leisure Sciences, 24, 219-235.
Thoite, P. A. (1995). Stress, coping, and social support processes: Where are we? What next? Journal of
Health and Social Behavior, Extra Issue, 53-79.