Living as a Survivor: A Study of the Political, Social and Economic Integration of Tsunami Survivors

How do traumatic life experiences affect individuals and why do some people recover from such experienceswhereas others do not?

This project aims to answer this puzzle by investigating the short- and long-termtrends in political, social and economic integration among 16,030 Swedish survivors of the 2004 BoxingDayTsunami. The project uses anonymized data from the Tsunami-registry and Statistics Sweden (SCB) between 1995 and 2020.

In all 16,030 individuals were exposed to the tsunami, when vacationing in 2004. The study relies on this to design a experiment by means of statistical twins.

Each tsunami-affected individual is matched with control-individuals on indicators of health, education, sex, age, work, income, family size and residence prior to the tsunami.

Thereafter indicators for political, social and economic integration from 2004 until 2020 will be studied using panel data analysis and a survey.

By comparing tsunami survivors with their statistical twins we may identify how we may be affected by trauma, and by looking at factors in common for tsunami survivors, showing high degrees of resilience that those less resilient may not share, the project aims to understand what makes us resilient.

The findings may inform preparedness strategies aimed at enhancing public welfare in the wake of crisis induced trauma. Funding is for 3-years and for 2 researchers. Results will be reported in both scientific and popular science formats.