The role of trauma in the persistence of anger : a qualitative exploration

Abstract

The research motivated the fact that anger following a trauma, tends to be self-directed and influences social, physical and relational interaction. The implications of this anger on the individual has far reaching consequences for the victims sense of self, relationships, work and social functioning and needed to be explored. Therefore the goal of the research was to explore the persistence of anger after trauma and the factors that influenced it. Using purposeful and snowball sampling and multiple case study approach, as termed by (Terre Blanche, Durrheim, & Painter, 2006), allowed the selection of eight information-rich conversations for the research on anger. To accomplish this objective, a social constructionist framework and in-depth conversations to collect data to explore recurring themes was used. This meant that the structure of the interview-conversation was a conversation rather than a formal interview to collect data using unstructured question to probe the trauma in the participant’s lives to reveal how anger influenced their anger after trauma (Babbie, 2005; Papaikonomou & Engelbrecht, 2018; Stanton, 2005; Terre Blanche et al., 2006). By using an unstructured conversation in this inquiry into anger after trauma fitted the research methodology from a qualitative research approach that allowed particular and personal insight into the meanings given by the participants to their trauma and anger. Furthermore, it accepted the importance of the participants being the experts on their own anger experience, with no intention of generalising the information obtained to a bigger population of trauma survivors (Babbie, 2005).