Constructing Memory: The case of threatened people by ETA in the Basque Country

1. VICTIMS OF TERRORISM: MULTI-DISCIPLINARY APPROACHES. 16th November2012. StAndrews, Scotland Constructing Memory: The case of threatened people by ETA in the Basque Country Javier Martin-Peña * Álvaro Rodríguez-Carballeira ** Ana Varela-Rey ** Jordi Escartín ** * University of Zaragoza ** University of Barcelona

2. Context: The Basque Country and ETA • ETA (Basque Homeland and Freedom) is an armed group with separatist & nationalist motives, emerged in the Franco’s dictatorship. • Afterthedictatorship, violencecontinued as a war of attritionagainstSpanishState, withtheaimtoestablish a BasqueState, in Euskadi, Navarra and threeregions at south of France. Nowadays, ETA announced the cease of armed activities last October 2011. • 859 killings until 2009, 67,21% perpetrated in the Basque Country (Alonso, Domínguez & García, 2010).

3. ETA’s Network: Levels of Involvement in Violence 3 • Thenetworkisformedbypeoplethatparticipateactively in theharassmentseekedby ETA, givingdifferenttypes of supporttotheterroristorganization. • Distinctionbetweenthatnetwork and othergroups/personsthatmayshare similar politicsmotivations, butwithoutsupporttheviolence as a mean forgettingtheends. Supporttasks StreetViolence (kaleborroka) Killings (Adaptedfrom Muro, 2008)

4. Violence and Victims: A WideCasuistry Beyond the damages and killings, a situation of harassment over their targets was perpetrated in the Basque Country. This situation involved terrorist threats, through strategies of psychological violence and psychosocial effects over direct and indirect victims. Continuum in the acts of violence: From psychological to physical violence Selectionof targets underthreatbyETA: Profession, politicalbelief, or public criticism to ETA

5. PsychosocialConsequences of Threats 5 • Permanent and systematicterroristthreats and oftenitinvolvedcloseprotection (e.g., bodyguard). • Relevance of theimpact of violencewithoutphysicalaggression (Larizgoitia et al., 2011). • The model shows the connections between stressors, personal reactions and effects “Threat, close protection, and consequences for professional practice and private life” (Nijdam, Olff, de Vries, Martens, Gersons, 2008 ; Nijdam, Gersons & Olff, 2010 ; Martin-Peña et al., 2011a).

6. To examine the experience suffered by victims and threatened people of ETA’s (Basque Homeland and Freedom) terrorist group in the Basque Country. Characteristics of violence Terrorist threats Psychosocial effects GOALS Research Opportunities • Lack of scientific research about victims of ETA, principally about threatened people in the Basque Country Goals

7. METHOD 7 • Sample: people threatened by ETA in the Basque Country • Interviews: N = 18 ; Survey: N = 90 • Non probabilisticsampling, snowballsampling, duesafety, distrustattitudes of participants. Usefulforhardtoreachsamples • Twopreviousqualitativestudiespointedoutcategories: • - Strategies of psychologicalviolence/terroristthreats • Psychosocialconsequences • Utilizationmentionedcategoriesforsurvey and analysis • Participants: Males (73,33%) ; 40-49 years ; Sector profs. Public (60%) ; Residence in theBasque Country: 91,10%

8. RESULTS: Characteristics of the situation

9. Taxonomy of StrategiesPsychologicalViolence (PV) (Martin-Peña et al., 2010) 9 Indirects Extortion Directs Emotional abuse: I received a letter in which they threatened to kill me if I did not stand down as a councillor Stigmatization: My name was written in insulting banners at the Faculty in which I studied. Control: Some of my neighbours try to get information on potential targets to pass onto the terrorists. The police told me that a shop assistant of a greengrocer’s close to my home was doing this.

10. PsychosocialEffects(Martin-Peña et al., 2011a)

11. Strategies of PV and Psychosocial Effects Note. Standarized Betas. 1 Extrotion was underscored by participants. Control variables such as gender and duration of threat were not included because of didn’t show significative association. Physical and psychological effects. (No = 0 Sí = 1). *p < .05. **p < .01. ***p < .001 • Multiple regression analysis made for each psychosocial effects settings. • -Direct PV strategies and close protection explained 50% of the variance on contextual effects. • Third step of the model (which included physical and psychol. Effects) explained an additional 56%. • - Direct strategies, close protection and stress reactions explained a 45% on cognitive domain. • - Stress reactions were mainly associated to emotional and behavioral domains, explaining a 37,6% and 37,3% of the variances, respectively.

12. Discussion • Extent of the violence and derived effects: 1. direct victims; indirect victims and society as a whole. • Relevance of PV strategies (i.e., threats) over the health • Direct strategies of PV, close protection and stress reactions, may affect the psychosocial functioning of threatened person lost of social support. • Constant threats increasing uncertainty cover past, present and future, influencing negatively (Nijdam et al., 2008). • A certain degree of acclimation may occur in long time periods of threat and protection.

13. 13 • Psychologicalharassment, maybeperceived a bit indiferentlybysociety, duetheimpactissmoothly, differenttoanattackor a bomb car. • Terrorism uses insidious types of violence, exploiting some little acts of violence for getting a wide range of effects over victims and society. • Limitations of the research are focused on the sample, hard to reach, or on the absence of a control group. • The study pretends to contribute to know better: • The situation of violence suffered, for collective memory. • Perspective from victims and threatened people in the Basque Country • The process between threatsand psychosocial effects

14. ThankYou jmape@unizar.es jmape@unizar.es