Proper

Abstract

This study is an exploratory investigation of elderly residents in Jeju Island, South Korea, to determine whether it is possible to evoke negative and potentially repressed emotions associated with an historic (1948-1954) trauma, locally referred to as ‘‘4.3’’, by using only the sustainment and ventilation stages of the psychosocial model. The lead researcher, a clinical social worker and professor, and a team of students utilized the psychosocial model in 2013 and again in 2015 to evoke negative emotion related to Jeju’s historic ‘‘4.3’’ trauma in elderly residents as represented by their grandparents, respectively. It was determined that negative feelings long suppressed manifested in symptoms of anxiety related to the ‘‘4.3’’ trauma. The researchers also observed that they could evoke the emotion for a short period directly related to the level of familial trust between researcher and subject. In conclusion, this study found that "mourning" or "emotional ventilation" in the microsystem is limited if a sense of safety, in this case familiarity and familial trust between researcher and subject, is not secured in the macroscopic, exo, and external systems. However, in conditions of complete trust, it is concluded that the short-term application of only the sustainment and ventilation stages of the psychosocial model can provide relief to elderly residents of Jeju Island, South Korea, who are evidencing symptoms of anxiety related to the historic trauma known locally as ‘‘4.3’’.