The Survivor Network: The Role of Shared Experiences in Mass Shootings Recovery

Survivors’ experiences of informal social support in coping and recovering after the 2017 Manchester Arena bombing

“… 3 , 32 , 35 In our interviews, as Harms et al 56 found in relation to the Australian bushfires, families and friends can act as a source of support particularly when they have shared experience of the distressing incident. As has also been found in previous research, 31 our analysis suggests that people who did not share experience of the attack, including families and friends, may find it more difficult to provide the support that survivors need; families and friends may try and fail, or they might avoid trying. By contrast, there were numerous reports of effective support being provided by groups (i.e.…”

“… 30 Similarly, a study of people affected by the mass shooting at Columbine High School in 1999 found that support from people who had a similar experience to themselves was more effective than support from the ‘outside’. 31 These ‘similar’ others provided validation and a space to share emotions. Other recent studies of informal support for survivors of traumatic events found that peers who shared similar experiences were able to provide sense-making and a feeling of unity, 32 whereas attempts at support from the ‘outside’ sometimes displayed a lack of understanding.…”

Fragments of the Past: Curating Peer Support with Perpetrators of Domestic Violence

“…With the lack of resources or studies for post-programme desistance, this can make the creation of such supportive processes between perpetrators even more challenging to carefully design -even though the loss of such is clearly identified as a risk factor to the re-uptake in violent behaviours [49,55]. While we note that Fragments of the Past was able to simulate aspects of a peer support process, so that members of Group G reported feeling perceived support (a valuable indicator for improved health outcomes [43]), we note that the interpersonal benefit of Group N providing peer support so that they felt valued or included was potentially absent from the process [68,69]. The lack of back-and-forth communication between the two groups is a direct result of the ethical dimensions surrounding how this research study was conducted; as a result we realise we had to focus on designing for a meaningful one-way information transfer beyond the use of traditional digital input devices -an approach notably unpopular with our participants (3.5.2 Mixing the Digital and Non-Digital).…”

“…Peer support is a process where people who share common experiences or face similar challenges come together to give and receive help based on the knowledge derived from shared experience [64]. Importantly, peer support can positively benefit both the person receiving support and can make the provider feel valued, needed and included [68,69]. Peers can also influence the behaviour of other group members that can be prosocial or harmful [19,25], or be a combination of the two [75].…”

Effectiveness of an intensive experiential group therapy program in promoting mental health and well-being among mass shooting survivors: A practice-based pilot study.

“…However, some evidence indicates that existing social networks may be insufficient to address survivors’ postdisaster needs, as survivors may be reticent to confide in family and friends out of concern about burdening them with traumatic details or eliciting unhelpful emotional reactions (Felix et al, 2021). For example, analysis of interviews with survivors of the Columbine High School shooting revealed that even well-intended support from others in a survivor’s life who did not experience the mass shooting was often experienced as unhelpful, and sometimes exacerbated feelings of loneliness (e.g., “they can’t really understand what I’m experiencing”), while the most effective form of social support came from fellow survivors (Schildkraut et al, 2021). These findings suggest that survivors of mass shootings may not experience all forms of social support equally and highlight the therapeutic potential of organized contexts that connect survivors with one another.…”