A Collective Alienation Rumors have a profound effect on human interaction, and can cause stressful isolation of certain groups. The powerful effects of rumors in post-trauma societies is revealed in the articles, Narratives of Uncertainty: The Affective Force of Child-Trafficking Rumors in Postdisaster Aceh, Indonesia by Annemarie Samuels and Gendered War and Rumors of Saddam Hussein in Uganda by Sverker Finnström. Although mere stories or potentially false statements, rumors reveal the sociohistorical realities of certain areas by reflecting a collective sentiment of alienation of the people in the area. In her article, Samuels (2015) discusses the rumors that arose after the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami in Aceh, Indonesia, and the effects
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In the first article, the majority of the Acehnese people responded with compassion toward the Acehnese mothers who had lost their children (Samuels 2015). However, after years and years of having no evidence, and not having many children return to Aceh once they were old enough, the majority of the Acehnese people started reacting with frustration toward the mothers who continued to have hope and expected people to continue searching for the lost children (Samuels 2015). This led to an even more deepened feeling of alienation by the mothers because they were now being urged to give up hope (Samuels 2015). Likewise, Lisa Archuleta, a mother who had lost her daughter, Michelle, to heroin overdose, in The Pastoral Clinic, was met with frustration by the patients at Nuevo Dia (Garcia 2007). As with the women in Aceh, Lisa was also initially met with compassion, but later with hostility because the others had grown tired of listening to her grieving, and wanted a chance to let out their own grievances (Garcia 2007). This furthered Lisa’s alienation from the patients at the clinic, which prompted her to try to find another form of social belonging by having private conversations with Angela Garcia (Garcia
In the first article, the majority of the Acehnese people responded with compassion toward the Acehnese mothers who had lost their children (Samuels 2015). However, after years and years of having no evidence, and not having many children return to Aceh once they were old enough, the majority of the Acehnese people started reacting with frustration toward the mothers who continued to have hope and expected people to continue searching for the lost children (Samuels 2015). This led to an even more deepened feeling of alienation by the mothers because they were now being urged to give up hope (Samuels 2015). Likewise, Lisa Archuleta, a mother who had lost her daughter, Michelle, to heroin overdose, in The Pastoral Clinic, was met with frustration by the patients at Nuevo Dia (Garcia 2007). As with the women in Aceh, Lisa was also initially met with compassion, but later with hostility because the others had grown tired of listening to her grieving, and wanted a chance to let out their own grievances (Garcia 2007). This furthered Lisa’s alienation from the patients at the clinic, which prompted her to try to find another form of social belonging by having private conversations with Angela Garcia (Garcia