Perceived Social Support: A Lesson from Lara Logan's Interview

As some of you know, I'm both a sociologist of mental health and a journalism junkie.  A few of you may even know I'm working on two books, one a co-edited (with my husband) volume on immigration and the other on the sociology of mob violence.  These three things have come together, in the most unexpected of ways, in the past few months, with the publicity and news surrounding Lara Logan's horrendous assault in Egypt and the gang rape of Iman al-Obeidy by Qaddafi forces in Libya.    Both women have shown INCREDIBLE courage in telling their stories publicly.  One, because she was able to escape and go home, has been the rather lucky recipient of a great deal of support -- medical care, letters from strangers, notes from colleagues, pictures drawn by school children, stories shared by other women, notes from soldiers, even a phone call from  President Obama.  The other, however, has been denied the most basic human right of going home and, according to the Free Iman al-Obeidy Facebook page,  has suffered greatly by being denied that access to her support system.

Last night, like millions of others, I watched Lara Logan's interview on 60 Minutes.  Having followed the story carefully, I have to say I wasn't all that surprised by the details.  My first clues to the severity of the assault were actually in the original CBS news statement itself:  brutal and sustained sexual assault, on next flight out of the country, four days in a hospital.  You don't have to be a mind reader or a genius to have figured out that it was a horrible, possibly life-threatening assault.  Nobody -- least of all a war correspondent with 18 years experience working in the most war-torn places on the globe -- leaves a foreign country in the midst of celebration  for something minor.  Nobody -- even somebody with means -- spends four days in a hospital for the trivial.  Hospitals just don't do that anymore.  Nonetheless, hearing her tell her own story and seeing her tears made my heart race, my body turn cold, my tears flow.  I wish I could do more for her than simply leave the notes of support that I (like hundred of others) have left on her official Facebook page.

In some ways, however, the part of the interview available online at 60 Minutes Overtime was actually the more heart-wrenching.  Logan emphasized in that segment exactly how grateful she was for all the letters and cards she has received.  She, unlike so many other victims of similarly horrible crimes, has tangible evidence that people care.  Not just that her immediate family and friends care, but that strangers care.  How unbelievably wonderful.  Though Iman reportedly knows that she, too, has supporters, it is unlikely that she has the same amount of tangible evidence that people are on her side.

Wouldn't it be wonderful if all victims of violence could receive abundant evidence that people care?

Conveniently for me, I was already scheduled to lecture today on perceived social support.  I used a portion of Logan's 60 Minutes Overtime segment in my lecture; the students were silent and clearly moved.  The segment made the point:  perceived social support matters.  Various sociological studies have shown that it is perceived social support that matters most to people's mental health -- even more than tangible supports that are more easily measured (such as how often people make meals for you or take care of your children).  Those who perceive they have more support are better at coping, more apt to seek help if they need it, and have lower rates of both mental and physical health problems.  Those with higher levels of perceived social support also report what psychologists call post traumatic growth -- a trend among trauma survivors to report (in retrospect and only after much time has passed) that there was something good that came out of their healing.

We cannot make the traumas go away.  We cannot make the traumas themselves "good".  The traumas always will be indescribably evil and horrifying and they tend to stay with people in some way or another.  But we can, by supporting each other, make it possible for people not only to survive a trauma, but to thrive afterward.

Logan has said she does not want this assault to define her.  Of course not.  And of course it doesn't.  She, like all survivors, is so much more than what she survived.  She's an amazing reporter.  An incredibly brave, honest, intelligent woman.  Somebody who by her courage and brutal honesty has managed to launch herself into my pantheon of heroes.

And now, for those of us who are her fans, it's up to us to do two things:  continue to show her our support for as long as she needs it (these traumas don't disappear very fast, I'm told), and keep our promise to her that we won't define her by this event.  We might define her by her bravery, however.  But I think she'd be OK with that.

And we owe Iman the same thing -- to define her by her strength and not by her victimization.  All survivors of the unimaginable are due this.

Got a little free time today?  Drop a card to somebody.  Remind them how strong they are. Remind them that they are loved. Such things matter.

It's the least we can do.
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Suggested Readings:

1.  Thoits, Peggy. 2011.  Perceived social support and the voluntary, mixed or pressured use of mental health services.  Society and Mental Health 1 (1):  4-19.

2.  Joseph, Stephen and Linley, Alex P. 2008.  Trauma, Recovery and Growth:  Positive Psychological Perspectives on Posttraumatic Stress.  New York, NY:  Wiley.

3.  Lian, Tam Cai. YEAR.  Perceived social support, coping capability and gender differences among young adults.  Sunway Academic Journal 6:  75-88.


4.  Cadzow, Renee B. and Servoss, Timothy J.  2009.  The association between perceived social support and health among patients at a free urban clinic.  Journal of the National Medical Association 101(3):  243-250.

5.  Wethington, E. and Kessler, R.C..  1986.  Perceived support, received support, and adjustment to stressful life events.  Journal of Health and Social Behavior 27:  78-89.

6.  House, J.S.  1981. Work Stress and Social Support.  Reading, MA:  Addison-Wesley.

7.  Vaux, A. 1988.  Social Support:  Theory, Research and Intervention.   New York:  Praeger.

8.  Turner, R.J. and Lloyd, D.A.  1995.  Lifetime traumas and mental health:  The significance of cumulative adversity.  Journal of Health and Social Behavior 36:  360-376.

9.  Turner, R.J., Wheaton, B., and Lloyd, D.A.  1995.  The epidemiology of stress.  American Sociological Review 60:  104-125.

Do I Owe You An Apology?

When I first started this blog, I was blogging pretty regularly -- at least once a week, if not twice.  About half of my posts were on veganism or diet and the other half were a combination of news or parenting experiences.  Then my kids let me know that they did NOT want to be visible on my blog, so I lost about 25% of my material.

I know this is a common experience among Mommy bloggers, particularly for those whose kids are old enough to know what a blog is and to have a nascent awareness of public and private.  I have to respect that.  My kids don't want strangers commenting to me about their lives on the Internet, no matter how entertaining (or mundane) the stories may be.  (There are exceptions; the recent blog about my daughter's Battle of the Books competition was approved by her.  In fact, she wanted me to write that one.)

I've also found myself kinda bored with veganism, so I feel I've "lost" another source of topics.  I'm currently thinking most about news of various sorts and have lately been paralyzed by world news (Japan, Syria, Libya, Egypt...and Wisconsin and the generally sad state of the US economy).

I really do mean paralyzed -- I don't know where to start a post about any of it.  Japan's situation breaks my heart and worries the hell out of me (nuclear power, IMHO, needs to go).  The human rights abuses the world over sicken me.  The level of hatred people have for each other stuns (but, sadly, does not surprise) me.  Dictators need to go, yes, but I also worry about the uncertainty of who will replace them.  The continuing downward spiral of our own economy and the suffering that goes with it....

Of late, I've probably been the most consumed with various stories of abuse toward women:  Lara Logan, Lynsey Addario, Eman al-Obeidy, women in our military, and the 11-year-old Texas girl.  I've been enraged at thoughts of their personal suffering and also keenly aware of the sociological pattern they're a part of.

I actually have been writing; I just haven't published any of it here.  I'm working on a very long, detailed sociological analysis of the Lara Logan case, relating it to other well-known cases often covered in sociological textbooks.  Some of you might find it interesting, but it is definitely more academic than "bloggish," and has a ton of footnotes and cites.

I'm not sure it's appropriate for a blog.  Let me know if you think I should reconsider that and "entertain" you with a lengthy sociological discussion of bystanders, mobs, and reference groups, of how particular cases are sadly anything but unique. I warn you though -- it's a long piece (20 pages and not at all done).

For those of you who follow this blog because you are particularly interested in veganism, I worry I've let you down.  You should know I'm still at it and that I will still write about it from time to time, but I don't currently feel that I have something to add beyond what I've already said, and certainly not beyond what other (arguably more committed) vegans have said and continue to say.  In a nutshell, I believe a vegan diet is a healthy one, that avoiding animal products in other areas of life (e.g., clothing, sports equipment, makeup,  furniture) is an ethical choice, and that avoiding animal use in general, if done by enough people, has HUGE environmental (and animal) benefits.

So, veganism is a good thing to do, even if you sometimes fall off the proverbial wagon and have to haul yourself back on.

I'm in that category, in case the title of the blog never clued you into that.  My biggest downfall continues to be...cheese.  How unusual.

If I've disappointed some of you by not writing about veganism as much as I had originally intended, I apologize.  Hope you'll still stick around.