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| Breivik victims' parents too traumatised to work four years on, research shows | |
| (about 2 hours later) | |
| Four years after Anders Behring Breivik went on a murderous rampage at a summer camp for young people in Norway, parents of the 69 people he killed on Utøya island are still too traumatised to return to full-time work, according to research. | Four years after Anders Behring Breivik went on a murderous rampage at a summer camp for young people in Norway, parents of the 69 people he killed on Utøya island are still too traumatised to return to full-time work, according to research. |
| Six out of 10 parents are still struggling with intense grief, while two out of three still have significant symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a paper in the journal Scandinavian Psychologist published on the eve of the fourth anniversary of the terror attacks. | |
| Seventy-seven people died in the attacks on government offices in Oslo and on Utøya on 22 July 2011. Sixty-nine died at the Utøya summer camp, while a further 56 were injured. | Seventy-seven people died in the attacks on government offices in Oslo and on Utøya on 22 July 2011. Sixty-nine died at the Utøya summer camp, while a further 56 were injured. |
| Related: Utøya, the island paradise turned into hell by Anders Behring Breivik | Related: Utøya, the island paradise turned into hell by Anders Behring Breivik |
| Many of the young people were in mobile phone contact with their parents, who heard the shots and the screams of their children until they lost contact. Relatives also had to deal with extensive media coverage, Breivik’s trial, and the ensuing debate around his sentencing. | Many of the young people were in mobile phone contact with their parents, who heard the shots and the screams of their children until they lost contact. Relatives also had to deal with extensive media coverage, Breivik’s trial, and the ensuing debate around his sentencing. |
| Since the attacks, researchers in Oslo have followed the lives of 86 parents of 65 of the victims – 45 mothers and 41 fathers. Their feelings were surveyed 18, 28 and 40 months after the killings. | Since the attacks, researchers in Oslo have followed the lives of 86 parents of 65 of the victims – 45 mothers and 41 fathers. Their feelings were surveyed 18, 28 and 40 months after the killings. |
| The parents were asked about their ability to cope with basic daily tasks such as shopping or cleaning, their social lives, leisure activities such as reading, walking or gardening, and their ability to establish and maintain close relationships with others. | The parents were asked about their ability to cope with basic daily tasks such as shopping or cleaning, their social lives, leisure activities such as reading, walking or gardening, and their ability to establish and maintain close relationships with others. |
| A third of the mothers and a quarter of fathers were in direct contact with their children by phone and/or SMS during the shootings on Utøya, with 10 mothers and nine fathers talking to their children immediately before they were killed. Eighty-five per cent attended Breivik’s trial. | A third of the mothers and a quarter of fathers were in direct contact with their children by phone and/or SMS during the shootings on Utøya, with 10 mothers and nine fathers talking to their children immediately before they were killed. Eighty-five per cent attended Breivik’s trial. |
| Forty months after the killings, more than half – 51% – of the parents said they were completely or partially unable to work, with more mothers than fathers affected. There was no significant difference between the numbers unable to work at 28 and 40 months after the tragedy. | Forty months after the killings, more than half – 51% – of the parents said they were completely or partially unable to work, with more mothers than fathers affected. There was no significant difference between the numbers unable to work at 28 and 40 months after the tragedy. |
| Mothers experienced the greatest loss of function in relation to work outside the home, while fathers had the most difficulties with participating in social life. While some parents had made progress since the last survey, others had regressed. | Mothers experienced the greatest loss of function in relation to work outside the home, while fathers had the most difficulties with participating in social life. While some parents had made progress since the last survey, others had regressed. |
| Unni Espeland Marcussen, who heard the screams of her 17-year-old daughter Alexandrine shortly before she was shot in the head and chest by Breivik, told Aftenposten newspaper that she quit her job and has since tried to get back into work, but it has never worked out. She said she still cannot stand long queues, she panics if she does not know where the emergency exits are, and she has very poor memory. | |
| But some things she finds pleasurable again. “It is enough that I am starting to gain more control over the grief,” she said. | But some things she finds pleasurable again. “It is enough that I am starting to gain more control over the grief,” she said. |
| Last week, Breivik was accepted by the University of Oslo to study political science from his prison cell, in keeping with Norway’s policy of attempting to rehabilitate all offenders, however depraved their crimes. The Utøya summer camp is reopening for the first time in August with record numbers attending. |