Pérdida ambigua en hijos de desaparecidos en el contexto del Conflicto Armado Interno en Perú

Abstract

Between 1980 and 2000, Peru experienced an Internal Armed Conflict (CAI) during which State agents arrested and disappeared over 23,000 people. This study aims to understand the experiences of ambiguous loss in sons and daughters of people who disappeared in the context of the conflict. From a qualitative approach, with a constructive and interpretative design as proposed by González Rey, the conversational dynamics was used as an instrument to collect information. Participants were six sons and daughters of disappeared persons linked to the National Association of Relatives of the Kidnapped, Detained and Disappeared of Peru (ANFASEP). Analysis revealed three core meanings allowing us to understand (i) family experiences of ambiguous loss; (ii) personal experiences of ambiguous loss; and (iii) resources deployed to cope with the ambiguous loss. In conclusion, the set of reported experiences illustrates how the relationship between family, individual and society reveals that the community is an entity -and perspective- for understanding and intervening in experiences of ambiguous loss after an enforced disappearance.