The Role of Religiosity During Situations of Social Crisis. Example of the Homeland War in Vukovar

Cilj je istraživanja utvrditi ulogu i značenje religioznosti naindividualno i društveno ponašanje katoličkoga stanovništvagrada Vukovara prilikom njihova suočavanja s kriznom ratnomsituacijom (Domovinskim ratom 1991.). U istraživanju jeprimijenjena metodologija utemeljene teorije (paradigmatskimodel Straussa i Corbin) te kvalitativne istraživačke metode (12dubinskih intervjua i analiza 72 publikacije u okviru zbirke knjigao Domovinskom ratu u Vukovaru). Rezultati istraživanja upućujuna zaključak kako se među stanovništvom, koje primarnopripada tradicionalnoj crkvenoj religioznosti, aktualiziraoposeban oblik osobne, izvanobredne, religioznosti, uvjetovanspecifičnim okolnostima u kojima su se nalazili. Razvijenomsupstantivnom utemeljenom teorijom utvrđeno je kakostanovništvo primarno prakticira individualni osobni odnosprema transcendentnom biću (Bogu), koji ima pozitivnu ulogu uprocesu suočavanja stanovništva s novonastalim okolnostima tesnažno utječe na njihovo individualno i društveno ponašanje.Prakticiranje takva odnosa omogućuje im postizanje sekundarnekontrole nad vlastitim životom, kao supstituciju za nemogućnostprimarne kontrole, te razvijanje duhovne snage i na taj načinlakše suočavanje s kriznom društvenom/ratnom situacijom.War, as the most severe form of social crisis, leads tonumerous changes in the personal and social aspects of thelives of individuals who are involved in it. The aim of thisresearch is to determine the role and significance ofreligiosity for the individual, along with the social behavior ofVukovar’s Catholic population while they managed the warcrisis situation (Homeland War in 1991). The research wasconducted with the application of qualitative methodology:grounded theory methodology (paradigmatic model ofStrauss and Corbin), in-depth interviews (12) and narrativeanalysis (72 publications from the collection of books aboutthe Homeland War in Vukovar). The results, however,indicate that among the population, which primarily belongsto traditional church religiosity, a special form of personal,beyond the ritual, religiosity occurred, conditioned by thespecific circumstances which the people found themselves in.Based on the developed substantive grounded theory, it isevident that people primarily practiced an individualpersonal relationship with a Transcendent being (God),which had a positive role in the population’s confrontationwith the new circumstances, thus strongly affecting theirpersonal and social behavior. Practicing such a relationshipenabled them to achieve secondary control over their lives,as a substitute for the inability of primary control, thusdeveloping spiritual strength to ease and cope with the socialcrisis/war situation