Religious coping in people who experience the earthquake (2011 Van Earthquake example)

The subject of our research is religious coping manners in earthquake victims. The relationship between religion and coping in individuals who experienced the 2011 Van earthquake was discussed by using semi-structured interview and survey method. The study aims to present a new perspective on natural disasters and religious coping in the field by examining meaning, attribution and religious coping with disasters. In addition to this, for good measure to the previous studies on earthquake and religious coping in our country, it was thought that it would be useful in finding ways for the society that has encountered earthquake recently and its effects continue, in an environment where the possibility of renewal is a scientific reality and this research also utilizes the individuals who will work in the field of disaster such as therapy and counseling to provide catching the drift and finding solutions. In our research, following questions were sought for an answer by using a semi-structured interview method and a religious coping questionnaire: Did religion support the individual in coping with the problems encountered? What is the effect of positive/negative religious explanations in the earthquake interpretation and attribution activity on the coping process? Was there a cognitive or behavioral religious change after the earthquake? What is the effect of invocation and worships on the coping process? The indications of the research were evaluated with content analysis and descriptive analysis. As a result of the research, the following conclusions were reached. Religion has supported the individual in coping with difficulties. It is prevailed in positive religious coping manners in the explanation of earthquake and attribution activities.Positive cognitive changes were observed in earthquake survivors. Invocation and worships backed up earthquake survivors to cope with difficulties. It was observed that the hypotheses of our study were meaningful with the results, the majority of individuals regarded the earthquake as God's test, and positive religious coping activities were more frequently consulted. Keywords: Coping, religious coping, natural disaster, earthquake, meaning, attribution/ascription