Evaluation of disaster victims' perceptions of civil society organizations and the social state afer a disaster in Turkey: Soma example

This study focuses on the perceptions of disaster victims regarding non-govermental organizations and social state in post-disaster period in Turkey. In this study, interviews were conducted with 20 participants who lost their first-degree relatives in the Soma mine accident. In the thesis, which is planned as qualitative research, a case study was used in order to address the perceptions of disaster victims in a holistic and realistic manner. The data obtained were categorized by content analysis method and each category was divided into themes. In order to prevent mining accidents in our country, it is of great importance to focus more on the services to be provided before the disaster and to carry out the relevant inspections without interruption. As a result of the study, it was observed that the perceptions of the participants varied according to the periods during the disaster process. It was determined that non-governmental organizations and the social state carried out activities in cooperation in the Soma mining accident. At the same time, the approach of the social environment significantly affects the process of disaster victims' return to their daily lives. It is seen that failure to observe the principle of continuity in psychosocial support provided to disaster victims leads to negative perceptions. It has been observed that it is important to distribute the economic aids to be provided in a fair manner and that communication problems may occur between the aid provider institutions due to the chaos caused by the disaster. For this reason, social workers have great roles and responsibilities in delivering services in a fair manner and controlling the negative effects. At the same time, it is seen that social activities carried out after the disaster support recovery and development positively.