How Do We Transform through Engagement In Collective Action? Perspectives of Parents Bereaved By the Itaewon Crush In South Korea

Background and Purpose: Bereaved parents who lost children in a traumatic disaster sometimes move beyond personal grief to engage in social action. Korean parents bereaved by the traumatic Itaewon crowd crush, which claimed 159 young lives in South Korea in October 2022, transformed their personal grief into collective action, influencing their grief journey and overall life. This qualitative study explored bereaved parents’ experiences of engaging in collective action, focusing on contexts that motivate their engagement and how such involvement contributes to their personal and social transformation.

Methods: Fifteen bereaved parents (eight mothers and seven fathers) who lost children in the Itaewon crowd crush participated in 2-hour in-depth interviews about their experiences of collective action. Recognizing the participants’ potential trauma, this study was carefully designed and conducted to prioritize their safety and well-being. All participants were recruited through the Itaewon Disaster Bereaved Families Association using purposive sampling. Participants’ age ranged from 40s to 60s, and their deceased children ranged in age from their teens to 40s at the time of death. Using ATLAS.ti qualitative analysis software, six steps of thematic analysis were conducted to identify themes related to experiences of engagement in collective action.

Findings: Thematic analysis yielded 11 subthemes under three overarching themes: motivations underlying bereaved parents’ engagement in collective action, navigating collective engagement, and transformations of identity through collective action. Participants were motivated to engage in collective action to honor the memory of their deceased child, seek truth and accountability regarding the death, and search for meaning and purpose after profound loss. While they navigated collective engagement, they collectively expressed grief, anger, and pain through solidarity; facilitated emotional healing through mutual sharing of grief; and reestablished daily life in a community of shared experiences. However, they also confronted physical and time-related constraints that limited ongoing involvement and feelings of helplessness despite ongoing engagement efforts. Despite these challenges, participants reported transformations of identity by shifting perspectives on social solidarity and social connections, developing broader awareness of social issues and collective responsibility, and strengthening commitment to fostering safety, dignity, and social change beyond personal loss.

Conclusion and Implications: This study highlighted how bereaved parents entered and navigated collective action and the related transformation they experienced. Collective engagement provided a space for shared mourning, solidarity, and meaning-making, allowing parents to transform deeply personal grief into a broader commitment to truth-seeking, accountability, and social change. Practitioners should recognize that engagement in collective action may serve as a meaningful coping and healing process. Supporting bereaved individuals’ participation in community-based advocacy, peer support networks, and collective memorial practices may facilitate emotional expression, validation, and posttraumatic growth. Trauma-informed and community-oriented approaches that acknowledge both individual and collective aspects of grief may be particularly valuable in supporting bereaved parents navigating the intersection of personal mourning and social engagement. The study findings provide insights that can inform collective grieving that transforms personal grief into social action through collective engagement. Future studies should delve into how different pathways in collective action affect the grieving journey.