Spiritual Dimension of Adaptation to Persecution and Torture Among Iranian Bahai Women

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Upon the success of the Islamic Revolution in 1979 in Iran, a wave of persecution was initiated against women for various reasons. Religious belief being a Bahá’í has been among the reasons for such persecution. This dissertation reviews the role of religious belief of Iranian women as a reason for persecution and as an important factor in maintaining psychological stability and mental health after experiencing persecution. The study is intended to emphasize that the perceived cause of persecution might evoke a sense of conviction and integrity strong enough to influence the tolerance level of those being persecuted. It was hypothesized that the severity of torture would be a strong predictor of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) for the female victims of non-religious persecution in Iran compared to religious persecution. In the empirical study, participants (50 Iranian women aged 30-65 who were in Iran for at least 2 years after the revolution) were interviewed using the Persian version of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire (HTQ). A relationship was found between the number of traumatic experiences and PTSD scores for the whole group, but the correlation between these factors did not hold when controlling for the religious group. T-tests revealed that those women who were persecuted for religious beliefs reported a significantly lower number of PTSD symptoms, despite a higher number of traumatic experiences. They also reported having a significantly weaker health condition, worse support system , and were older than those persecuted for non-religious reasons. Using step-wise multiple regressions, other relevant predictors (e.g. demographics) of severity of PTSD were also examined, but the reason for persecution was still found to remain a significant predictor of PTSD above and beyond all other factors.