NCJ Number
136904
Journal
Revista Latinoamericana de Psicologia Volume: 23 Issue: 3 Dated: (1991) Pages: 401-416
Date Published
1991
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This study analyzed perspectives on the meaning of life for paraplegic Colombian ex-police officers with spinal injury due to being shot on duty.
Abstract
Nine male subjects, ages 22 to 58, were randomly chosen for the study. Their length of time in the paraplegic state varied from 2 months to 24 years. Frankl's existential frame of reference was used, and phenomenological methodology was applied. The Test Purpose of Life (1968) of Crumbaugh and Maholick was applied to the subjects. Also, a semi-structured interview and a self-report were used. The author analyzed the results qualitatively according to individual physiognomies. More than half the subjects (five) had an existential emptiness that undermined any formulation for the meaning of their lives. In less than half the subjects (four) the meaning of life stemmed from the value of the family and work. 10 references