Traumatic Experience During Aceh Military Operations Area (DOM)

on the Openness of Local Communities against Migrant Residents in

Burni Pase Village, Aceh Province

Iskandar Zulkarnain

, Febry Ichwan Butsi

, and Sahri Daini

Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia

Sekolah Tinggi Ilmu Komunikasi Pembangunan, Medan, Indonesia

Universitas Sumatera Utara, Medan, Indonesia

Keywords: Conflict , Aceh,Military Operations Areas, Traumatic, Migrant Residents.

Abstract: The Aceh conflict with the Indonesian Government occurred in 3 eras, namely in the Orde Lama, Orde Baru,

and Orde Reformasi. The peak of this conflict occurred since May 1989, where the Government of Indonesia

applied the status of Military Operations Areas (DOM) in Aceh. GAM and TNI conflicts occurred in various

places in the area including in Simpang Simpur village and Burni Pase village. As a result of this conflict, the

Simpang Simpur village is no longer inhabited by the community.Many residents in this village were

slaughtered so that Simpang Simpur residents left their village one by one to save themselves, and those who

survived until this conflict ended were the villagers of Burni Pase because they consider themselves

innocent.This dark history will certainly leave a deep trauma for victims who experienced and witnessed the

conflict. This article presents the results of research into the extent to which the openness of the people of Burni

Pase in Aceh Province towards newcomers.

1 INTRODUCION

The history of Aceh's conflict with the Indonesian

central government occurred in 3 eras, namely the old

order, the new order, and reformation era. The peak

of this conflict occurred since May 1989, where the

government of Indonesia applied the status of

Military Operations Areas (MOA) in Aceh. At that

time there were many violations of the law, justice did

not apply, there was military violence. At that time

the people of Aceh experienced violence by the

military. Arrests, killings, rapes, torture by the

military happened to the people of Aceh. The people

of Aceh suffer from it. The implementation of MOA

also paralyzed the economic and education sectors,

especially in areas that were many victims of MOA

(Hertiana and Amboro, 2017).

After the Reformation, in 1998, President B.J.

Habibi revoked the status of MOA in Aceh.

Revocation should be able to bring better conditions

for the people of Aceh, but the situation is not getting

better. The revocation was not followed by

rehabilitation of MOA victims, so that the Aceh

people's wounds have not healed. Even the economic,

social and legal conditions in Aceh have not been

improved by the government. This situation was used

by GAM (Aceh Independence Movement) to attract

public sympathy, so GAM's influence was

strengthened. Violence and conflict in Aceh have

even increased. The government's policy to solve the

problem of Aceh militarily turns out to worsen the

situation in Aceh, a policy made by the government

to solve the problem in Aceh by means of the military

cannot overcome the problems in Aceh. There are two

things that are at the root of the problem in Aceh,

namely economic and social cultural reasons.

GAM and TNI (Indonesian National Military)

conflicts occurred in various places in the Aceh

region such as in Southeast Aceh, Central Aceh, East

Aceh, South Aceh, and Bener Meriah. One of the

most severe places in this conflict occurred in the

village of Simpang Simpur and the village of Burni

Pase in Permata Merdeka Regency. But unfortunately

due to this conflict the Simpang Simpur village is no

longer inhabited by the community because many

residents in the village were killed during the GAM

and TNI conflict so that Simpang Simpur residents

left their villages one by one to escape, and those who

Zulkarnain, I., Butsi, F. and Daini, S.

Traumatic Experience During Aceh Military Operations Area (DOM) on the Openness of Local Communities against Migrant Residents in Burni Pase Village, Aceh Province.

DOI: 10.5220/0010002200390043

In Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Social and Political Development (ICOSOP 3 2019) - Social Engineering Governance for the People, Technology and Infrastructure in

Revolution Industry 4.0, pages 39-43

ISBN: 978-989-758-472-5

survived until this conflict ended is the Burni Pase

villagers because they consider themselves are

innocent.

The prolonged conflict in Aceh only ended with

the Helsinski negotiations on August 15, 2005. After

that the people of Aceh began to hope for peace on

earth without conflict and bloodshed on the land of

Aceh (Basyar, 2016). This dark history will certainly

leave a deep trauma for victims who have

experienced and witnessed conflict events. This

article presents the results of research on the extent of

self-disclosure of the Burni Pase community in Aceh

towards newcomers.

2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Self Concept

Self-concept in psychology is a central concept to be

able to understand humans and their behavior and is

something that humans learn through their

interactions with themselves, others, and the real

environment around them. The concept of self is the

view of each individual about himself. This mental

self-portrait, according to Calhoun has 3 dimensions,

namely (1) the individual's knowledge of himself, (2)

the individual's expectations of himself, and (3) the

individual's assessment of himself (Calhoun, 1998).

An individual's view of himself, which he obtains

from information through his interactions with others,

known as self-concept, will likely fall between two

poles. The first pole is a positive self concept and the

other pole is a negative self concept. By knowing the

two differences from the understanding of the concept

of self, would be more helpful and provide the ability

to assess the direction in which the individual self-

concept tends (Zulkarnain, 2016: 5095-5099).

The basic assumption of behavior in a

psychological perspective is that behavior is not

something that always looks as it looks. There is no

absolute relationship between certain behaviors and

their causes. To be able to understand the relationship

between a behavior and its cause, one must first know

and understand something about an individual and the

situation in which the behavior arises.Something

about individuals that must be known and understood

is pointing to personality as something that can help

in understanding behavior. The self-concept is

formed through social interaction and this self-

concept influences one's behavior. A person's self-

concept is based on the perception of other people's

reactions to him (Mead, 1972: 186 – 199; Kinch in

Fitts, 1971: 12 – 13).

2.2 Self Disclosure

The process of disclosing our information to others or

vice versa is calledself disclousure.One type of

communication where information about oneself that

is usually hidden from others is now communicated

to others (Rahmat, 2004:108). Self-disclosure is an

activity to share feelings and information that are

familiar with others. Self-disclosure can be

descriptive or evaluative. In self-disclosure, we

describe various facts about ourselves that may not

yet be known, while in evaluative self-disclosure, we

express opinions or personal feelings.

Opening up means giving others our feelings

about something that has been said or done, or our

feelings about the events we witnessed (Miller,

Kamenchenko, & Krasniasnski,1992). Self-

disclosure also has two sides, namely being open to

others and being open to others. Both processes that

can take place simultaneously if they occur to both

parties will produce an open relationship between us

and others.

2.3 Traumatic

Trauma comes from Greek which means wound

(McFarlane and Bryant, 2007). The word trauma is

used to describe an event or situation experienced by

the victim. Traumatic events or experiences will be

lived differently from one individual to another, so

that each person will have a different reaction when

faced with a traumatic event. Traumatic experience is

an event experienced or witnessed by an individual,

which threatens his own safety (Ward-Lonergan

et.al., 1998).

According to Hawari (1996: 96), traumatic stress

is a natural reaction to events that contain violence

(such as group violence, rape, accidents, and natural

disasters) or terrible conditions in life (such as

poverty, deprivation, etc.). This condition is also

called post traumatic stress (post traumatic stress

disorder).Kaplan and Sadock (1997: 45) state that

post-traumatic stress disorder can be seen at any age,

but is most prominent in young adults, because of the

nature of the situation that triggers it. For women, the

most frequent are assault and rape. The number of

women who experience trauma is twice that of men.

Disturbances are likely to occur to those who are

alone, divorced, widowed, experiencing economic

disruption, or withdrawing socially.

ICOSOP 3 2019 - International Conference on Social Political Development (ICOSOP) 3

3 METHOD

3.1 Population and Sample

In this study, the population is the community in the

village of Burni Pase, Permata District, Bener Meriah

Regency, Aceh Province. The total population is 316.

The number is divided into 134 households. Based on

data from representatives of the Aceh Provincial

BKKBN. In this study the sample is a portion of the

population taken using certain methods (Nawawi,

2001:144). Based on the data obtained, the

researchers used the formula Soekidjo Notoatmodjo

with a precision of 10% and a confidence level of

90%, so this study requires a sample of 76 people.

3.2 Data Collection Techniques

1. Field Research

This research was conducted by collecting data

directly at the study site, which includes survey

activities through:

a. Questionnaire, which is a data collection tool in

the form of a number of questions that have been

prepared in writing to be answered by respondents

in writing as well. This questionnaire was

arranged by the researcher based on research

variables. Of all the items and tested on several

people turned out to be valid. And finally the

questionnaire was distributed to 76 people in

accordance with the sample that has been

determined, the questionnaire has been tested for

validity through the test of validity and reliability

b. Observation; activities of observing and record

statistics on everything that appears on the

research object.

c. Interviews, namely a number of oral questions

asked by researchers to the parties concerned.

2. Library Research

This research was conducted by collecting

existing data about the problem by reading and

studying books as well as relevant reading sources

and supporting research.

3.3 Data Analysis Techniques

Analysis is the process of simplifying data into a form

that is easier to read and present (Singarimbun, 1995),

As for the analysis of the data used in this study are

as follows:

a. Single Table Analysis; by dividing the research

variables into the number of frequencies and

percentages of each category (Singarimbun,

1995).

b. Cross Table Analysis; the technique used to

analyze and find out which one variable has a

relationship with another. So it can be seen

whether the variable plays a positive or negative

value (Singarimbun, 1995).

c. Hypothesis testing; by testing the data and

statistics to find out the hypothesis data that is

submitted can be accepted or rejected. In this

study the measured variables contained in the

ordinal scale. In accordance with the guidelines

for using applicable statistical tests, ordinal-scale

hypothesis testing can be done with statistical

tests “Spearman’s Rho Rank Order Correlations.

3.4 Hypothesis

The hypothesis proposed in this study is as follows:





: There is a relationship between Traumatic and

Self Openness of the villagers of Burni Pase,

Kec.Permata Kab. Mer Meriah on newcomers

after GAM conflict





: There is no relationship between Traumatic and

Self-Openness of the villagers of Burni Pase,

Kec.Permata Kab. Mer Meriah on newcomers

after the GAM conflict

4 RESULTS

In terms of the sex composition of the sample, this

study consisted of 41 people (53.9%) who were male

and 35 people (46.1%) were women. The results

showed that of 76 respondents stated 48 people

(63.2%) stated that opening up was important in

reducing feelings of trauma, 12 people (15.8%) stated

that it was very important 13 people (17.1%) stated

less important and the rest only 3 people (3.9%) stated

that opening up was not important in reducing

feelings of trauma. So it can be concluded that

opening up is important to reduce feelings of trauma

experienced by the people of the village of Burni Pase

kec.Permata kab.Bener Meriah prov. Aceh because

by opening up someone can tell the problem that is

being faced and find a solution to the problem.

As many as 56 people (73.7%) of 76 respondents

said they often open themselves to newcomers about

events that occurred during the GAM conflict, 12

people (15.8%) stated often, 6 people (7.9%) stated

Sometimes and sometimes the remaining 2 people

(2.6%) said never. It can be concluded that the

villagers of Burni Pase have opened themselves to

newcomers about what they experienced during the

GAM conflict, although we don't tell everything

about ourselves, at least we open ourselves only to the

Traumatic Experience During Aceh Military Operations Area (DOM) on the Openness of Local Communities against Migrant Residents in

Burni Pase Village, Aceh Province

outside if someone only knows someone else, and not

ready to share a personal problem with that person, at

least we always open ourselves with other people. this

is done in order to get solutions to the problems they

face after the conflict.

Self-disclosure has a strong correlation with

openness in communication. In this study showed that

33 people (43.4%) of 76 respondents stated that it was

very often difficult to communicate with newcomers,

19 people (25.0%) stated often, 12 people (15.8%)

stated sometimes and the remaining 12 people

(15.8%) said they had never had difficulty

communicating with newcomers or other people.

This finding shows that there are still many people

who are traumatized by the GAM conflict that

occurred in Aceh, which makes it difficult for people

to get along with other people they consider foreign

in their area, they only communicate well with the

people around them, if they communicating with

newcomers is not everything they can tell to maintain

their own safety.

Furthermore, to examine the relationship between

feelings of fear and opening up to newcomers about

GAM and TNI conflict events, look at the Table 1.

Table 1 shows that the fear experienced by

someone influences the openness of the Burni Pase

villagers to newcomers. Of the 76 respondents there

were 31 people stated that fear affects the openness of

the community, 9 people said it was very influential

that the feeling of fear had an influence on one's

openness and there were 56 respondents who stated

that they had opened up with the newcomer, 12

people stated that only sometimes they talked about

the conflict between GAM and the newcomers and 6

stated occasionally. Furthermore, from 24

respondents stated that the fear experienced by

someone had less effect on community self-

disclosure. Furthermore 12 respondents stated that

fear did not affect the openness of Burni Pase

villagers to newcomers while only 2 people said they

had never opened themselves up to newcomers about

GAM events in Burni Pase village. Then it will be

explained in the calculation as follows.

In this study, after going through the stages of data

analysis and proceeding with testing the hypothesis

with the Spearman formula, a correlation coefficient

(rs) of 0.58 (rs> 0) was obtained. This shows that the

Alternative Hypothesis (H_a): There is a relationship

between the traumatic influence of the GAM conflict

on the openness of the community to newcomers in

the village of Burni Pase in Aceh Province, accepted,

and the Zero Hypothesis (H_0): There is no

relationship between the traumatic influence of the

GAM conflict the community's openness to

newcomers in the village of Burni Pase in Aceh

Province was rejected.

Based on the Guilford scale, the relationship

between the two research variables is on a scale of

0.40 - 0.70 indicating a significant, strong

relationship. Furthermore, after testing the

significance of the variable X to the variable Y at the

0.05 level of significance obtained the calculation of

the t-value of 6.124 and the value of the table of

1.469. From these results there is a difference

between the value of tcount and ttable where the value

of tcount> ttable which indicates the traumatic

influence of the GAM conflict on the openness of the

community to newcomers in the village of Burni Pase

in Aceh Province is significant, meaning that trauma

experienced by the people of Burni Pase Village

caused by the conflict GAM has an influence on the

openness of the people with the arrival of newcomers

in the village.

Table 1: The relationship between fear and openness to newcomers due to GAM & TNI conflict.

Effects of fear on

self-disclosure

Openness to Newcomers Due to

GAM & TNI Conflict

Ever Sometimes Occasionally Never Total

Very influential 6 1 2 0 9

Influential 24 5 2 0 31

Less influential 18 4 1 1 24

No effects 8 2 1 1 12

Total 56 12 6 2 76

Researchers also look for the magnitude of the

effect strength caused by the variable X to the Y

variable and the results obtained are 33.64%. This

shows a low but certain effect that traumatic influence

on the self-disclosure of Burni Pase villagers is

33.64%, while 66.36% is influenced by other factors

beyond the trauma experienced by the community

due to GAM conflict such as personal factors,

background socio-economic, social environment, and

psychological community itself.

ICOSOP 3 2019 - International Conference on Social Political Development (ICOSOP) 3

5 CONCLUSION

The results of the research point out that:

1. The hypothesis in this studyobtained a correlation

coefficient (rs) of 0.58 (rs> 0). Based on the

Guilford scale which is located between 0.40 -

0.70 which means it has a significant relationship;

Ho is rejected and Ha is accepted, that show there

is a relationship between the traumatic influence

on the openness of the citizens to newcomers in

the village of Burni Pase, Aceh Province,

accepted.

2. The factors that become obstacles for the Burni

Pase villagers when opening up with others or

newcomers include, the closed attitude of the

community towards newcomers, a lack of trust in

newcomers, and a sense of community fear of

newcomers. . These obstacles are experienced by

the Burni Pase villagers to newcomers, making it

difficult for them to interact and open up with

newcomers because this is still a feeling of trauma

experienced by the people after the GAM conflict

that makes them afraid of people they do not know

who come to their village.

3. The solutions and efforts made by the Burni Pase

villagers are to make persuasive communication,

by continuing to adapt to newcomers, asking

many newcomers where they come from, and

their purpose for coming or moving to their

village, and share information with each other.

Dialogue using face-to-face interpersonal

communication and sharing information will

make people more calm and trusting others even

if they are newcomers.

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Traumatic Experience During Aceh Military Operations Area (DOM) on the Openness of Local Communities against Migrant Residents in

Burni Pase Village, Aceh Province