Young People and Political Involvement in Northern Ireland

This article reports some of the findings from the Pathways study which traced influences on the developmental pathways of adolescents and young adults in Belfast (Northern Ireland) and in Dublin (Republic of Ireland). Sample size was 130 aged 27 (66 male, 74 female) and 311 aged 17 (142 male, 169 female) most of whom had participated in earlier waves of the project at age 12. The study explored relationships between the participants' actual or intended involvement in politics and other factors, including family support, educational and occupational level, religious practice, and experience of the Troubles. The study concludes by looking at the relationship between these variables over time using a life-course approach within the socio-ecological model.     

Justice and the Young Offender in Northern Ireland

Summary This article examines the recommendations of the Black Reportconcerning the future treatment of the young offender in NorthernIreland. The Black Report represents an attempt to operationalisea justice approach in the treatment of the young offender. Theanalysis is set in the context of (i) the sequelae of the currentcivil conflict in the Province; (ii) previous legislation andprovision in the Province and (iii) recent developments, withinthe United Kingdom as a whole, regarding the future directionof social policy in this area.     

A Model for Group Work Practice with Ultra-Orthodox Jewish Victims of Domestic Violence: A Qualitative Study

ABSTRACT

The Orthodox Jewish community has only recently acknowledged that religious practice and commitment does not make one immune to suffering from domestic violence. Effective therapeutic techniques for working with battered Orthodox women have only recently begun to emerge.

This article focuses on the use of group work as an effective therapeutic modality for working with abused Orthodox Jewish women. This research highlights the insight, knowledge, and experience of practitioners who facilitate domestic violence groups, focusing on proficiencies and ethnic-sensitive practice strategies that are perceived to lead to successful outcomes.

The application of ethnic-sensitive strategies is discussed to illustrate viable therapeutic considerations for working with this population. Implications and issues for educators and practitioners will be addressed.     

Children of the Troubles: The Impact of Political Violence in Northern Ireland

This article explores the effects of political violence on children and young people in Northern Ireland. The article begins with a brief historical account of the Northern Irish conflict and the recently negotiated Belfast Good Friday Agreement of 1998. This account illustrates, as is the case with many conflicts, its basis is religious, national, economic, and political, despite its frequent construction as a battle between Protestant and Roman Catholic. The article goes on to review young peoples' experience of conflict in Northern Ireland and the impact of conflict experiences on three related areas of young people's lives. These include the effects of the conflict on everyday aspects of life, social identity, and mental health .     

Secular Trends in Substance Use: The Conflict and Young People in Northern Ireland

The resolution of political conflict has led some to suggest that Northern Ireland will now face a range of social problems that have been ignored or suppressed by the Troubles. One such area is adolescent drug use. In this article, a review of a range of data sources shows that drug use, with few exceptions, has increased since the emergence of the ongoing peace process. Social and political changes and enhanced paramilitary involvement in the drugs trade appear to have somehow created an environment where drug use has flourished. In reviewing current drug policy and practice, the article highlights the lack of prevention, treatment, and harm reduction services established in Northern Ireland as a cause for concern .     

Identities in Northern Ireland: A Multidimensional Approach

The conflict in Northern Ireland is often described in terms of a clash of identities, national and religious. This study aimed to determine the relative importance of these identities using a multidimensional approach to examine the identity structures of students (N = 216). Analyses revealed that national and religious identities were accorded low salience and centrality relative to other identities. The study also investigated relations between a variety of identity dimensions derived from two identity traditions, social identity theory and identity theory. The differing patterns of relationships to emerge across groups and across identities suggest that the process of identification in Northern Ireland is a complex one. The implications of these findings for the analysis of the Northern Ireland conflict are discussed.     

A Telephone Intervention for Substance-Using Adult Male Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence

OBJECTIVE: To preliminarily evaluate telephone-delivered motivational enhancement therapy (MET) in motivating unadjudicated and nontreatment seeking intimate partner violence (IPV) perpetrators, who also use substances, to self-refer into treatment. METHOD: 124 adult men were recruited via a multimedia marketing campaign and were randomly assigned to the intervention (MET) or comparison group following a baseline assessment. Participants in the MET condition received a personalized feedback report on their IPV and substance-use behaviors, consequences, and social norms beliefs. RESULTS: Results supported the likely effectiveness of MET in short-term reduction of IPV behavior, increasing motivation for treatment seeking, and changing perceived norms for IPV and substance abuse (SA). CONCLUSIONS: Applications for brief MET interventions to facilitate voluntary treatment entry among substance-using IPV perpetrators are discussed.     

The FACE YOUR FEAR Club: Therapeutic Group Work with Young Children as a Response to Community Trauma in Northern Ireland

This paper outlines therapeutic group work with young childrenin response to acute community trauma in Northern Ireland. Thechildren in question were the focus of a highly publicized disputeconcerning access to their school. The work was carried outby NOVA, a Barnardo’s (Northern Ireland) trauma supportservice. Part one outlines the theoretical framework. It highlightsthe relevance of ‘continuous traumatic stress syndrome’(Straker, 1987) in this context and its challenge to individualistictrauma accounts. Developmental considerations in trauma arealso outlined and the role of protective factors is discussed.Consideration is also given to the socio-political context.Part two summarizes group preparation, process and perceivedbenefits. Process observations are made with reference to threekey outcome themes: (i) reducing fear; (ii) increasing control;(iii) restoring connections. Perceptions of group benefit frompre- and post-questionnaires are then outlined with referenceto implications for achieving these outcomes. Questionnaireresponses highlighted four tasks and processes for effectivepractice in this context: (i) communication; (ii) emotionalsupport; (iii) management strategies and (iv) meaningmaking.Further, active partnerships with the whole support matrix–parents,teachers and community–are highlighted throughout as centralto good outcome.     

日本对家庭暴力受害妇女的保护及启示

2001年4月,日本制定《防止来自配偶的暴力及保护被害者的法律》(简称《家暴防止法》),这是日本为解决家庭暴力问题而制定的专门法律,并于当年10月开始正式实施。为防止配偶的暴力以及保护受害者,《家暴防止法》创设保护命令制度并设置配偶暴力咨询援助中心。在这部法律的相关规定中,通过建立妇女保护设施、创办妇女咨询所和配备妇女咨询员,保护受害妇女,力争使受害妇女过上正常人的生活。日本通过立法、官方和民间机构合作形式解决家庭暴力受害妇女的做法,对我国解决家庭暴力受害妇女问题可以提供一些有益的启示。     

Children and Socio-Cultural Divisions in Northern Ireland

This article focuses on young children and those in middle childhood. It explores the strengths and weaknesses of competing explanations and methodologies employed in research on the developing child's awareness and understanding of intergroup relations in Northern Ireland. The review highlights the ethical and methodological constraints involved in research into a sensitive topic and the strengths of a social psychological analysis that takes account of both the cognitive development of the child and their cultural setting .     

Identity Change in Northern Ireland: A Longitudinal Study of Students' Transition to University

This two-wave longitudinal study followed a cohort of young people in Northern Ireland (N = 124) to examine how the transition to university impacts on identity change. Drawing on Stryker's (1968, 1987) identity theory, we examined salience, affective and interactional commitment for five identities: family member, friend, student, national and religious identity. The relative salience of national and religious identities did not change over time, but an absolute increase in the salience of religious identity was indicated at Time 2. Regression analysis provided some support for identity theory but suggested a difference between Catholics and Protestants in relation to religious identity. The implications for the identities of young people in Northern Ireland, and, more generally, for identity theory are discussed .     

Postconflict Reconciliation: Intergroup Forgiveness and Implicit Biases in Northern Ireland

Even after a conflict has formally ended, there is still a need for postconflict reconciliation and the building of mutual forgiveness and trust between communities. This article addresses psychological processes crucial to moving beyond a history of violent sectarian conflict in Northern Ireland. We investigated the predictors of intergroup forgiveness, in terms of intergroup emotions, infrahumanization, empathy, and intergroup contact. Intergroup trust and measures of implicit intergroup bias were also explored in this area of real intergroup conflict. The results are discussed in terms of their implications for postconflict reconciliation in Northern Ireland and other conflict areas.     

Young Men Living Through and with Child Sexual Abuse: A Practitioner Research Study

to andrewdurham{at}warwickshire.gov.uk Summary This paper uses a post-structural framework to examine the experienceand impact of child sexual abuse on the lives of seven youngmen aged between 15 and 24. The study highlights the importanceof survivors' perspectives and of allowing children and youngpeople to speak for themselves and theorize their own experiences.The study's sensitive methodology allowed the young men to besupported throughout the research and feel able to impart hiddenfeelings and anxieties which they had held on to for significantperiods of time. The research showed how the perpetrators tookextensive measures in targeting and gaining access to and silencingthe boys they sexually abused. Through purposefully constructedrelationships, the boys were made to feel responsible and guiltyabout being abused and therefore found it extremely difficultto tell. A social context of patriarchal relations, with genderconstructions characterized by compulsory heterosexism and homophobiasignificantly exacerbated the experiences of the young men.This context was shown to create circumstances and ‘normal’power relationships that allowed the abuse to happen, creatingmany opportunities for the abusers to justify their actionsand further silence their victims.     

Child Poverty in Northern Ireland: The Limits of Welfare-to-Work Policies

Levels of child poverty in Northern Ireland are high; 32 per cent of children live in households whose only income derives from benefits, compared with 19 per cent of children in Britain living in families totally dependent on benefits. Unemployment, low pay, a higher cost of living, low levels of public services, including childcare and support services for people with disabilities, slightly larger families and a lack of access by poorer women to the means of limiting their family size, together with even greater levels of inequality than in Britain, all contribute to the high levels of child poverty in Northern Ireland. This paper argues that even the less ambitious child poverty targets announced by the Department of Work and Pensions at the end of 2003 will not be met unless there is a fundamental change in the government's approach. In particular, evidence from Northern Ireland suggests that its insistence on work as the primary—if not only—route out of poverty will not lead to a radical reduction in levels of child poverty.     

Lone Parents in Northern Ireland: The Effectiveness of Work Incentives

In recent years social policy in relation to lone parents has placed heavy emphasis on increasing the participation of this group in the labour market. If anything, the newly elected Labour government appears to be more committed to this objective than its predecessor. This paper details some of the findings from a focus-groups exercise with lone mothers in Belfast conducted in 1995. The data underline the limitations of many aspects of the measures taken to encourage lone parents to work and raise questions about the appropriateness of current policy.     

Adoption from care in Northern Ireland: problems in the process

ABSTRACT This is a study of the processes for freeing children for adoption in Northern Ireland. The focus was the time taken from admission to care to adoption order. The findings confirmed that the process is dogged by delay at each stage. In total the average time from the child becoming looked after to the granting of an adoption order was 4.5 years. Most of the time taken was in the stages for which social services had lead responsibility, principally the decision to pursue adoption as the plan for a child. The children were very young when admitted to care – average age 1 year 7 months. Most were admitted to care because they were being neglected. Their parents were well known to social services and had multiple problems. Most parents unsuccessfully contested the social services’ application and this contributed much to the delay. Their former foster parents adopted almost half of the children and these children tended to be placed more quickly with their adopters than those placed with adopters who were not their foster parents prior to the adoption process.     

The Development of Intergroup Forgiveness in Northern Ireland

As societies like Northern Ireland, Israel, and South Africa strive to resolve social conflict, there is growing theoretical and empirical interest in the role of intergroup forgiveness. This study examined intergroup forgiveness among 340 young adults in Northern Ireland. A short form of the Enright Forgiveness Inventory explored possible influences on propensity to forgive. All participants were Catholic and female (mean age 17.36 years), and had experienced verbal or physical injury or bereavement due to the Northern Irish political violence. Overall forgiveness levels were low in comparison with previous studies of interpersonal forgiveness but similar to previous studies of intergroup forgiveness in Northern Ireland. The strongest (negative) predictor of forgiveness was the perceived degree of hurt caused by the injury .