Some Comments on Recent Research in Segregated Communities in Belfast
I thought Gareth Mulvenna’s piece during the week was illuminating and presented part of a problem that can be measured and understood by different approaches and knowledge. Much of what Gareth presented seems like a perennial problem and it is vital that we are reminded that developing class consciousness is about getting beyond the fife, drum, bodran and harp. Hopefully, what is presented here is a reminder of many of the problems that exist and which are still unfortunately being reproduced.
In association with academic colleagues we have been doing a long-term study of families in Belfast segregated communities. The study is based upon an ecological, process-oriented model aims to understand the development of family life, experiences of sectarian and other crimes, the nature and impact of poverty and also emotional distress.
What arises, in the research we have completed and analysed up to 2012 which does not include present work we are doing in this area, is a picture of remaining fears and high levels of perception and experiences of sectarian violence and a significant record of mental health problems. Many of these mental health and distress issues are linked to direct experience of sectarian violence. In a sense traumatisation is still being reproduced among parents and their children despite a significant decline in sectarian and conflict-related violence. It may be even possible to suggest that those who have been traumatised are those who assert the strongest sense of identity. The link between sectarianism and poverty is thus vital and it now seems so too is the link to trauma, distress and emotional well-being. Unfortunately, young people’s sense of security is undermined by continued exposure to sectarian acts. We found that the less secure a young person is regarding sectarian violence the more likely they are to have mental health problems and aggression issues.
One of the other features of the study is that, and as shown in the recent Census, the Protestant working class are in a ‘better’ place regarding poverty and the labour market compared to the Catholic community. But what we find is that despite being poorer and in a worse off position Catholic respondents are more positive about their community, the peace process and the future of inter-community relationships. Protestant respondents feel more alienation and exclusion. I think both positions are worrying as culture as opposed to social exclusion seems to determine people’s attitudes to the future. This was also found in a study we did in Derry/Londonderry in which Protestant respondents were socially positive but more negative about politics, culture and community.
What we also have to be aware of is the twin speed of the peace process. If we look at the Life and Times survey we can see a decline in those who consider themselves to be either British or Irish. There has been a growth in mixed marriages and relationships. Fewer Catholics want Irish unification and there has been a decline in young people who consider themselves to unionist/loyalist or republican/nationalist. If we were to guess why these trends are appearing they may be due to social class and a more mixed and inclusive lifestyle among the middle-classes.
This and other research presents a series of challenges with regard to those who are culturally, economically and socially excluded. What is the politics capable of settling cultural disputes? Clearly we will never have an adequate politics of anti-poverty and the class consciousness required for that while the issue of identity remains so vital. This has been said many times and is akin to my prediction that it will get rain or get dark before morning. But it has to be the site that concerns us most as is the reproduction of emotional and mental distress. As we know the politics of resource competition undermines the space for solidarity between the poor. It seems that we have, either through academic or community knowledge, the ingredients for making a cake but have no agreed recipe. Surely, social dumping, social rejection, mental health problems, welfare cuts, family breakdown, self-harms and all the other measurements of the impairment poverty causes are agreed. So when/how do we find the recipe?
