Suchergebnisse

The Northern Ireland conflict has been described as one of the most over-researched conflicts in the world. However, this is a relatively recent development. For many years, when the conflict was most intense, social scientists in Northern Ireland were silent and not vocal. The sectarian violence that dominated the life in Northern Ireland as well as the fact that the country was a fundamentally unjust society contributed to this silence. However, since the peace process began in the mid 1990s, a growing number of qualitative studies have been published, utilising one-to-one interviews and focus group discussions, in order to "make people's voices heard" and deal with the consequences of the so-called "Troubles". This paper looks into the emergence of a qualitative social research landscape in Northern Ireland beyond the conflict and explores issues so far neglected. It is argued that a number of factors have contributed to this, among them the availability of research funding to voluntary and community sector organisations that use their data to influence policy-making and equality legislation in a country which is still deeply divided along socio-religious lines.

Der Nordirlandkonflikt ist vielleicht einer der am umfangreichsten erforschten Konflikte der Welt. Dies ist jedoch erst seit jüngster Vergangenheit so. Für viele Jahre, als der Konflikt besonders intensiv war, herrschte in der Sozialforschung in Nordirland eher Schweigen. Sowohl die schiere Gewalt im Alltag als auch die Tatsache, dass Nordirland eine fundamental ungerechte Gesellschaft war, hatte an diesem Schweigen Anteil. Seit dem Beginn des Friedensprozesses in der Mitte der neunziger Jahre wurden mehr und mehr Studien vorgelegt, die sich qualitativer Methoden bedienten. Insbesondere Einzelinterviews und Fokusgruppendiskussionen wurden angewendet, um den betroffenen Teilen der Bevölkerung "eine Stimme zu geben". Biographieforschung wurde als wirksames Instrument entdeckt, um die Auswirkungen des Nordirlandkonfliktes zu portraitieren. Der vorliegende Beitrag wendet sich der Entstehung und Diversifizierung einer qualitativen Sozialforschungslandschaft in Nordirland zu, die letztlich über die Grenzen der unmittelbaren Konfliktforschung hinausgeht. Es wird argumentiert, dass eine ganze Reihe von Umständen zu dieser Entwicklung beigetragen haben, vornehmlich die veränderten gesellschaftlichen Bedingungen und die Verfügbarkeit von Fördermitteln für Organisationen außerhalb des Hochschulsektors, die ihre Forschungsergebnisse direkt zur Einflussnahme auf die Neugestaltung der nordirischen Gesellschaft einsetzen.

The issue of young people's experiences of sexual exploitation and sexual violence has received increasing political and media attention within recent years. However, whilst many studies have identified this to be an emerging issue of concern, the collation of prevalence data on the extent of these issues is still very much in its infancy. In this article we report on the findings of a large-scale project on the sexual exploitation of young people, undertaken in Northern Ireland from 2009 to 2011. The article primarily explores young people's self-reported experiences of sexual violence and exploitation, collated from their responses to a module of questions placed in the 2010 Young Life and Times Survey. The quantitative dataset from the survey covers both prevalence of sexually exploitative experiences and young people's reports about the type of individuals perpetrating these incidents. This dataset is illustrated and contextualised with reference to the qualitative findings from interviews with young people and professionals conducted as part of the wider sexual exploitation study. The article concludes with a consideration of the implications of the findings, with particular reference to the need for further preventative work in this field. © 2013 © 2013 Taylor & Francis.

Although preceded by years of political and policy developments, the signing of the Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement) in 1998 is generally regarded as marking the end of conflict and the beginning of the transition to peace. However, this transition has been neither linear nor straightforward. Divisions, both physical and symbolic, reflecting collective identities and 'otherness', remain resistant to change and continue to foster sectarianism, mistrust and outbreaks of violence. Despite some positive change, not least of which is the absence of sustained violence, the majority of neighbourhoods and schools remain either Protestant or Catholic. Drawing on data from the Young Life and Times (YLT) survey, an annual attitudinal survey of 16-year-olds in Northern Ireland that has been running since 2003, this article explores what young people's perspectives reveal about the complexities and the challenges involved in transitioning to a more shared society. Where relevant and possible, their attitudes are compared with those expressed by adults in the annual Northern Ireland Life and Times (NILT) survey. A primary focus on tracking teenagers' attitudes is important for a number of reasons. While often regarded as a 'post-conflict' generation, segregation and polarisation remain features of teenagers' everyday lives and the political landscape. Children and young people are one of the four key strategic priorities in the latest government strategies to build united communities and achieve change and are embedded in the Programme for Government 2016–2021. If these government commitments are to be realised, the voices of young people must become central rather than peripheral. It is important, therefore, that their opinions are not only sought, but also interrogated and fed into policy.

Sectarian violence in the Northern Ireland is often perceived to be mostly confined to cities. The aim of this paper is to explore statistically what factors contribute to segregation preferences among young people living in rural and urban areas, using the 2005-2009 Young Life and Times (YLT) survey - an annual attitudes survey of 16-year-olds. The findings show that religious and national identities are the strongest predictors of segregation preferences among 16-year-olds, regardless of where they live and what background they have. Those living in rural areas of Northern Ireland are more supportive of residential, workplace and educational segregation than those living in more urban areas. This research highlights the need for government policy to take rurality into account. Nevertheless, some variables significantly determine segregation preferences regardless of where respondents live, such as attendance of segregated schools, being female, or strength of national and religious identity. Consequently, policy initiatives should continue to address the effect of segregation, especially in relation to education, and future research exploring social class and gender is recommended. In conclusion, the perception of the violent 'urban spaces' and the 'peaceful countryside' has to be challenged. Adapted from the source document.

This brief focuses on issues relating to young people's mental health. It draws on published research evidence and discussion at a Roundtable event organised by YouthAction Northern Ireland (YANI) and ARK and held in December 2012. Roundtable participants included officials from a number of government departments, Health Trusts, representatives from a range of NGOs, academics, and young people from YouthAction Northern Ireland's Right Here Fermanagh project and Young Men Talking Project who opened the debate with a contribution on what they think is important for young people's mental health. The event was conducted under the anonymity of reporting allowed under the Chatham House Rule to encourage open debate.

Since 2003, respondents to the annual Young Life and Times (YLT) survey have been offered an opportunity to give their thoughts on community relations in Northern Ireland. To date, approximately 4,000 comments have been received. This paper reports on a systematic approach to a content analysis of this question. Our methodological aim is to demonstrate the analytic processes involved in creating a coding scheme and to show how a structured content analysis of these responses can complement the published quantitative survey findings, and, in turn, provide a more nuanced understanding of young people's views on community relations in Northern Ireland over time. By doing so, we feel we also afford a sense of agency to respondents by integrating their opinions and emotions, which ranged from hope to despair, expressed outside the pre-determined survey content, as important data. Our approach shows that a meaningful combination of interpretive and deductive methods can demonstrate the added value that open-ended questions can have for a standardised survey instrument.