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Symposium: Accessing the “political” in socio-historical context

Symposium: Accessing the “political” in socio-historical context. Convenor: Peter Weinreich Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Ulster Director, Identity Exploration Ltd, www.identityexploration.com Conference:

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Symposium: Accessing the “political” in socio-historical context

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  1. Symposium:Accessing the “political” in socio-historical context Convenor: Peter Weinreich Emeritus Professor of Psychology, University of Ulster Director, Identity Exploration Ltd, www.identityexploration.com Conference: Tearing Down the Walls: Rethinking the Political in Political Psychology Centre for Research in Political Psychology, Queen's University Belfast Thursday 15 April 2010

  2. TrademarkTraining, research and evaluation

  3. Illustrating the use of ISA for exploring the impact of anti-racist and anti-sectarian work in Northern Ireland Dr Fiona Bloomer

  4. Trademark • an ethically based not for profit organisation which works towards social change in which the principles of social justice, equality, and pluralism are actively pursued. • an official partner of the ICTU

  5. Trademark Academic and practitioner staff Ireland – North and South Core funding from Community Relations Council Generate funds from grants and commissions

  6. Trademark Extensive experience in engaging directly with issues of sectarianism, the conflict and dealing with the legacy of the past, as well as racism critical engagement - breaking through the denial, avoidance and politeness that often characterises this type of work. challenging the myths, stereotypes and ‘cultural blindness’ that often characterise ethnically exclusive peace and reconciliation activities.

  7. Trademark Research conducted for the Police Ombudsman, Equality Commission, Children and Young Peoples Commission, Community Relations Council In-house research programme

  8. Focus of This Paper Single identity work in a Loyalist estate on an interface in Belfast Similar work with nationalist community also carried out but will not be reported here

  9. The Highfield Project Community Leadership and Political Education Programme • Participants -the Highfield Women’s Group. • The training programme - funded by Belfast City Council’s Good Relations programme. • The research was funded through Trademark’s own resources.

  10. The Highfield Project The training programme was designed to: • Promote and develop respect for diversity in one’s own, other and shared cultures, beliefs and traditions. • Develop opportunities which facilitate difficult conversations in a safe environment which challenge sectarianism and racism.

  11. The Highfield Project And to: • Enable groups and communities to effectively understand the dynamics of inter group conflict. • Increase understanding and co-operation between different cultural and ethno-nationalist community identities by building capacity and supporting networks of communication.

  12. The Highfield Project Accredited modules • Human Rights and Equality • Anti Sectarianism / Anti Racism Non-accredited modules • Feminism and Women’s rights • History and Identity • 20th century Irish politics

  13. The Highfield Project Delivered in workshop sessions Guest speakers Cross border study trips Cross community engagement

  14. The Highfield Project Highfield is an urban area close to Belfast city centre Largely Protestant/ Unionist Loyalist nature (PUL), surrounded by Catholic/ Nationalist/ Republican (CNR) West Belfast. It has close connections with the Shankill area nearby - Strongly PUL

  15. The Highfield Project Area that witnessed significant conflict Interfaces and flashpoints during the parading season. Intra community conflict has also occurred, the most significant being the Shankill feud in 2000

  16. The Highfield Project

  17. Research Approach Workshop sessions with staff Focus groups with participants Develop and test identity instrument Participants completed instrument at start of programme and again at end Semi-strucrured interviews conducted with participants

  18. Why ISA? Its approach to identity development is interdisciplinary The ISA framework is sensitive to each applicable context Its places importance on the history of communities and biographical experiences All concepts used are fully operationalised i.e. they are clearly defined and are measurable It considers the nature and range of identifications for each respondent as an individual.

  19. Why ISA? • The study begins with the assumption that changes in identity are likely to occur  as a result of participation in a community development and political education project, and that these changes, whether positive or negative, can be determined through the application of ISA. (Bloomer and Weinreich (2004) and Weinreich (2003)

  20. ISA indices • Positive and negative role models • Empathetic identification • Identification conflict • Core values Results from 2 cases studies will be presented

  21. Key Findings Idealistic-identification is the extent of one’s desire to become like an aspirational other, who represents qualities that have become incorporated into one’s ideal self-image.

  22. Key Findings Idealistic-identification magnitude ranges

  23. Key Findings Paula – aged 55 • Sibling – imprisoned for 13.5 years • Hated paramilitaries • Friends killed in Shankill bomb • Women looked after family, men drank • Open to BME community • Hopeful for the future

  24. Key Findings Diana • Area impacted by feuding • Husband shot dead, brother in law unfairly imprisoned • Shankill bomb had impact on sectarianism • Bad experiences working with black person • Women play traditional roles • Not hopeful for the future

  25. Key Findings Contra-identification with another is the similarity between the qualities one attributes to the other and those from which one would wish to dissociate.

  26. Key Findings Empathetic identification is the extent of the similarities between the qualities one attributes to the other, weather ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and those of the one’s current self image.

  27. Key Findings Empathetic-identification magnitude ranges

  28. Key Findings Conflicted identification with the other is the extent to which one’s current empathetic identification overlaps with one’s contra-identification

  29. Key Findings Conflicted-identification magnitude ranges

  30. Key Findings Core values -the extent to which the statements chosen by the participant are used to judge the world around them. A high core value for instance indicates that the statement represents an issue which the participant uses consistently to judge the world around them.

  31. Key Findings Core values

  32. Summary of Findings Open minded about issues related to feminism Change in how identification BME communities Change in her identification with community leaders

  33. Summary of Findings • ISA was able to provide a quantitative assessment of each participant’s starting point and end point • ISA was able to identify small changes • ISA allowed trainers to target particular issues • ISA can be used as an evaluation tool

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