Reflecting upon the past & looking to the future: The role of social workers in dealing with the legacy of the conflict in Northern Ireland Reflecting upon the past & looking to the future: The role of social workers in dealing with the legacy of the conflict in Northern Ireland Dr Jim Campbell, School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work, Queens University Belfast

Introduction Background to the conflict Explanatory concepts Social work responses to the conflict New opportunities to work with victims and survivors of the conflict

The Northern Ireland Context 1.7 m people 40 years of political conflict Over 3,700 people have died Tens of thousands physically and psychologically traumatised An integrated system of health and social welfare Strong community and voluntary sectors Strongly regulated, top down welfare bureaucracy

The costs of the Troubles (Fay et al, 1999) Those who killed  80% paramilitaries  11.0% security forces Those who were killed  54% civilians  30% security forces  16% paramilitaries  Catholics more likely than Protestants,  Men more likely than women Unknown numbers injured and psychologically traumatised

Psychological explanations Early studies (Lyons, 1971; 1972) suggested lack of traumatic symptomology Later studies implied underlying symptomology masked by psychological functioning mechanisms (Cairns and Wilson, 1984) Some evidence of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder amongst high risk populations (Loughry et al; 1988; Curran et al, 1990; Hayes and Campbell (1999); Shevlin and McGuigan, 2003; Muldoon et al, 2005) The suggestion that conventional ideas about PTSD may not be useful in certain contexts (Swartz, 1998 and continuous trauma; Dorahy et al, 2008))

Sociological explanations 45% protestant/unionist, 40% catholic/nationalist, 10% other 90% education in same religion schools social housing largely segregated Small (2%+) but growing ethnic minority communities 7% unemployment Faltering economic growth Poverty and social exclusion

Religious segregation in NI

Religious segregation in Belfast

09/08/2015Jim Campbell9 The social work response (Pinkerton and Campbell, 2002) Pre s Mid 1980s s Post Belfast Agreement Crisis of state Services ill-prepared Social workers as neutral Technocratic social work Detachment from communities Apolitical Silence as a method of safety New opportunities for working with communities More involvement with victims/survivors

The social work educational context ( Duffy, 2008) Service user and carer involvement in social work education is now an established requirement since the reform of social work education in Northern Ireland in 2004 Social work students are also expected to demonstrate an understanding of the Northern Ireland context The social work curriculum must therefore reflect this new requirement

Preparing students to work with victims and survivors of the conflict in Northern Ireland Policy context The origins and development of the project Design Process issues Evaluation Looking to the future

Policy context The Belfast Agreement (1998) Living with the Trauma of the Troubles (SSI) (1998) The Report of the Victims Commissioner (Bloomfield, 1998) Counselling in NI: Report of the Counselling Review (DHSSPS, 2002) Report of the Healing Through Remembering Project (2002) Reshape, Rebuild, Achieve (OFDFM, 2002) Report of the Consultative Group on the Past (2009) A Shared Future (2010?)

The project Phase 1 October 2008: NISCC sponsored pilot with 50 level 2 BSW students Phase 2: EU PEACE III funded three year initiative -March 2009: 80 BSW students -October 2009: 50 BSW students -March 2010: 80 BSW students -June 2010: practice teacher survey -March 2011: 50 postqualifying students -Final report 2011

Social work academics Members of WAVE Students Practice teachers A partnership

Who is involved in the teaching Five social work academics in the School of Sociology, Social Policy and Social Work Eight members of WAVE, CEO WAVE One qualified practice teacher/part time tutor Students

The process Planning Ground rules Lectures (Social work and sectarianism, social work and trauma, policy and services for victims and survivors of the conflict) Members of Wave telling their stories Tutorials (Name game exercise to explore our identities, use of case study to explore knowledge values and skills) Debriefing sessions

Evaluation Strengths Very positive student evaluations The opportunity to reflect upon our identities and understanding of ‘the other’ Victims/survivors as experts, teachers Some profound developmental insights into experiences of the conflict Reinforcement of our commitment to core social work values, knowledge and skills Limitations Concerns about managing self-disclosure Insufficient time Need to enhance student skills Is the positive experience transferable to practice settings? Concerns about how to mainstream and expand

Conclusions As social workers we need to find ways of helping us explore ours and our clients’ identities, and experiences of the conflict Victims and survivors can help staff and students in this journey Victims and survivors can have their views and feelings affirmed through this educational process, if this is done in a supportive and empowering way We need to find ways of developing the academic and practice learning curriculae and to mainstream this important area of social work education and practice We can learn from other, international experiences (Israel/Palestine, South Africa, Bosnia)