Background to the Research

• The research explored the perceptions of conflict among children and young people in Belfast. The aim of the research was to identify the causes of conflict and its effects, and to find ways, particularly in a school setting, to help to resolve political violence.
  

Research Approach

• Five semiprojective incomplete political stories were administered face-to-face to 35 pupils from two age groups of 11-12 years and 15-16 years from one non-integrated and one integrated school in Belfast. Each story was followed by a series of probes, asking the pupils how the central character(s) in each story should have acted to the political dilemma. The pupils were allowed to elaborate on political issues triggered by the stories. Data were also gathered on the occupations and the religion of the children's parents.
  

Main Findings

Profile of the Sample

• Seventeen of the pupils interviewed were female (8 attended the non-integrated and 9 the integrated school). Of the 17 female participants 12 were Protestant and 5 were Catholic.
• Eighteen of the pupils were male (8 attended the non-integrated school and 10 the integrated school). Of the 18 male participants 12 were Protestant, 5 were Catholic and 1 was Hindu.

Religion as a Cause of Conflict

• Protestant pupils at both schools and Catholic pupils at the non-integrated school often identified religion as the main cause of the conflict in Northern Ireland.
• Religious conflict was mentioned more frequently by children in the integrated school as the main cause of conflict (86%), than by those in the non-integrated school (62%).
• The 15-16 year age group in both schools do not view the conflict as religious nationalism (64% in the integrated school and 88% in the non-integrated school).
• In both the integrated and non-integrated schools Catholic pupils mentioned that religion was the cause of the conflict more often than Protestant pupils (60% for Catholics compared with 29% for Protestants).

Political Causes of Conflict

• Some pupils perceived the conflict in terms of the role of paramilitaries and all age groups in both schools viewed political violence as being directed by a minority against the majority.
• Fifty per cent of all pupils across the age ranges at the non-integrated school mentioned that terrorists should be punished. This contrasted with 25% of 11-12 year olds and 64% of 15-16 year olds in the integrated school. Nearly half of all Protestant pupils mentioned that terrorists should be punished.

National Identity

• Seventy-three per cent of Protestant pupils in the non-integrated school mentioned the Queen as a symbol of identity compared with 44% of Protestant pupils in the integrated school. Conversely, 56% of Protestant children from the integrated school failed to mention the Queen as a symbol of identity, as opposed to only 27% of Protestant pupils in the non-integrated school.
• Pupils aged between 11 and 12 years from both schools made no mention of partition as the cause of conflict (87% in the integrated and 75% in the non-integrated school). However, 75% of 15-16 year olds in the non-integrated school mentioned partition as a cause of conflict compared with 36% of the same age group in the integrated school.

National Identity

• Middle-class children from the non-integrated school echoed the middle-class perception of a link between areas of deprivation and political violence.
• Twelve pupils from the integrated school and 9 from the non-integrated school perceived levels of violence, alienation and poverty as being caused by class divisions.

Psycho-Cultural Aspects of Conflict (Prejudice)

• 15-16 year old pupils in both schools mentioned prejudice as a cause of conflict more often than the 11-12 year olds; 55% in the integrated and 25% in the non-integrated school, contrasting with only 13% of 11-12 year olds in the integrated and zero per cent in the non-integrated sector.
• Forty-four per cent of Protestant children in the integrated school mentioned prejudice as a cause of conflict as opposed to 7% in the non-integrated sector.

The Inevitability of Conflict

• The majority of pupils in both schools report that political violence is inevitable in Northern Ireland. The 15-16 year old pupils in the non-integrated school do not see the conflict as inevitable, with only 25% holding this view in contrast with 64% of their counterparts in the integrated school.

Environmental Violence

• All 11-12 year olds attending the integrated school mentioned violence/fear of violence in their environment, as did 67% of the 15-16 year olds. Seventy-five per cent of 11-12 year olds in the non-integrated school mentioned violence/fear of violence, as did 37% of the 15-16 year olds.

Solutions/Mechanisms of Change

• Catholic pupils are less confident than Protestant pupils of the ability of the government (police, army etc.) to control the conflict. All of the Catholic pupils mentioned forms of nonsupport for Public authority.
• Fifty per cent of Catholic children in the integrated school mentioned integrated education as a solution to the conflict, compared with 11% of Protestant pupils. In contrast, no Protestant pupil in the non-integrated school mentioned it as a solution.
• Half of the total sample believed that social change was possible, 10 children from the integrated school and 7 from the non-integrated school tend to think that the conflict has had some positive outcomes.

Conclusions

• There was greater optimism among 15-16 year olds in the non-integrated school - this may have been because these children know they will soon have an opportunity to leave Northern Ireland if they want to.
• Only the 15-16 year olds from the integrated school suggested more integration as a solution to conflict. None of the children in the non-integrated school did so.
• There appeared to be no major difference in the political attitudes of Protestant children in the sample. Although, more pupils in the non-integrated school mentioned the queen as a source of conflict, perhaps reflecting their mixing with Catholic pupils.
• More research which would include more integrated and non-integrated schools is needed in order to compare the effects of schools and other agents of socialisation on children's perception of politics in Northern Ireland.
• Knowledge of the different role of religion, politics, economics and psychocultural factors in the environment of the children in the study grew gradually.