Background to the Research
- The possibility
that memories of political violence are related to mental health is
suggested in the emerging literature. To date research in Northern Ireland
has focused on the short-term link between political violence and psychological
disorder. The main aim of this study was
to investigate how salient the Remembrance Day bomb was in present day
Enniskillen and Lowtown some eight years after the original event and
to examine how memories of that particular bomb are related to current
psychological well-being. In this context it is important to note that
the Enniskillen bomb was placed by the Provisional IRA, who Protestants
would see as their enemy, and was targeted at an event which in Northern
Ireland is seen as largely involving Protestants - the commemoration
of the deaths of members of the British armed services. For this reason
it was predicted that Protestants would be more likely to recall the
Enniskillen bomb as a significant event.
Research Approach
- Quota
sampling was employed with quota targets to ensure that approximately
equal numbers of people were interviewed in each town (Enniskillen and
Lowtown) and that the sample contained approximately equal numbers of
women/men and Catholics/Protestants and people from each of the age
ranges 18-33, 39-49, 50-65 and 66 years and over.
- All interviews
were carried out by male and female Northern Irish postgraduate students,
on the same day, on the streets of both Enniskillen and Lowtown. Those
fitting the quota requirements were asked to take part in the study
concerned with 'the sort of things people remember about the past'.
Respondents were asked to recall two national or world events that had
taken place over the past 50 years that 'come to mind as important to
you'. These questions were then repeated but this time with the emphasis
on Northern Irish events or changes. In order to tap into current psychological
well-being, each respondent was also asked to complete the 12 item version
of the GHQ.
Main
Findings
- Of the
282 people interviewed, a total of 281 recalled at least one 'important'
Northern Irish event while 229 (81%) mentioned a second Northern Irish
event. The vast majority (87%) of events could be classified as political
violence in Northern Ireland and of these the ceasefire was mentioned
most often (61%) followed by the Enniskillen Bomb (25%) and the 'troubles'
in general (23%).
- Of those
who chose to mention the bomb in Enniskillen, 34 did so as a first event
and a further 34 as a second event. Using data from 257 respondents
from whom sufficient information was available, a log-linear analysis
was undertaken in order to examine the possibility that mentioning the
bomb in Enniskillen influenced by place of residence, religion, age
or gender. This resulted in two statistically significant two-way associations.
The two-way association for mentioning the bomb and town indicated that
the vast majority of those who mentioned the bomb came from Enniskillen,
whereas the two-way association between mention and religion indicated
that 57% of those who mentioned the bomb were Protestants.
- The mean
GHQ score for Enniskillen was 10.21 and for Lowtown 10.26 compared to
10.81 and 10.82 respectively in 1988 (a high GHQ score indicated poorer
health).
- As hypothesised
more people from Enniskillen mentioned the bomb and with the exception
of the ceasefire, the Enniskillen bomb was the only single Northern
Irish event considered to be important by at least 20% of the respondents.
- The actual
memory for the Enniskillen bomb was not tested in this study and thus
there is no evidence to suggest that people failed to recall the event,
just that they did not mention it when asked to list important events.
- There
were no generational differences among respondents who remembered the
bomb.
- Sorting
out cause and effect in this study is difficult; the study simply recorded
self-assessed denominational membership. The results of the study highlight,
but do not explain, the complex relationship that is the possible between
politics, memory and mental health in a divided community such as Northern
Ireland. Future studies should measure social identity more accurately,
particularly strength of social identity.
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