Background to the Research

• Since the late 1980s successive UK governments have made various efforts to resolve NI's community relations problem. The Good Friday Agreement (1998) was supported by more than 70% of the population, yet data from the Social Attitudes series suggests that whilst policy reforms may have contributed to changes in social attitudes, some behavioural patterns have become increasingly polarised.
  

Research Approach

• The author assesses community relation theory, policy and practice and goes on to re-evaluate social attitudes survey data from 1989 and 1996 within the context of community relations.
  

Main Findings

• Responses to the 1996 NISAS suggests movement in terms of social attitudes in relation to greater mutual understanding, tolerance between the two communities and a desire for greater social integration.
• Paradoxically, NISAS data and research from elsewhere suggests a gap between social attitudes and behaviour on the ground.
• Data from the 1996 survey suggest that there has been a slight rise in the number of Catholics who perceive equal opportunity in the job market as well as a greater willingness amongst participants to work in a mixed environment.
• However, in the 1996 survey, in relation to integrated education, the majority of those sampled said they would prefer to send their children to a mixed-religion school. In reality, data show that only a tiny percentage of parents avail of this option.
• The gap between attitudes and behaviour is also evident in relation to choice of neighbourhood; in the 1996 survey, the overwhelming majority of respondents stated a preference for mixed religion areas. However, contemporary data relating to geographical location show a further polarisation of the 2 main religious groups.
• The explanation of the paradox between more positive social attitudes and increasingly polarised behaviour may be explained in terms of the rise in sectarian violence that took place in the mid to late 1990s, despite a social and institutional environment which seemed to be more conducive to mutual understanding.
• In order for changed attitudes to be translated into changed behaviour, and for discernible behavioural changes to be sustained, the commitment to resolving social and economic disadvantage contained in the Good Friday Agreement must be upheld.