ORB: Children and Conflict

Symbolic Violence, Locality and Social Class: The Educational and Career Aspirations of 10-11 Year Old Boys in Belfast

Author(s):	P. Connolly and J. Healy
Document Type:	Article
Year:	2004
Title of Publication:	Pedagogy, Culture and Society
Publisher:	T&F Informa UK Ltd
Place of Publication:	Colchester
Vol:	12 (1)
Pgs:	15-33
Subject Area(s):	Children and Conflict, Impact of Conflict, Education, Achievement, Play and Leisure, Poverty and Welfare, Low Income Families, Youth Justice and Policing, Experience of Policing, Anti-Social Behaviour
Client Group(s) :	Males

Abbreviations: NI - Northern Ireland, IRA - Irish Republican Army

Background to the Research

This article draws upon Bourdieu's related concepts of symbolic violence and habitus. Symbolic violence represents the way in which people play a role in reproducing their own subordination through the gradual internalisation and acceptance of ideas and structures that tend to subordinate them. The related notion of habitus can be understood as a set of predispositions individuals develop to approaching, thinking about and acting upon their social worlds over time as a consequence of their experiences. The significance of locality for the working-class habitus is suggested to provide the mechanism through which particular forms of symbolic violence occur. Whilst there has been an increasing emphasis on the significance of locality for the working-class habitus, very little work has considered how locality affects children's attitudes towards education.

Research Approach

Using a comparative, ethnographic case study of two groups of 10-11-year-old boys - one middle-class, the other working-class - living in Belfast, NI, the authors aimed to use the insights on place and locality and apply them more directly to the concept of symbolic violence in the context of children's experiences and perspectives on schooling.

Main Findings

Working-class boys' attachments to locality

Many of the boys felt under siege in their local area, particularly in relation to a constant fear of attack which was exacerbated by lack of trust in the local police. This experience led many of the boys to develop a strong sense of territory and to construct themselves as protectors of that space. Most of the boys interviewed were involved, to one degree or another, in the policing of interface areas and in the almost ritualised conflicts and stone throwing that occurred with neighbouring Protestant youths.
Within this construction of identity, built upon notions of the defence of territory and the associated aspects of strength and physicality, the boys tended to identify with the IRA and saw them as the legitimate force and main defenders of their community over the last 30 years. Their knowledge of local members of the Provisional IRA, and the social capital gained from this, was clearly evident from the boys' discussions.
The boys did not talk of visiting other areas on their own or even going into the city centre; this was related to lack of lack of economic activity and a sense of vulnerability and threat of leaving the safety of their own area.

Middle-class boys and locality

Locality was much less significant to many of the middle-class boys. The vast majority came from professional, middle-class families and, with the resources and opportunities this brings, many spoke about different activities they were involved in, both through the school and outside school; many of these activities did not take place were the boys lived.
In contrast to the working-class boys, it was rare for their extended families to live in the same area as them and it was common for their immediate family to have travelled and lived outside Belfast at some point.
Given their broader social structures and networks, it was unsurprising that locality was much less significant for them. Their local area was simply where they lived and were based and was a nondescript and 'boring' place, with its value being judged partly in terms of its relative location to other areas that the boys wish to visit. Also, as friendships were not based on locality, but were developed out of shared activities or tasks, the boys had little knowledge or interest in their immediate area.
The boys were aware of working-class areas that had a reputation for trouble and sectarian violence and made a point of avoiding certain areas. This was part of a much broader discourse of derision that the boys engaged in relating to working-class areas. They also held derogatory views of boys who lived in these areas.

Educational and Career Aspirations

None of the working-class boys had been entered for the 11+ exam, which was the overall trend in their school. The significance of locality in relation to their experiences and identities appeared to mean that the prospect of attending a grammar school outside their area was not a realistic part of their habitus - they seemed resigned to the fact that they would be transferring to the local secondary school. Education and a commitment to academic success were not significant or important to their lives. Given the overriding influence of the local area on their world view, their future aspirations were limited to what they knew and had experience of.
The middle-class boys, all of whom had sat the exam, showed significant interest and concern in the 11+ and their impending transfer. They did not share the sense of inevitability regarding which school they were going to transfer to - their minds were set on attending grammar school and they were keen to distinguish between the different grammar schools available.
The middle-class boys had developed an equally strong habitus based upon choice and the inevitability of being required to select the most prestigious/appropriate grammar school. Success in education was so much a part of their habitus that, even at this age, none were considering leaving school at 16 - some were not even aware that this was an option.
The discussion of grammar schools and the taken-for-granted belief that they could choose between schools situated all over the city reflected their general routine experience of travelling around the city and, thus, the lack of any attachment to a particular locality. Their many different social and recreational activities also significantly increased the diversity of their future career aspirations. Even at this stage, these boys were significantly involved in thinking about and planning their futures.

Conclusions

This comparative case study outlined the symbolic violence experienced by the working-class boys. Through the internalisation of social structures and processes of inequality that impinge directly on their lives, they had developed a habitus that contributes to the reproduction of their subordinate position. Both groups of boys had generated and absorbed a distinct class habitus reflective of their differing social positions.
The general structures of locality and the tendency for particular working-class communities to be forced to live a localised existence are far from unique and the general insights gained from this case study may be applicable to other working-class/minority ethnic communities.
We need to develop a greater appreciation of how power and inequality are not just external phenomena but affect and reach into the very psyche of the individual.

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