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Issues in the Application of Intergroup Contact
Theory to the Northern Irish Context
DEBORAH KINGHAN1
Since the Northern Irish conflict known as ‘the Troubles’ effectively ended
in 1998, numerous cross-community initiatives have attempted to improve
relations between Catholics and Protestants. Despite some perceived
success, segregation and intergroup tensions still permeate Northern Irish
society. Psychological processes described by Allport’s (1954) intergroup
contact theory drive these programmes, but how well these processes are
understood by the organisers of such initiatives, or those with wider
political responsibility, is unknown. Without this understanding, key
aspects of successful contact may be overlooked, inhibiting desired
outcomes. This essay investigates the presence of contact’s ‘optimal
conditions’ in Northern Ireland and explores consequences and solutions.
Introduction
A recent government report issued by the Ministerial Advisory Group for the
Advancement of Shared Education summarises ‘the Troubles’ as a conflict in which
over 40,000 individuals were victims of violence, resulting in substantial movement
of the main “religious/political communities” into segregated areas to escape the
dangers of conflict (Connolly, Purvis and O’Grady 2013: 3). The conflict has left a
deep psychological mark on Northern Ireland in terms of segregation, fear and a lack
of intergroup trust between Catholic and Protestant communities. This review
assesses the applicable approaches to intergroup contact in Northern Ireland.
Community divisions in Northern Ireland are complex, but for reasons of practicality
this essay uses the terms ‘Catholic’ and ‘Protestant’. It is recognised that there are
Deborah Kinghan is a PhD student at the School of Psychology, Queen’s University Belfast. She is
currently researching the application of indirect contact theories as classroom-based interventions to
improve relations between young people in Northern Ireland. The author would like to thank her
supervisors Professors Rhiannon Turner and Joanne Hughes, and Dr Gary McKeown for all their help
to date. Any errors are the author’s own. The author can be contacted at: [email protected].
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