16 CHIARA MAGLIACANE
With this premise, particular attention will be paid to the relationship between poor
mental health and residential segregation, through the analysis of key studies, such as
Ferry et al (2010) and French (2009). With the support of the concept of the social
reproduction of space from Lefebvre (1974), the correlation between mental illness
and the spatial representation of segregated areas will be investigated. French (2009)
recorded a high index of mental disorders mainly in those specific areas known as
interface areas, which still have a high prevalence of sporadic episodes of violence.
The representations of space at interface areas might influence the prevalence of
mental disorders among individuals. Moreover, a correlation between economic
aspects, residential segregation and mental illness will be also analysed, in order to
highlight how the disadvantaged conditions in segregated areas contribute to poor
mental health. Some suggestions will be provided for future research into this topic.
Mental Health in Northern Ireland
During ‘the Troubles’2 more than 3600 people were killed and over 40,000 injured
(Fay, Morrissey and Smyth 1999: 121). A large part of the population experienced the
trauma of indirect violence, imprisonment and the suffering and death of their loved
ones. Even after the Belfast Agreement in 1998, tensions between Catholics and
Protestants have remained and sectarian violence continues to affect the population.
Today, the symbolic landscape of Northern Ireland is still influenced by an ethnic
contraposition. For example, the display of flags, fiercely contested in Belfast,
highlights the complexity of Catholic and Protestant identity (Bryan and Stevenson
2009). The construction of social space is shaped by ‘run of the mill’ locations, such
as streets, and everyday life is integrated into the tactics of resistance (de Certeau
1984). According to Wolff (2006: 3), “inter-ethnic violence is always a sign of
underlying conflict”. Fundamentally, sporadic episodes of violence represent a
transformation of a continuing protracted conflict.
The ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland is commonly referred to as ‘the Troubles’ and is
generally acknowledged to have started in the late 1960s. The end of the conflict is considered to be
the Good Friday Agreement (or Belfast Agreement) of 1998. For the purpose of this essay, I will be
using the ethno-nationalist terms of Catholic and Protestant, but I am fully aware of the multilayer
dimensions and factionalism w hich are encountered within these identities. The Troubles were a
complex conflict with multiple armed and non-armed actors. Investigating such complexity goes
beyond the scope of this article.
2