Test Drive | Page 28

20 CHIARA MAGLIACANE Focusing on micro social life and analysing everyday practices are central to an understanding of conflicts and their transformations (Bourdieu 1977; de Certeau 1984), and they may act as ‘symptoms’ of change, such as the aforementioned case of the contested flags in Belfast. At the same time, the organisation and the diffusion of PTSD among the population, as well as the analysis of the factors that influence that prevalence, may be representative for the mitigation of the conflict. In effect, mental illness can represent a marker for some peculiarities of post-conflict Northern Ireland and can help identifying where and how to intervene, as a portrayal of conflict transformation. Even if the economic cost of poor mental health could affect the necessary post-conflict reconstruction, mental health management is more likely to remain a resource instead of an obstacle, provided that its relationship with other factors, such as residential segregation, is analysed. The Role of Residential Segregation and Social Implications of Mental Health According to some studies (French 2009; Maguire, French and O’Reilly 2011) poor mental health is related to residential segregation. This phenomenon can be found in Northern Ireland since the nineteenth century and has increased during the twentieth, affecting particularly the poorest part of the population (Shirlow and Murtagh 2006; Shuttleworth and Lloyd 2009). During the Troubles, segregation intensified, with one quarter of all households in Belfast moving house between 1969 and 1974 (French 2009: 888). The reasoning behind this forced movement was the expectation of reduced tension between Catholics and Protestants, but the actual consequence was a perpetuation of violence (French 2009: 888-889). Sporadic episodes of conflict often occur in interface areas, which are locations where Protestant and Catholic communities border each other, often separated by “walls, open spaces, industrial parks, and other modern contrivances of urban” planning (Kevlihan 2013: 30). Such areas, where peace lines have been erected to divide the two communities, actually experience high levels of tension. This means that the lack of intergroup contact helps to perpetuate hostilities (French 2009: 888). After 30 years of conflict, Northern Ireland remains a society markedly segregated along religious lines (Maguire, French and O’Reilly 2011). Shuttleworth and Lloyd (2009: 223) highlight how levels of residential segregation grew in Northern Ireland between 1971 and 2001. After 2001,