Echoes of Suffering: An Ethnography of Trauma, Violence, and Social Work in Post-Conflict Belfast

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Since the conventional end of the latest Northern Irish conflict (1998), social workers have been at the forefront of social and health interventions in post-conflict Northern Ireland. These post-conflict policies of intervention have been largely focused on dealing with the trauma and the violence of the past, but to this date there have not been stable long-term benefits, yet. Moreover, uneven social and economic conditions of life still affect people who live in segregated working-class areas of Belfast. Closely looking at how 'care' is administered in one youth centre in Belfast has been crucial to understand how social workers deal with complex situations, such as paramilitary violence, drug-related violence, and suicide. Current health and social care policies are not entirely able to tackle this complexity and cannot provide long-term support. Reflecting on 'trauma' and 'violence', my work provides an original approach that looks simultaneously at the legacies of the past conflict and at conditions of structural inequality, such as poverty. Listening to local experiences has proved crucial to gain an in-depth knowledge of how social workers deliver 'care', evidencing the importance of local understandings for the implementation of social and health care policies.Building on my doctoral research on trauma, violence, and social work in post-conflict Belfast, this fellowship will help me to develop my previous work with local groups in the city and bring my research findings to the wider society. The fellowship will allow me to focus on four objectives:1. Maximise my public impact.2. Dissemination and publication of my doctoral research.3. Expand my network.4. Build solid grounds for my future research and advance the investigation to the next stage.