Fear of Reprisal – Researching Intra-Communal Violence in Northern Ireland and South Africa

Measuring the impact of violence is fraught with problems, not least because of the definitional problems around what constitutes violence and how this might be quantified. If one considers violence perpetrated by paramilitaries in Northern Ireland or vigilante groups in South Africa then the task becomes even more difficult. This chapter will examine methodological problems associated with gaining access to, and undertaking research in, the dangerous arena of paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland and vigilante violence in South Africa. It will consider the difficulties in obtaining reliable information on the levels of violence particularly from official police sources, and the way in which this type of crime is classified. Other statistical sources such as pressure group data will be examined and problems highlighted with the use of documentation gleaned from tendentious organisations. Data about the impact of violence from primary research are also fraught with problems. Victims, for example, can be reluctant interviewees for fear of paramilitary/vigilante reprisal. A ‘victim’ of paramilitary/vigilante ‘punishment’ may be an erstwhile perpetrator of violence. Should one treat internecine turf wars between paramilitaries in Northern Ireland in a similar way to violence meted out in pursuit of their political goals? These and other issues make the measurement of the impact of violence difficult methodological questions. This chapter will therefore highlight these problems and examine how we managed them within this study of intra-communal violence

Violence in a Changing Political Context: Northern Ireland and South Africa

Northern Ireland and South Africa are moving from conflict to post-conflict societies. Both countries have new political dispensations and seek to eschew the legacy of bitter and bloody violence. The history of the political struggles has, however, embedded a culture tolerant of violence characterised by descriptions such as ‘an acceptable level of violence’ or ‘an imperfect peace’. Somehow the threshold of violence is different/higher in these countries because of their transitional status. This chapter will therefore explore how the meaning of violence is inextricably linked to the political context in Northern Ireland and South Africa. Specifically it will examine the continuing role of violence meted out by paramilitary/vigilante groups to alleged wrongdoers within the communities in which they operate, the stranglehold these groups exert and how, if at all, this is changing. The role played by the police and the criminal justice systems will also be discussed within the new era of established political systems that have replaced ‘white rule’ and ‘direct rule’ in South Africa and Northern Ireland respectively

‘An Acceptable Level of Violence’ Community Response to Crime: Northern Ireland and South Africa

This paper, drawing on focus group interview material, will therefore examine ways in which the communities in Northern Ireland and South Africa have responded to crime both during the conflict and thereafter. If the raison d’être for ‘political’ crime has been removed once a negotiated settlement is reached and the legitimacy of the State reaffirmed by agreement, can communities then subscribe to the formal system of criminal justice? Given the relatively recent, albeit fragile, arrival of a ‘peace’ settlement to Northern Ireland the paper considers what lessons, if any, can be learned from the South African post-conflict experience and its efforts to deal with community responses to crime

Fear of Reprisal – Researching Intra-Communal Violence in Northern Ireland and South Africa

Measuring the impact of violence is fraught with problems, not least because of the definitional problems around what constitutes violence and how this might be quantified. If one considers violence perpetrated by paramilitaries in Northern Ireland or vigilante groups in South Africa then the task becomes even more difficult. This chapter will examine methodological problems associated with gaining access to, and undertaking research in, the dangerous arena of paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland and vigilante violence in South Africa. It will consider the difficulties in obtaining reliable information on the levels of violence particularly from official police sources, and the way in which this type of crime is classified. Other statistical sources such as pressure group data will be examined and problems highlighted with the use of documentation gleaned from tendentious organisations. Data about the impact of violence from primary research are also fraught with problems. Victims, for example, can be reluctant interviewees for fear of paramilitary/vigilante reprisal. A ‘victim’ of paramilitary/vigilante ‘punishment’ may be an erstwhile perpetrator of violence. Should one treat internecine turf wars between paramilitaries in Northern Ireland in a similar way to violence meted out in pursuit of their political goals? These and other issues make the measurement of the impact of violence difficult methodological questions. This chapter will therefore highlight these problems and examine how we managed them within this study of intra-communal violence

‘An Acceptable Level of Violence’ Community Response to Crime: Northern Ireland and South Africa

This paper, drawing on focus group interview material, will therefore examine ways in which the communities in Northern Ireland and South Africa have responded to crime both during the conflict and thereafter. If the raison d’être for ‘political’ crime has been removed once a negotiated settlement is reached and the legitimacy of the State reaffirmed by agreement, can communities then subscribe to the formal system of criminal justice? Given the relatively recent, albeit fragile, arrival of a ‘peace’ settlement to Northern Ireland the paper considers what lessons, if any, can be learned from the South African post-conflict experience and its efforts to deal with community responses to crime

For Distinguished Service / The Bad Penny (February 16, 1938)

Program, For Distinguished Service / The Bad Penny (February 16, 1938)

Case Studies of the Attainment of Insight in Dream Sessions: Replication and Extension

To replicate and extend the Hill, Knox, et al. (2007) case study of a client who attained insight in one session of dream work, the authors examined two additional single-session cases: one in which a client gained insight and another in which a client did not. The observations across all three cases suggest that the two clients who acquired insight had positive attitudes toward dreams; were motivated and involved in session; and were nonresistant, trusting, and affectively present but not overwhelmed. The client who did not gain insight questioned the value of dreams and was resistant, untrusting, andf emotionally overwhelmed. Therapist adherence and competence using the dream model, ability to manage countertransference, and effective use of probes for insight distinguished the therapists whose clients gained insight from the therapist whose client did not