Intimate Mixing - Bridging the Gap? Catholic-Protestant Relationships in Northern Ireland

For many years Northern Ireland has been a divided society where members of the two main religious groups, Catholics and Protestants, have limited opportunities to interact due to segregation in their social lives. Attempts have been made to encourage religious mixing through integration in schools, housing and workplaces predicated on the theory that bringing people together can improve community relations and remove prejudices – known as the ‘contact hypothesis’. However, little is known about those who enter into mixed-religion partnerships often against the wishes of their families and communities. This paper examines the characteristics and attitudes of mixed-religion couples and suggests that they differ in their socio-demographic characteristics and in their attitudes from those who marry within their own religion. These findings add to the weight of evidence from other countries in conflict suggesting that intermarriage has a role to play in contributing to less sectarian views and improved community relations.

Contact, trust and social capital in Northern Ireland: a qualitative study of three mixed communities

In a recent paper, Robert Putnam (2007) challenges the contact hypothesis by arguing that ethnic diversity causes people to ‘hunker down’ and essentially withdraw themselves from society. Drawing on
qualitative data collected from three mixed communities in Northern Ireland, this paper explores the extent and quality of contact experienced by Protestants and Catholics in their everyday lives. Themes emerging from our data are generally consistent with the contact hypothesis. There is also some support for Putnam’s theory that mixed environments can induce ‘hunkering down’ and that inter-group trust may be compromised. However, our data challenge Putnam’s argument that these responses are a consequence of ‘anomie’ or ‘social malaise’. Rather, we find that withdrawal from social activity in the neighbourhoods we observed was a calculated response at times of threat, often aimed at protecting existent positive inter-ethnic relations.

An Unkind Cut: Circumcision, Death and the Impact of Irish Health Policy on Asylum Seekers

Healthcare and the wider social determinants of health are the keystone of a number of complex progressive social justice issues that evoke complex emotions. As the demography of Ireland rapidly changes, the practices and expectations of some asylum seekers presents new opportunities for the providers of health service provision and reform. This paper looks at some of the emotions evoked in health care issues and draws on observations and interviews from empirical fieldwork carried out for the Health Research Board. The research was conducted both in the Adelaide and Meath Hospital, incorporating the National Children’s Hospital, Tallaght and in a number of refugee reception centres in Ireland. At one level honouring faith choices within a healthcare setting is a societal acknowledgement made to people at their most vulnerable, that the potent and cathartic transformative rituals they value are significant in mediating and managing their emotions - at another level, it is a practical and a symbolic communication of a statutory commitment to inter-culturalism and community cohesion..

Health, psychosocial factors and retirement intentions among Finnish physicians

Background Early retirement among physicians is a worldwide problem and all efforts to try to minimize it are of importance.

Knowledge translation in men’s health research: development and delivery of content for use online

Background: Men can be hard to reach with face-to-face health-related information, while increasingly, research shows that they are seeking health information from online sources. Recognizing this trend, there is merit in developing innovative online knowledge translation (KT) strategies capable of translating research on men’s health into engaging health promotion materials. While the concept of KT has become a new mantra for researchers wishing to bridge the gap between research evidence and improved health outcomes, little is written about the process, necessary skills, and best practices by which researchers can develop online knowledge translation.
Objective: Our aim was to illustrate some of the processes and challenges involved in, and potential value of, developing research knowledge online to promote men’s health.

Methods: We present experiences of KT across two case studies of men’s health. First, we describe a study that uses interactive Web apps to translate knowledge relating to Canadian men’s depression. Through a range of mechanisms, study findings were repackaged with the explicit aim of raising awareness and reducing the stigma associated with men’s depression and/or help-seeking. Second, we describe an educational resource for teenage men about unintended pregnancy, developed for delivery in the formal Relationship and Sexuality Education school curricula of Ireland, Northern Ireland (United Kingdom), and South Australia. The intervention is based around a Web-based interactive film drama entitled “If I Were Jack”.

Results: For each case study, we describe the KT process and strategies that aided development of credible and well-received online content focused on men’s health promotion. In both case studies, the original research generated the inspiration for the interactive online content and the core development strategy was working with a multidisciplinary team to develop this material through arts-based approaches. In both cases also, there is an acknowledgment of the need for gender and culturally sensitive information. Both aimed to engage men by disrupting stereotypes about men, while simultaneously addressing men through authentic voices and faces. Finally, in both case studies we draw attention to the need to think beyond placement of content online to delivery to target audiences from the outset.

Conclusions: The case studies highlight some of the new skills required by academics in the emerging paradigm of translational research and contribute to the nascent literature on KT. Our approach to online KT was to go beyond dissemination and diffusion to actively repackage research knowledge through arts-based approaches (videos and film scripts) as health promotion tools, with optimal appeal, to target male audiences. Our findings highlight the importance of developing a multidisciplinary team to inform the design of content, the importance of adaptation to context, both in terms of the national implementation context and consideration of gender-specific needs, and an integrated implementation and evaluation framework in all KT work.

Mental Health Social Work and the Troubles in Northern Ireland: A Study of Practitioner Experiences

• Summary: During the last decade increasing attention has been paid to the impact of the Troubles1 on social work in Northern Ireland. In this paper, the authors describe the first survey used to test some of the assumptions which exist in the literature. An 87-item questionnaire was applied to a range of social work staff currently working in, or associated with, mental health settings. One hundred and one questionnaires were returned: it is estimated that this represented over 70 per cent of mental health social workers in Northern Ireland. • Findings: The design of the questionnaire elicited both qualitative and quantitative data. The findings reveal a workforce with complex religious and national identities and many of the respondents have experienced relatively high levels of Troubles-related incidents whilst carrying out their duties in a variety of organizational and geographical settings. High proportions of respondents received minimal agency support and training to equip them to deal with Troubles-related problems faced by them during this period. • Applications: The authors conclude that the profession and employing agencies should pay greater attention to past and present effects of the Troubles on social work practice and develop appropriate strategies for supporting, training and resourcing staff in this neglected area.