Transcript People affected by ViolencE

People affected by
ViolencE
Can Community Services
Promote Equality and Social
Inclusion?
Dr Karola Dillenburger, Ms Montse Fargas, & Mrs Rym Akhonzada
School of Sociology, Social Policy & Social Work, Queen’s University Belfast
Background

Violence has affected most people in Northern
Ireland with over 3,600 people killed and more
than 40,000 injured since 1969.

In the 1970s, psychiatrists argued that people
affected by community violence generally reacted
with astonishing resilience to the continuing
violence (Fraser, 1973) and early studies that
showed a different picture were largely ignored.

In those early years of the Troubles, there was a
lack of structured support for those affected.
Aims of the PAVE Project
1.
Overview & categorisation of services
offered to people affected by the
‘Troubles’
2.
Exploration of the effectiveness of some of
the most commonly used services in
regard to achieving their set aims/goals
Phases & Methodology

PHASE 1 - Survey on 49 core-funded
voluntary groups & categorisation of
services provided by them;

PHASE 2 - Administration of the PEIT-Q
& 3 standardised Qs (GHQ, BDI & PDS)
to group members in 2 assessments in
order to explore the effectiveness of the
services.
Categorisation of the services
provided by the groups

Frequency

18
16
14
12
10
8
6
4
2
0
po
r
re t-s be
sp elf fri
ite -h en
ca elp din
re gr g
/t o
y im up
na ou e- s
rr th ou
at w t
iv or
e
c
k
co
gr oun wo
m
o
r
s
pl
p up el k
ad em syc th ling
vi en ho era
ce ta
t
p
an ry her y
d the ap
in in r y
di fo ap
re rm ie
ct a s
se tio
rv n
ic
es

Psychology-based
Philosophy-based
Education-based
Community-based
su
p

c ommunity- bas ed
s e rvic es
ps yc hology- bas e d
s e rvic es
philos ophy- bas ed
s e rvic es
educ ation-bas e d
s e rvic es
Why these services?
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
Because there is a dem and for these thera pies, because they work and because those who
av ail of them could not aff ord to access th
e m through a priv ate therapy practice
Because they have been put f orw ard and at the wish of group members as being what they
are interested in participating in.
For educational and recreational purposes and to keep in contact with families on our
database
There is certain am ount of trust sim ply not there for our members when dealing with DHSS
etc. By v irtue of their serv ice in the UDR they still f eel unsaf e about asking f or help or
releasing their details.
They address a range of needs of a particular group, particularly with a view to entering the
labour m arket, with a m x
i of psy chotherapies, phy siotherapy and careers and tra
ining.
They f eel that it reliev es stressand help their mem bers f eel better
They think that by bringing people together and interacting, they are being supportiv e and
helping people
To enable v ictims of the Troubles and their f amilies to recov er-not to f orget but to mov e
f orward in a better (healed) f ra me of m ind ready to accept div ers ity
To m eet the unique needs of terrorist v ictims. The programme of activities has been
designed following years of grass-roots work to identify key needs and concerns of innocent
v ictims of terrorism. It addresses th
e trauma and socia l exclusion
To promote the recov eryof traumatised v c
i tim s and their families
As a m eans to bring people f ro m a traumatised state into one in which they are competent to
interact socia lly at an acceptable lev el.
As a v ictims support group, we need to off er the prev o
i us mentioned serv ices, as in our
v illage we hav e no othe
r statutory or v oluntary organisation off ering them. To get to the
nearest town is too diff icult f or most of our members, which shows how isola ted we are.
Therapies are a good way of getting people involv ed again without expecting som ething f ro m
them .
Elements of
Exclusion/Inclusion




Economical
Educational
Health
Political

Empowerment
 Access
 Belonging
 Safety
 Participation
 Better Health
Community Services sector

How do these services decrease the
exclusion gap?




Increase opportunities for participation
Remove barriers
Increase opportunities for personal
development and social support
Increase access to resources and
programs for excluded groups
Characteristics of service
users (BLA n=50) (EEA n=24)

35 women & 15 men; most of them aged over 50

Some living in the country (n=17), inner city (n=16) or
small towns (n=16).

9 of the respondents had no qualification, 11 had
GCSE’s & further education qual. 33 were not in paid
employment.

50% claimed to have a fair state of health and 26%
good health, although 70% had seen the doctor at
least twice in the last 6 months.

Most of the participants (n=31) thought that they
coped fairly well.
The experience of Trauma


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25
23
20
21
15
12
10
8
7
5
0
r
m
s
a
id
il y
re
m
ca
fa
t im
es
em
b.
in
r
ju
ed
e
be
ce
t iv
ed
em
n
le
io
la
.m
re
v
of
d/
d
te
n
ie
m
r
ju
in
.f a
lly
m
a
ic
fr
ys
st
it n
in
w
lo
ph
r

25
im

25
st

30
lo

Lost an immediate family
member (partner,
son/daughter, parent,
etc.)
Injured/ disabled
Witnessed a violent
event
Intimidated
Relative/close friend
killed
Injured family member
Caring somebody injured
Research outcomes

In the BLA, participants’ scores in the 3 psychological
measures were very high, showing poor
psychological general health, high levels of
depression and post-traumatic symptoms. But in
the second assessment, findings pointed towards an
overall improvement in all 3 measures.

Improvements were related to protective and
vulnerability factors (e.g type of traumatic event,
frequency of events, physical health) and to certain
services more so than others (e.g. befriending,
support groups, youth work, reflexology & counseling)
Next steps

To see if the services offered by the groups
do make a difference on the psychological
wellbeing of those who avail of them, more
3 months-time assessments will be
carried out.

Semi-structured interviews with some
group members will be carried out to find
out in more detail which services / activities
they find they are making them feel
significantly better.
Discussion

Voluntary groups or victims groups have
become a viable alternative to other
forms of treatment and help

These groups aim to reduce the isolation
of their members, empowering them to
help themselves and improve coping with
the consequences of the Troubles.
Discussion

The service users seem to be in need of some kind
of social support which is provided in form of
befriending and support groups as well as advice
and information on life matters and needs.

By and large, the members share similar
experiences and concerns and feel that they are not
understood well by others and that their issues are
not addressed properly by the government.