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The Cost of the Troubles Study conducted action research which:
How was it done?
Why was it done?Research
on the effects of the Troubles had largely been psychiatric or psychological,
and had focused on specific populations, such as the Enniskillen bomb
victims, There had been only one study which looked at the long term
affects (20+ years) of violent loss in the Troubles. Little or nothing
was known about the extent of the impact of the Troubles on the population
as a whole. Those who do not seek services, - but nonetheless have suffered
effects - were undocumented. This lack of epidemiological information
meant that policy and service provision had been piecemeal or non-existent,
partly because of piecemeal information,
What is the value of it?The study provided reliable, non-sensationalist and ethically collected data on individual experiences of the Troubles. This can act as an alternative source to some existing sources which do not share these characteristics, and provided data for the first time on groups and individuals whose experiences had been under-represented. The establishment of the prevalence of Troubles-related difficulties in the total population is of value to policy-makers, and DHSS staff described the availability of such data as very valuable. The study also explored the relationship between Troubles-related difficulties and deprivation, and this part of the study had implications for a broad range of policy areas, including all of those agencies currently who are involved in using frameworks to target social need. How did we do it?We
carried out interviews with men and women, old and young, Catholic,
Protestant and "other", from various parts of Northern Ireland. These
interviews provided a variety of personal stories of people's
experiences of the Troubles. We carried out a survey of a sample of
3,000 people throughout Northern Ireland and asked people about the
economic, health, social, occupational and other effects of the Troubles
on them.
We published the results of the survey, so that voluntary and government agencies could take into account the effects of the Troubles and so that everyone can become more aware of the issues and the situations in which people continue to live. What have people got out of it?People
we interview are listened to respectfully, and had the chance to tell
their story and have it listened to and carefully recorded. This record
has been handled with discretion and confidentiality guaranteed for
those who wished it. This can be valuable in a situation where some
people have the sense that no-one listens to them. When people wanted
us to, we put them in touch with helping agencies. Trained interviewers
gave people information about where to go for advice and help should
they need it, how to help themselves, and what voluntary groups existed
for people affected by the troubles.
The Cost of the
Troubles Study was funded by the Central Community Relations Unit; Making
Belfast Work, North & West Teams; The Special Support Programme for
Peace & Reconciliation through N.I.V.T.; The Joseph Rowntree Charitable
Trust and private donation.![]() |