People affected by ViolencE

People affected by ViolencE

Can Community Services Promote Equality and Social

Inclusion?

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

Psychology-based Philosophy-based Education-based Community-based

0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

befriending

support-self-help groupsrespite care/time-out

youth worknarrative work

counsellinggroup therapypsychotherapy

complementary therapiesadvice and information

indirect services

Frequency

community-based services

psychology-based services

philosophy-based services

education-based services

Why these services?

1 Because there is a demand for these therapies, because they work and because those who avail of them could not afford to access them through a private therapy practice

2 Because they have been put forward and at the wish of group members as being what they are interested in participating in.

3 For educational and recreational purposes and to keep in contact with families on our database

4 There is certain amount of trust simply not there for our members when dealing with DHSS etc. By virtue of their service in the UDR they still feel unsafe about asking for help or releasing their details.

5 They address a range of needs of a particular group, particularly with a view to entering the labour market, with a mix of psychotherapies, physiotherapy and careers and training.

6 They feel that it relieves stress and help their members feel better

7 They think that by bringing people together and interacting, they are being supportive and helping people

8 To enable victims of the Troubles and their families to recover-not to forget but to move forward in a better (healed) frame of mind ready to accept diversity

9 To meet the unique needs of terrorist victims. The programme of activities has been designed following years of grass-roots work to identify key needs and concerns of innocent victims of terrorism. It addresses the trauma and social exclusion

10 To promote the recovery of traumatised victims and their families

11 As a means to bring people from a traumatised state into one in which they are competent to interact socially at an acceptable level.

12 As a victims support group, we need to offer the previous mentioned services, as in our village we have no other statutory or voluntary organisation offering them. To get to the nearest town is too difficult for most of our members, which shows how isolated we are.

13 Therapies are a good way of getting people involved again without expecting something from 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 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

w

it

n

es

s

o

lo

st

f

ri

en

d

/r

el

at

iv

e

p

h

ys

ic

al

ly

i

n

ju

re

d

lo

st

i

m

m

.f

am

.m

em

b

e

r

ca

re

r

fa

m

il

y

m

em

b

.

in

ju

re

d

in

ti

m

id

a

te

d

es

s

of

v

io

le

n

ce

ti

v

e

3 0

2 5

2 0

1 5

1 0

5

0

8

7

2 1

2 5

2 3

1 2

2 5

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.