Ed Cairns' Contributions and Influence in the Academy, Scholarship, and Peacemaking of Northern Ireland

Ed Cairns' active research years in Northern Ireland spanned the period of the Troubles, from 1972 until his untimely death in 2012. This section details 40 years of research on the impact of the political violence in Northern Ireland. Topics covered include ways in which Northern Irish childre...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Peace and conflict 2014-02, Vol.20 (1), p.13-25
Main Authors: McLernon, Frances, Stringer, Maurice, Wilson, Ronnie
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cairns, Ed
Child Mortality
Children
Conflict
Forgiveness
Human
Influence
Intervention
Ireland
Male
Memory
Northern Ireland
Peace
Peace building
Peace negotiations
Peace process
Perception
Political Violence
Politics
Protestants
Psychologists
Social identity
Social research
Students
Training
United Kingdom
Violence
War
Youth
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Summary:Ed Cairns' active research years in Northern Ireland spanned the period of the Troubles, from 1972 until his untimely death in 2012. This section details 40 years of research on the impact of the political violence in Northern Ireland. Topics covered include ways in which Northern Irish children coped psychologically with the violence in their society, and the effect that the violence may have had on the children's developing social identity, moral development, and their perceptions of the meaning of peace and war. After a series of failed ceasefires culminated in the 1998 "Good Friday Agreement," Ed's research began to focus on ways in which children's perceptions may have changed as the peace process moved forward in Northern Ireland. Research into initiatives that attempted to integrate Catholic and Protestant children through educational interventions are reported here, together with studies that focus on the practical application of the contact hypothesis among Northern Irish young people. As the peace process gathered momentum, and the violence abated, Ed's research investigated the likelihood of forgiveness between the opposing communities, and how the role of memory might affect the process of forgiving the "other side." In the final section, we discuss Ed's legacy in training doctoral students in conflict research.
ISSN:1078-1919
1532-7949
DOI:10.1037/a0035650