This morning, we met with Professor Bill Rolston, who introduced us to the Murals and the Peace Walls by sharing the history and context to understand the complexity behind Northern Ireland and Ireland’s issues today. We later went on a mural and Peace Wall tour. We took a tour with former combatants from each side of the wall, where they had an opportunity to explain their perspective of the conflict. On one side, the former combatant met us on Conor’s Corner. Then, they took us down Shankill Road, where we stopped at different memorial sites as they explained some history behind each place. During the walk, we passed by a building where the Shankill Road bombing took place during the Troubles. I had a moment when I was able to look at the building for a bit, and I noticed a clock on the building. I saw the people around me, and I couldn’t help but reflect that I was standing in the same place where people had felt so much pain, trauma, and suffering, where people at one point in time were screaming, crying, and essentially dying. I was introduced to something new by having that moment of self-reflection that complicated my thinking that “people should just move forward and bring down the peace walls.” These deeply traumatic experiences can’t just be erased. For the first time, I started to understand how moments like those can cause people to feel unsafe living so close to the other group. The trauma they carry is so deep that telling them to “just bring the peace wall down” feels unrealistic and inconsiderate. Seeing firsthand made me realize how experiences like that can shape a person’s life for a long time after the violence has ended, especially if they live within walking distance of the community that was responsible.
The separation of the Protestant and Catholic communities and the walking tours reminded me of Social Identity Theory (SIT). Social identity theory explains that people are motivated to have a positive self-image (Rodriguez, 2024). Creating a positive self-image is influenced by personal and social identity (Rodriguez, 2024). Personal identity refers to individual traits, values, qualities, and choices, such as a personal experience that explains what shaped their belief in their identity (Rodriguez, 2024). An example of personal identity displayed was when one tour guide disclosed why they joined a group at a young age. They mentioned they were thinking that they were “fighting terrorists, not freedom fighters” as a means to maintain that positive self-image and avoid mental discomfort.
In contrast, social identity is an individual’s self-perception of a shared identity with a group or group membership, such as identifying as a Catholic or Protestant. An example of social identity we could observe was the presence of flags. We walked past over a hundred different types of flags in just three hours. The flags had a symbolic meaning that tied them to their identity. One side of Belfast had flags of Britain, Israel, or Ukraine, and the other had Ireland or Palestinian flags. The flags could be seen outside windows, on poles, all over the streets, and on people’s shirts.
During the process of individuals categorizing themselves to perceive themselves in a positive light, they create in-groups and out-groups. For example, the tour guide would identify with whichever group they see in a positive light. Similarly, the flags are a symbolic way of creating pride when people look out and see everyone around them with the same flags, and by displaying one, they identify with that in-group.
Furthermore, the theory claims that when individuals perceive themselves as part of an out-group, they try to find ways to improve their self-image (Rodriguez, 2024). During this process, they engage in one of the three strategies: exit, pass, and voice (Rodriguez, 2024). “Exit” is when people leave that group identity (Rodriguez, 2024). An example was when our first tour guide identified as an ex-Loyalist. This gives us the idea that the person wants to separate themselves from that identity and no longer wishes to be part of that out-group. The second strategy, “pass,” is when people hide their identity to blend in. (Rodriguez, 2024). The same ex-Loyalist also displayed “pass” and downplaying his group identity by not mentioning they were Protestant. He just mentioned that he was an ex-Loyalist, which can be seen as the passing of an ex-Loyalist identity and avoiding religion’s identity’s role in the conflict. The third strategy is “voice,” when people try to elevate and change the group’s meaning (Rodriguez, 2024). We saw this done by both ex-combatants; they conducted educational walks that gave more context to things and acknowledged their traumas and pains so that we could understand their group on a deeper level.
In all, identifying and learning about the layers behind the experiences and lived traumas gives us a better understanding of the complexity behind issues like taking down the peace wall.
Reference:
Rodriguez, J. (2024). Social identity theory. Salem Press Encyclopedia of Health.
