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The Northern Ireland Project

The Northern Ireland Project is a longitudinal study of relations between political violence and the well-being of children living in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Utilizing an ecological, process-oriented model, the study seeks to better understand the pathways between political and sectarian community violence and ordinary crime, family functioning, and adolescents' adjustment with a comprehensive theoretical framework.

Research Overview

Despite the 1998 Belfast agreement, post-accord conflict and tension remain a continuing occurrence, especially among interfaced communities, which are two segregated communities (one Catholic and one Protestant) living in adjacent neighborhoods.  Although Northern Ireland has made positive steps towards a sustained space, children and families continue to live in segregated spaces and sectarian antisocial behavior has taken a new form in these communities, with the expression of sectarianism and antisocial behavior often perpetrated by youth. 

This study seeks to identify multiple processes within the overlapping contexts of the social ecology of communities and families living within a community that has experienced protracted political conflict. The Northern Ireland Project includes three distinct phases. In the first phase, focus groups were conducted as a means of providing a basis for understanding how community and elements of the community such as community violence and crime are experienced in Belfast. These focus groups were also used to develop culturally informed measures of child exposure to sectarian and ordinary (non-sectarian) crime, and a measure of child security in the community. The second phase of the study included a pilot test of the measures of community violence and child, during which measures were further refined to be used in the larger study. The final phase of the study includes a large-scale interview with mothers and children and adolescents across 18 different neighborhoods in Belfast. The first wave of data collection included interviews with 700 mothers and children.  

Age Group

  • Adolescents
  • Adults
  • Middle Childhood
  • Young Adults

Investigators

  • E. Mark Cummings, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame
  • Ed Cairns, Ph.D., University of Ulster
  • Marcie Goeke-Morey, Ph.D., Catholic University of America
  • Pete Shirlow, Ph.D., Queens University (Belfast)
  • Alice Schermerhorn, Ph.D., Indiana University
  • Christine Merrilees, Ph.D., University of Notre Dame

Research Impact

The goal is to provide better bases for understanding of intergroup conflict and underlying interpersonal and psychological processes, including protective and positive influences.  This study aims to advance knowledge of social-ecological influences associated with political violence and tension and their implications for the children, including possible bases for understanding any renewed conflict in the future, or alternatively, bases for the stabilization of peace processes over the long-term (Shirlow & Murtagh, 2006).  This study provides a template for studying the effects of political violence on children and the family in other communities that have experienced ethnic conflict around the world (Cummings, Goeke-Morey, Schermerthorn, Merrilees, and Cairns, 2009).

Publications:

  • Cummings, E. M., Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., & Mondi, C. (2017). Political Violence, Armed Conflict, and Youth Adjustment.  New York: Springer. 115 pages

  • Taylor, L. K., Baird, C., Merrilees, C. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C.,  Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E. M. (in press) Impact of political conflict on trajectories of adolescent prosocial behavior: Implications for civic engagement. Child Development.

  • Merrilees, C. E., McCormick, M. P., Hsueh, J., & Cummings, E. M. (2018). Interparental Interactions and Adolescent Mood:  A Daily Diary Approach. Journal of Child and Family Studies, 27(5), 1460-1472.

  • Merrilees, C. E.,, Taylor, L. K., Goeke-Morey, M. C.,  Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E. M. (2018). Neighborhood Effects of Intergroup Contact on Change in Youth Intergroup Bias Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 47(1), 77-87. 

  • Taylor, L. K. Townsend, D., Merrilees, C. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C.,  Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E. M. (in press). Adolescent civic engagement and perceived political conflict: The role of family cohesion.  Youth & Society.

  • Cummings, E. M., Taylor, L. K., Du, H., Merrilees, C. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Shirlow, P (in press).  Examining Bidirectional Pathways between Exposure to Political Violence and Adolescent Adjustment in Northern Ireland.  Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

  • Taylor, L. K., Merrilees C. E. , Ajduković, D.,  Čorkalo Biruški D., & Cummings E. M. (2017). Complexity of risk:  Mixed methods approach to understanding youth risk and insecurity in post-conflict settings.  Journal of Adolescence Research, 32(5), 585-613.

  • Cummings, E., M., Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., & Mondi, C. F. (2017). Developmental and Social-Ecological Perspectives on Children, Political Violence, and Armed Conflict. Development and Psychopathology, 29 (1), 1-10.

  • Cummings, E., M., Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Shirlow, P. (2017). Emotional Insecurity about the Community: A Dynamic, Within-Person Mediator of Child Adjustment in Contexts of Political Violence.  Development and Psychopathology, 29(1). 27-36.

  • Dubow, E. F., Aber, J. L., Betancourt, T. S., Cummings, E. M., & Huesmann, L. R. (2017). Conducting Longitudinal, Process-Oriented Research with Conflict-Affected Youth: Solving the Inevitable Challenges.  Development and Psychopathology, 29(1), 85-92.

  • Townsend, D. L., Taylor, L. K., Furey, A., Merrilees, C. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E. M. (2016). Measuring the macrosystem in post-accord Northern Ireland: A social-ecological approach. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 22(3), 282-286. http://dx.doi.org.proxy.library.nd.edu/10.1037/pac0000185

  • Cummings, E. M., Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Shirlow, P.  (2016). Emotional insecurity in the family and community and youth delinquency in Northern Ireland: A person-oriented analysis across five-waves. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry, 45(2), 114-128. doi: 10.1111/jcpp.12427

  • Taylor, L.K., Merrilees, C.E., Goeke-Morey, M.C., Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E.M. (2016). Trajectories of adolescent aggression and family cohesion: The potential to perpetuate or ameliorate family conflict. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, 45(2), 114-128.

  • Goeke-Morey, M. C., Cairns, E., Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Shirlow, P.,Cummings, E. M. (2014).  Predictors of in-group identity in Northern Ireland: Impact of past sectarian conflict, relative deprivation and church attendance.  Journal of Community and Applied Social Psychology, 25(4), 283-295. doi: 10.1002/casp.2211

  • Goeke-Morey, M. C., Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E. M. (2014). Adolescents’ relationship with God and internalizing adjustment over time:
    The moderating role of maternal religious coping.  Journal of Family Psychology, 28(6), 749-758.

  • Cummings, E. M., Goeke-Morey, M., Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., Shirlow, P. A. (2014). A social-ecological, process-oriented perspective on political violence and child development. Child Development Perspectives. 12(1): 16–38. doi: 10.1111/cdep.12067

  • Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E. M.(2014). Political violence and adolescent outgroup attitudes and prosocial behavior: Implications for positive intergroup relations. Social Development, 23(4), 840-855.

  • Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P. Cummings, E. M. (2014).  Youth in contexts of political violence: A developmental approach to the study of youth identity and emotional security in their communities. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology. 20 (1), 26-39. doi:  10.1080/10781910903088932

  • Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P. Cummings, E. M., & Cairns, E. (2013). The protective role of group identity: Sectarian antisocial behavior and adolescent emotion problems.  Child Development, 85(1), 412-420. doi: 10.1111/cdev.12125.

  • Cummings, E.M., Taylor, L.K., Merrilees, C.E., Goeke-Morey, M.C., Shirlow, P., & Cairns, E. (2013). Relations between political violence and child adjustment: A four-wave test of the role of emotional insecurity about community. Developmental Psychology, 49 (12), 2212-2224. doi: 10.1037/a0032309.

  • Merrilees, C.E., Cairns, E., Taylor, L. K.,  Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P.,  & Cummings, E. M. (2013). Social identity and youth aggressive and delinquent behaviors in a context of political violence. Political Psychology, 34 (5), 695-711. doi: 10.1111/pops.12030

  • Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Cairns, E., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P., &. Cummings, E. M. (2013).  Risk and resilience: The moderating role of social coping for maternal mental health in a setting of political conflict. International Journal of Psychology. doi: 10.1080/00207594.2012.658055

  • Cummings, E. M., Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., Shirlow, P., Goeke-Morey, M., & Cairns, E. (2013). Longitudinal relations between sectarian and non-sectarian community violence and child adjustment in Northern Ireland. Development and Psychopathology, 25, 615-627. doi: 10.1017/S0954579413000059

  • Goeke-Morey, M. C., Taylor, L. K., Cairns, E., Merrilees, C. E., Shirlow, P, & Cummings, E. M. (2013). Adolescents’ educational outcomes in a social ecology of parenting, family, and community risks in Northern Ireland. School Psychology International, 34 (3), 243–256. doi: 10.1177/0143034311435162

  • Goeke-Morey, M. C., Cairns, E., Merrilees, C. E., Schermerhorn, A. C., Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E. M. (2013). Maternal religiosity, family stressors and resources, and children’s attachment security in Northern Ireland.  Social Development, 22, 19-37. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-9507.2012.00659.x

  • Cummings, E. M., Merrilees, C. E., Schermerhorn, A. C., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P., & Cairns, E. (2012).  Political violence and child adjustment:  Longitudinal tests of sectarian antisocial behavior, family conflict and insecurity as explanatory pathways. Child Development, 83, 461-468. doi: 10.1111/j.1467-8624.2011.01720.x

  • Taylor, L.K., Merrilees, C.E., Campbell, A., Shirlow, P., Cairns, E., Goeke-Morey, M.C., Schermerhorn, A.C., & Cummings, E.M. (2011). Sectarian and nonsectarian violence: mothers’ appraisals of political conflict in Northern Ireland. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 17, 343-366. doi: 10.1080/10781919.2011.610199

  • Merrilees, C. E., Cummings, E. M., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P., & Cairns, E. (2011). Parenting control in contexts of political violence: Testing bi-directional relations between violence exposure and control in post-accord Belfast. Parenting: Science and Practice, 11, 308-325. doi:  10.1080/15295192.2011.613726

  • Cummings, E. M., Merrilees, C.E., Schermerhorn, A.C., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P., & Cairns, E. (2011). Longitudinal pathways between political violence and child adjustment:  The role of emotional security about the community in Northern Ireland.  Journal of Abnormal Child Psychology, 39, 213-224. doi: 10.1007/s10802-010-9457-3.

  • Merrilees, C.E., Cairns, E., Goeke-Morey, M.C., Schermerhorn, A.C., Shirlow, P., & Cummings, E.M. (2011). Associations between mothers’ experience with the Troubles in Northern Ireland and mothers’ and children’s psychological functioning: The moderating role of social identity. Journal of Community Psychology, 39, 60-75. doi:  10.1002/jcop.20417

  • Cummings, E. M., Schermerhorn, A. C., Merrilees, C. M., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Cairns, E.  (2010). Political violence and child adjustment in Northern Ireland: Testing pathways in a social ecological model including single- and two-parent families.  Developmental Psychology, 46, 827-841. doi: 10.1037/a0019668.

  • Cummings. E. M., Merrilees, C. M., Schermerhorn, A. C., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Shirlow, P., & Cairns, E.  (2010). Testing a social ecological model for relations between political violence and child adjustment in Northern Ireland. Development and Psychopathology, 22, 405-418. doi: 10.1017/S0954579410000143.

  • Cummings, E. M., Goeke-Morey, M. C., Schermerhorn, A. C., Merrilees, C. E., & Cairns, E. (2009). Children and political violence from a social ecological perspective: Implications for research on children and families in Northern Ireland. Clinical Child and Family Psychology Review, 12, 16-38. doi:  10.1007/s10567-009-0041-8

  • Cummings, E. M., Taylor, L. K., & Merrilees, C. E. (2012). A social ecological perspective on risk and resilience for children and political violence. In K. J. Jonas & T. Morton (Eds.), Restoring civil societies: The psychology of intervention and engagement following crisis. (pp. 78-97). Malden, MA: Wiley-Blackwell Publishing.

  • Cummings, E. M., Shirlow, P., Browne, B., Dwyer, C., Merrilees, C. E., & Taylor, L. K.. (2015). Growing up on the interface: Findings and implications for the social needs, mental health, and lifetime opportunities of Belfast youth.  Final report to the Office of the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, Northern Ireland. Published by the Blair Chair, University of Liverpool. Queen's University Belfast-Research Portal

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

Research Themes