The Pave Project Report - Queen's University Belfast

The PAVE Project Report 17
In terms of geographical distribution, Belfast has seen the greatest relative as well as
absolute number of violent deaths. The statistics also illustrate that violence, in
particular with regard to conflict-related deaths, has been concentrated in certain
geographical areas, which means that, “the ‘reality’ of the Troubles is different for
people in different locations and in different occupations” (Fay, Morrissey, & Smyth,
1999, p. 136). While people in urban centres such as Belfast and Derry have
experienced most of the deaths and injuries, rural populations have suffered more
sporadic but no less intense periods of violence.
THE IMPACT OF THE TROUBLES
D
uring the early years of the conflict, researchers and psychiatrists contended
that people were reacting with astonishing resilience (Fraser, 1973;
McCreary, 1976; Cairns and Wilson, 1984). On the whole, “data collected during this
period showed a relatively low impact of violence on psychological health”
(Dillenburger & Keenan, 2001, p. 189). For instance, in 1971 the Belfast psychiatrist
Morris Fraser reported that there “was no increase in the number of patients being
referred to psychiatrists or admitted to psychiatric wards from areas directly involved
in rioting” (McCreary, 1976, p. 249). During this time, people affected by the
Troubles who had problems coping, were mainly treated by general practitioners and
therefore, it was suggested that the only real indicator for measuring the psychological
well-being of people in Northern Ireland was the official drug expenditure for
tranquillizers, anti-depressants and sedatives (McCreary, 1976).