Measuring the Macrosystem in Postaccord Northern Ireland: A Social-Ecological Approach

Townsend, Dana, Taylor, Laura K, Furey, Andrea, Merrilees, Christine E, Goeke-Morey, Marcie C, Shirlow, Peter ORCID: 0000-0002-7483-9859 and Cummings, E Mark (2016) Measuring the Macrosystem in Postaccord Northern Ireland: A Social-Ecological Approach. PEACE AND CONFLICT-JOURNAL OF PEACE PSYCHOLOGY, 22 (3). pp. 282-286.

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Official URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/pac0000185

Abstract

The macrosystem refers to the overarching patterns that influence behavior at each level of the social ecology (Bronfenbrenner, 1977), making it a necessary component for assessing human development in contexts of political violence. This article proposes a method for systematically measuring the macrosystem in Northern Ireland that allows for a subnational analysis, multiple time units, and indicators of both low-intensity violence and positive relations. Articles were randomly chosen for each weekday in 2006 -2011 from 2 prominent Northern Irish newspapers and coded according to their reflection of positive relations and political tensions between Catholics and Protestants. The newspaper data were then compared to existing macrolevel measurements in Northern Ireland. We found that the newspaper data provided a more nuanced understanding of fluctuations in intergroup relations than the corresponding measures. This has practical implications for peacebuilding and advances our methods for assessing the impact of macrolevel processes on individual development.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	social ecology, macrosystem, newspaper data, Northern Ireland, intergroup conflict
Depositing User:	Symplectic Admin
Date Deposited:	27 Nov 2019 16:51
Last Modified:	19 Jan 2023 00:18
DOI:	10.1037/pac0000185
Related URLs:	Author Publisher
URI:	https://livrepository.liverpool.ac.uk/id/eprint/3063701