Measuring the macrosystem in post-accord Northern Ireland: A social-ecological approach

Dana Townsend; Laura Taylor; Andrea Furey; Christine Merrilees; Marcie Goeke-Morey; Pete Shirlow; Mark Cummings

doi:10.1037/pac0000185

Measuring the macrosystem in post-accord Northern Ireland: A social-ecological approach

Dana Townsend, Laura Taylor, Andrea Furey, Christine Merrilees, Marcie Goeke-Morey, Pete Shirlow, Mark Cummings

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4 Citations (Scopus)

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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-level violence and positive relations. Articles were randomly chosen for each weekday in 2006-2011 from two 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 macro-level 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 macro-level processes on individual development.

Original language	English
Journal	Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology
Volume	n/a
Early online date	29 Aug 2016
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000185
Publication status	E-pub ahead of print - 29 Aug 2016

Keywords

social ecology
macrosystem
newspaper data
Northern Ireland
intergroup conflict

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Townsend, D., Taylor, L., Furey, A., Merrilees, C., Goeke-Morey, M., Shirlow, P., & Cummings, M. (2016). Measuring the macrosystem in post-accord Northern Ireland: A social-ecological approach. Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, n/a. https://doi.org/10.1037/pac0000185

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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-level violence and positive relations. Articles were randomly chosen for each weekday in 2006-2011 from two 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 macro-level 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 macro-level processes on individual development.",

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author = "Dana Townsend and Laura Taylor and Andrea Furey and Christine Merrilees and Marcie Goeke-Morey and Pete Shirlow and Mark Cummings",

note = "Reference text: References ARK. (2014). Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 2006-2013. ARK. Retrieved on 20 July, 2015 from www.ark.ac.uk/nilt Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513–531. Cicchetti, D. V. (1994). Guidelines, criteria and rules of thumb for evaluating normed and standardized assessment instruments in psychology. Psychological Assessment, 6(4), 284-290. Cummings, E. M., Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., Shirlow, P., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Cairns, E. (2013). Longitudinal relations between sectarian and nonsectarian community violence and child adjustment in Northern Ireland. Developmental Psychopathology, 25, 615-627. Gibney, M., Cornett, L., Wood, R., & Haschke, P. (2014). Political Terror Scale 1976-2012. Retrieved April 19, 2014 from http://www.politicalterrorscale.org Hallgren, K. A. (2012). Computing inter-rater reliability for observational data: An overview and tutorial. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 8(1), 23-34. NISRA, Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service. (2011). NINIS data catalogue. Retrieved on April 27, 2014 from http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/mapxtreme/DataCatalogue.asp?button=Crime {\"O}berg, M. & Sollenberg, M. (2011). Gathering conflict information using news resources. In K. H{\"o}glund & M. {\"O}berg (Eds.), Understanding peace research: Methods and challenges (pp. 47-73). London: Routledge. Schulz, M. S., & Waldinger, R. J. (2005). The value of pooling “na{\"i}ve” expertise. American Psychologist, 60(6), 656-662. Shirlow, P., Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Cummings, E. M. (2013). Sectarian hate crime: Record or perception? Space & Polity, 17(2), 237-252.",

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N1 - Reference text: References ARK. (2014). Northern Ireland Life and Times Survey, 2006-2013. ARK. Retrieved on 20 July, 2015 from www.ark.ac.uk/nilt Bronfenbrenner, U. (1977). Toward an experimental ecology of human development. American Psychologist, 32, 513–531. Cicchetti, D. V. (1994). Guidelines, criteria and rules of thumb for evaluating normed and standardized assessment instruments in psychology. Psychological Assessment, 6(4), 284-290. Cummings, E. M., Merrilees, C. E., Taylor, L. K., Shirlow, P., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Cairns, E. (2013). Longitudinal relations between sectarian and nonsectarian community violence and child adjustment in Northern Ireland. Developmental Psychopathology, 25, 615-627. Gibney, M., Cornett, L., Wood, R., & Haschke, P. (2014). Political Terror Scale 1976-2012. Retrieved April 19, 2014 from http://www.politicalterrorscale.org Hallgren, K. A. (2012). Computing inter-rater reliability for observational data: An overview and tutorial. Tutorials in Quantitative Methods for Psychology, 8(1), 23-34. NISRA, Northern Ireland Neighbourhood Information Service. (2011). NINIS data catalogue. Retrieved on April 27, 2014 from http://www.ninis.nisra.gov.uk/mapxtreme/DataCatalogue.asp?button=Crime Öberg, M. & Sollenberg, M. (2011). Gathering conflict information using news resources. In K. Höglund & M. Öberg (Eds.), Understanding peace research: Methods and challenges (pp. 47-73). London: Routledge. Schulz, M. S., & Waldinger, R. J. (2005). The value of pooling “naïve” expertise. American Psychologist, 60(6), 656-662. Shirlow, P., Taylor, L. K., Merrilees, C. E., Goeke-Morey, M. C., & Cummings, E. M. (2013). Sectarian hate crime: Record or perception? Space & Polity, 17(2), 237-252.

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AB - 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-level violence and positive relations. Articles were randomly chosen for each weekday in 2006-2011 from two 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 macro-level 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 macro-level processes on individual development.

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KW - macrosystem

KW - newspaper data

KW - Northern Ireland

KW - intergroup conflict

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JO - Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology

JF - Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology

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