Troubled Mind of Northern Ireland

Jim Campbell is a senior lecturer in the School of Social Work, Queens University Belfast, having previously worked as a mental health social worker in Northern Ireland. Raman Kapur, MBE, is a Consultant Clinical Psychologist specialising in psychotherapy, and is also the Chief Executive Officer of the mental health charity 'Threshold', based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society and also holds an Honorary Senior Lectureship with the School of Psychology, the Queens University of Belfast, where he was formerly course Director of the MSc in psychoanalytic psychotherapy. In 2012 he was awarded an MBE by the Queen for his work in providing services to people with mental illness in Northern Ireland.

'Using a Kleinian point of view, the authors admirably inform us as to how groups and individuals, including caretakers of society, react to shared anxiety and violence. Without taking into consideration the ways psychological processes contaminate societal, political and legal movements after massive trauma, it would be difficult to contemplate and initiate peaceful solutions. While this book focuses on the situation in Northern Ireland, the authors' observations and findings can easily be applied to conditions in the other troubled spots of the world. Kapur and Campbell's contributions have created an opportunity to consider new ways of thinking about ethnic and religious violence and its consequences.'- Vamik D. Volkan, MD, Professor Emeritus of Psychiatry, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and Senior Erik Erikson Scholar, the Austen Riggs Center'This is a brave attempt to examine the psychological features and consequences of the "Troubles" in Northern Ireland, written with passion by two mental health professionals who know the situation well. Critical and hard-hitting, it also suggests what needs to be done to find a new way forward.'- Stephen Frosh, Professor of Psychology, Birkbeck College, University of London

• Foreword -- Introduction -- Politics, violence, and the management of conflict in Northern Ireland -- A framework for understanding troubled relations: the work of Klein and object relations theorists -- Object relations theory and the conflict in Northern Ireland -- Working with individuals affected by the Troubles -- Working with groups affected by the Troubles -- Responding to the violence of the Troubles: the role of professionals and other care-givers -- Conclusion: the way forward