Publisher's Synopsis
The effects of the socio-political environment on the self-concept and personal identity of Catholic children in West Belfast and Protestant children of East Belfast are examined in this book. It describes their everyday lives and their attitudes towards themselves and their future in 1981 when there was no end in sight to the politically motivated violence in Northern Ireland. They are compared with children in Dublin and London in 1981 and again in 1992 when there were the beginnings of a move towards peace backed up by other shifts in Northern Ireland society. It was found that East Belfast Protestant children in particular had a pessimistic attitude towards themselves and were less willing to invest in their future in 1981; but in 1992, they were more positive and it looked as though they were reflecting a slowly emerging willingness in their own community to reinterpret their identity.
