Adolescents' perceptions of national identification and

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British Journal of Developmental Psychology (2007), 25, 579–594 q 2007 The British Psychological Society

The British Psychological Society www.bpsjournals.co.uk

Adolescents’ perceptions of national identification and socialization: A grounded analysis Orla T. Muldoon1*, Katrina McLaughlin2 and Karen Trew2

1 2

University of Limerick, Ireland Queens University, Belfast, UK This paper examines the perceived influence of parents and family and the construction of national and religious identification amongst adolescents theoretically sampled from along the border between the Irish Republic and the Northern Ireland. Two hundred and sixty-one young people wrote essays on the meaning of their national identity and the influence of parents, families and the border on national and religious identities. Lengthy and detailed responses were subjected to a grounded analysis. Results revealed the complexity of young people’s identification processes and their opinions and experiences of religious and national socialization. The majority of respondents attached a great deal of significance to their national identity. Identity was represented across a range of meanings including sport, government policy, culture, folklore and characteristics thought typical of a given nationality. Diversity was valued though national and religious categories were defined exclusively. Parents and family were viewed as important sources of socialization and the intergenerational transmission of identity was viewed as natural and inevitable. There was a widespread belief that national and religious identity overlapped and though many asserted that religion could promote tolerance and inclusion there was an implicit acceptance that it could also fuel intergroup hostilities.

Before the millennium, almost all the limited body of research on children’s and young people’s sense of national belonging focused on geographical knowledge and feelings towards national groups and the contents of national stereotypes (Barrett, 2005a, b, 2007). Although there was a considerable body of research and theory that related to the development of ethnic identities in minority groups within nations (e.g. Phinney, 1990), there had been few attempts to examine the development of national identification. The recent growth in research on the development of national and European identity in children and young people within Europe and the new independent states of the former Soviet Union (e.g. Barrett, 2005a, b, 2007; Barrett, Lyons, & del Valle, 2004; Jamieson, 2002) suggests that it is not appropriate to generalize the trajectory of

* Corresponding author should be addressed to Prof. Orla T. Muldoon, Department of Psychology, University of Limerick, Limerick, Ireland (e-mail: [email protected]). DOI:10.1348/026151006X173305

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development, or the strength of national identification, across nations or even regions. These empirical findings have raised questions about the traditional universalistic theoretical accounts of social development derived from Piaget’s cognitive-developmental perspective (e.g. Aboud, 1988) and provided empirical support for Nugent’s (1994) view that: ‘the development of children’s relationships with their country is a developmental phenomenon, which is mediated by cognitive processes on the one hand and by the political and cultural milieu in which it emerges and develops on the other hand’ (p. 39). Furthermore, although it is widely assumed that family context is a crucial factor in the development of social identities and attitudes, there is only limited empirical evidence to support this belief (Sinclair, Dunn, & Lowery, 2005) and patterns of identification and identity across generations remain understudied (Kester & Marshall, 2003). Whilst it has been generally presumed that culture is learned in the home, it is not clear to what extent it is being deliberately taught to children as opposed to simply being learned through practice and observation (Phinney & Chavira, 1995). Phinney, Romero, Nava, and Huang (2001) report a significant relationship between parental cultural maintenance behaviours (e.g. discussing ethnic history and encouraging children to learn cultural traditions) and language proficiency and the value placed on ethnic identity. Recent developments from the social identity perspective also point to the importance of the social recreation and reconstruction of identities in everyday social interactions (Wetherall, 2006). This position moves the focus of research to the investigation of patterns of behaviour which are rule-like, without being prescriptions, normative without being internalized. In this way, social practices are both personal and cultural. Further, Durrheim and Dixon (2005) implicate the embodied recreation of these identities as the basis of enduring racial and social divisions in South Africa. Whilst they illustrate that individual and personal choice may impact on these divisions, these choices clearly occur in the context of the extant sociopolitical context. Similarly, sociologists such as Bourdieu have focused attention on the influence of the wider social community and the taken-for-granted aspects of daily life on social development and the children’s developing view of themselves (Connolly & Healy, 2004). Clearly, socialization practices are a key area where ostensibly personal parental and family decisions interact with the wider sociocultural context in which the child is developing. In Ireland, and in particular in Northern Ireland and the border areas, this context is shaped by issues related to nationality and religion. The relationship between Irishness and Britishness is central to public life and indeed is physically signified by the border between the Republic of Ireland and the Northern Ireland. Nevertheless, there has been surprisingly little empirical research on the meaning of national identity for people living in this area. National surveys have chartered the national allegiances of the population in Ireland over many years (e.g. Fahey, Hayes, & Sinnott, 2005; Ruane & Todd, 2003; Todd, 2005; Trew, 1996), but it is only recently that the views of young people have also been surveyed. Devine and Schubotz (2004) report that their 2003 survey of 16-year-olds from Northern Ireland found that the majority (60%) saw their national identity as important to them and less than one in five (18%) reported that it was not important. Devine and Schubotz also found that almost half of their respondents reported their families as being central to their views of the other main religious community. From a social psychological perspective, a recently proposed framework (Ashmore, Deaux, & McLaughlin-Volpe, 2004) points to the complexity of defining and measuring

National identification in adolescence

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the different dimensions of collective identities. Acceptance of the complexity has lead to the increased use of qualitative methodology to explore many of the distinct elements of collective identification processes. However, qualitative and interview methodologies have been used less often with young people, perhaps because of concerns associated with young people’s ability to access identity relevant information, their suggestibility, as well as the potential for the adult–child relationship in the research context to distort findings (Greene & Hogan, 2005). As part of a cross-cultural study of the impact of conflict on children’s political socialization, Hosin and Cairns (1984) analysed the frequency with which 9-, 12- and 15-year-old children from Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland spontaneously mentioned loyalty to their own country and identity (anything relating to nationality) in essays entitled My Country. Loyalty (e.g. I love my country) and identity was mentioned significantly more often by Catholics in the Republic of Ireland than by Protestants from Northern Ireland. In contrast, the essays from Northern Ireland were more likely to refer to religion and religious activity, violence and law and order than essays from their counterparts in the Republic of Ireland. Nugent (1994) also employed content analysis of children’s narrative accounts in a study of the development of Irish children’s relationship with their country. He used content analysis procedures as a basis for identifying developmental trends in children’s attachment to their country. These included the shift from the 10-year-olds’ positive and uncritical concrete conceptions of Ireland to the more critical and objective accounts of the 12- and 14-year-olds to the informed and objective judgements of 16-year-olds. While content-analysis doubtless provides a window into the complexity of national identification processes in young people, content analyses are guided by the theoretical concerns of the researchers. As such, it can be argued that such analyses are top-down rather than bottom-up, and can be controlled by the a priori position of the researchers. In the absence of a large body of previous research in this area, the development of a priori strategies regarding the direction of the analysis may be counterproductive and serve to constrain understanding of the data (Pidgeon & Henwood, 1997). The utility of content analysis in this instance was therefore likely to be limited. Our study aimed to draw complex and poorly understood identity related processes into sharp relief. This was assisted by theoretical sampling (Strauss & Corbin, 1998). Kiely, McCrone, Bechhofer, and Stewart (2000) argue that it is where identity is not taken for granted and is viewed as highly salient, that the complex process of identity construction can become most clearly apparent. The border area between the Northern Ireland and the Irish Republic is such an area and we examined national identification in both Catholic and Protestant young people from both sides of the border. The Grounded Theory (GT) approach we employed aimed to go beyond the majority of previous work by focusing on the content and meaning of national identity among these adolescents. The GT approach has the advantage of providing an insider’s perspective on their identities, which is clearly crucial to understanding their meaning, and it also facilitates the development of existing and new theoretical perspectives. Whilst much emphasis has been placed on the extent and nature of the divisions between Catholic and Protestant children in Ireland North and South, remarkably, few published accounts of the nature of identity and the role of parents, peers, schools and community in this socialization process are available (Trew, 2004). A second objective therefore was to obtain a veridical perspective on adolescents’ subjective experiences, understandings and interpretations in relation to national identification. As such, a GT approach was again ideally suitable. This approach combines the ability to capture rich


and complex data by allowing participants to generate their own responses within the targeted field of inquiry in a maximally open-ended and unconstrained manner (Pidgeon & Henwood, 1997). Given the very limited information on how parents explain the conflict, or indeed what messages children get from their parents, verbal or non-verbal (Cairns, 1996), allowing analytic categories to emerge inductively, from the bottom-up via the data themselves, was a significant advantage to the GT approach in this instance. Importantly, this prevents any ‘forcing’ of data into preconceived categorizations. Our second major focus, therefore, on how young people perceive they obtain identity related information, is timely and allows a full exploration of family influences to this process.

Method Participants The participants were 261 young people aged between 13 and 16 years (mean age ¼ 14.26). This group was a theoretical sample living on both sides of the border between the Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. This area was selected because of the contested nature of identity in this area and the likely salience of national identity to these young people. One hundred and forty-six participants in the Republic were sampled, whilst the remaining one hundred and fifteen were resident in Northern Ireland. The breakdown of the sample by gender, religious affiliation and jurisdiction is illustrated in Table 1. Saturated concepts were clearly subsequent to the analysis of the two essays written by each of the 261 children. Table 1. Residential jurisdiction and religious affiliation of participants Roman catholic

Northern Ireland Republic of Ireland Total

Protestant

Other

Males

Females

Males

Females

Missing gender

Males

Females

Total

54 28

30 33

16 35

14 36

0 2

0 5

1 7

115 146 261

Procedure The essays questions were based on those developed through pilot research and hence were known to be close to participants’ own understandings of these issues. Effectively, this facilitated some progressive focusing of the questions. Doubtless, this long lead in represents one of the disadvantages of using a GT approach with essay-based questions. Six schools along the Irish border agreed to participate in the research. All of the parents of the young people invited to take part in the research were contacted. They received information concerning the nature of the research and an example of the task that each participant would complete. Parents were given the opportunity to withdraw their son/daughter from the research; however, the majority of parents (84%) gave their consent. On a pre-arranged day during scheduled class time, each participant was asked to respond to two essay questions. The young people were encouraged to provide honest and open responses and were assured that all information was strictly confidential. Each participant received a different combination of two of the six essay questions. The questions were written at the top of A4 sheets and the remainder of the pages


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provided were lined for the completion of the essay response. The task was supervised by the second author who was available to answer any questions. Completion of two essays together with provision of personal details took 30–40 minutes. Essay tasks The questions were piloted prior to the main study and modified. A number of questions were dropped. Others, due to the shortness of the responses, subsequently asked young people to explain their answers more fully, or to use personal examples to illustrate their point. The six essay titles are presented in Table 2. Each participant completed only two of the six essay questions. Two essays were the maximum number that could be completed within a scheduled class period. These periods were normally of 30 minutes duration and this gave young people sufficient time to respond thoughtfully. As there was some potential overlap or perceived similarity in the questions asked, not all of the potential essay combinations were used. For instance, questions 5 and 6 were never presented together, nor were titles 2 and 3. The combination presented in each class and school group was such that there was approximately equal distribution of all six essays across the six schools. Therefore children of both religions, resident in both jurisdictions and of both genders, are proportionally represented within each essay title combination. The average word length for each essay is given in Table 2. Table 2. Number of respondents and average number of words per essay title

Essay title 1 What nationality are you? Discuss what your nationality means to you and the importance you attach to this identity. Can you think of any times/events when you would identify with this nationality more strongly? 2/3 Would you be annoyed if you heard someone referring to you as Irish/British? Explain the reasons for your answer. 4 Do you think that the border has an impact on the people who live close to it? Explain the reasons for your answer using any personal experiences you may have had. 5/6 Parents and family often influence children’s beliefs and views on religion/nationality. Discuss this statement using any personal experiences which may relate to you.

Number of respondents to that essay

Mean number of words per essay

84

57.4

136

50.2

74

52.7

150

59.2

The first three questions were directly related to nationality and attempted to elicit young people’s views regarding their nationality. The first question asked young people to discuss the meaning and importance they ascribed to their national identity and to illustrate their answer by using times/events where they identify with their nationality most strongly. The second and third questions asked young people whether they would be annoyed if they heard someone referring to them as either British or Irish and to explain the reasons for their answer. The fourth question considered the impact the border may have on those who live close to it. Again, young people were asked to use personal experiences and examples in writing their response (see Table 2). The last two questions asked young people to discuss the role parents and family may have on


children’s beliefs and views regarding religion or nationality. Given that the divisions in Ireland are often marked more overtly by religion (Trew, 2004), the inclusion of religion as a source of identity socialization experiences was deemed essential. The use of essay questions as a means of data collection is a relatively unusual technique; however, the advantages of this method are numerous. Writing short essays represents a format that young people are highly familiar with in formal educational settings. The format allows young people to express themselves individually in their own time, without the pressure that can accompany individual interviews or the distractions and peer effects which can be considered a limitation of the focus group method. As the questions were open-ended, participants were encouraged to write as much as possible using personal examples and the majority of them provided lengthy and detailed answers. One potential disadvantage, limited literacy and therefore limited ability to respond, was monitored during the task and participants were reassured that spelling, punctuation and grammar were of no consequence to their endeavours. Data analysis Young people’s responses were analysed using a GT approach (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). The value of this approach is that it suggests a set of procedures for the process of data analysis. These procedures are not standard procedures or rules for guaranteeing the discovery of the ‘truth’. Indeed, the epistemology underlying the GT approach suggests that conceptualization of science based on culture-free rules and truths are problematic (Pidgeon & Henwood, 1997). Rather GT procedures are a way of actively engaging in close, detailed and rigorous examination of qualitative data, so that theoretical considerations are both stimulated and disciplined. A key part of the analysis is also the documentation of the analytical procedure to trace the procedure as well as to prompt further analysis and to bring implicit reasoning underpinning the analysis to the surface. This process of analysis began therefore with a thorough and detailed examination of the data. In the first instance, each essay was read and reread by the researchers. Although there are no hard and fast rules for the number of times this needs to be done, the ultimate aim is for the researcher to be able to see things from the participants’ perspective. Key concepts within each essay were highlighted; where an essay contained more than one concept, it was photocopied. This facilitated each essay being placed in a pile alongside others which described similar concepts. At this stage, the research builds up descriptive categories or instances that share common features with each other. The development of these shared common concepts across the essays was informed by memo-writing, which are notes or ideas that come to mind during the research process, and by agreement between the two researchers, subsequent to independent blind coding. This early stage of the research is not too demanding since similar themes are simply placed together. As the pace of the analysis slows the process takes longer and becomes increasingly demanding as the researcher has to inspect all the existing piles before deciding where to place the next concept alluded to in each essay. Initially the common concepts were traced using memos. The development of subsequent subcategorizations, the progressive focusing of the analysis and development of higher order categorizations was via consensus between the two researchers using the method of open coding which results from a process of discussion and negotiation (Charmaz, 1995). As the emerging subcategories were developed and agreed, the essays were annotated and memo-taking continued to aid the subsequent conceptual categorization. The next stage of analysis, often referred


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to as axial coding (Strauss & Corbin, 1998), relates subcategories to their higher order categories. This stage involves a movement from the descriptive to the conceptual, categories become analytical in that they interpret rather than just describe. This move to the conceptual refers to going beyond the participants’ terminology to make inferences and develop theories, and is influenced by the researchers’ existing knowledge as well as by the use of memos. At this stage, the memos are particularly useful in helping reconnection with the data and provide the means to examine critically the emerging categories and the development of the overall theory. In addition, in this process, new questions may emerge; hence the data are re-examined as a result of negative cases or by seeking additional data in order to illuminate theoretical categories in a process of theoretical sampling (Charmaz, 2003a). The term constant comparative analysis has been coined to describe the ongoing process of referral and identification of similarities and differences between emerging categories (Glaser & Strauss, 1967). Throughout this analysis, the two first named researchers continued the process of open coding by working together discussing the movement to higher order categories. Saturation of the generated categories was believed to have occurred subsequent to the collection of the essays from the sixth school, as the addition of this data failed to spark new insights (Charmaz, 2003b). The final stage of the data analysis in Grounded Theory is selective coding. This according to Strauss and Corbin (1998) is the process of selecting the core category, relating it to other categories, confirming those relationships and building categories that need further development. At this level of coding, theoretical saturation should be reached where no new data emerges regarding a category and the category is dense enough to cover all variations and relationships (Willig, 2001). A third researcher assisted in the verification of the analytic process at this stage. Whilst it has been argued that this verification process should be blind and independent to the completed analysis, this fails to account for the acknowledged subjectivity of the GT method (Boeje, 2002). In this instance, verification was undertaken by the third researcher. Subsequent to reading the original data and the available memos and annotations, the transparency and traceability as well as the justifiability and parsimony of developed categorizations was assessed. All three researchers then confirmed the final categories in a process of consensual validation.

Findings Three categories emerged from the data. The first related to identification processes and includes reference values perceived to be attached to national identities, the distinctiveness of national identities, the range of meanings and behaviours ascribed to identity. The second category relating to socialization experiences illustrated the various ways in which young people believe that their identities and opinions are shaped. These include family, community and historical influences. The final category relates to the particular role of religion in the identification processes in Ireland and the interplay of religious and national identifications. Identification processes Young people placed a positive value on their nationality and cited various reasons for this. In general, these reasons were associated with characteristics which they perceived


to be typical or distinctive of their nationality. These statements drew on particular people that they viewed as evidence for their position. Indicative of statements included within this theme was the following passage: My nationality means a lot to me, it means that I am Irish. I like being Irish because the Irish have a good reputation around the world. The Irish are very good sports people for example, Robbie Keane and Damian Duff etc. The Irish are very friendly : : :. (Roman Catholic self-defined Irish male from the Republic of Ireland, aged 14).

Reasons given for stating that nationality was not that important included: people are all the same; it is the country in which you were born; and other things are more important. For example, the following comments were written by two self-defined Protestant Irish girls from the Republic of Ireland considered that nationality: : : : means that I was born in Ireland. It isn’t important to me because I don’t care what nationality I am or other people are (aged 13). My nationality means that I am from Ireland. It isn’t too important to me because your health is more important and your family is important too. Apart from that I wouldn’t care what nationality I am (aged 14).

Values related to social inclusion and embracing of diversity were overtly discussed in relation to both nationality and religion. Paradoxically, this discourse related the values of Irishness and Britishness to being open, embracing difference and freedom. Whilst this overt emphasis on these values as the essence of nationality was explicitly apparent, a second covert script was also readily apparent. This highly revisionist script painted the affiliated national group, without any sense of irony as neutral and peace loving. : : : I would rather be Irish than any other. We are good craic lively and welcoming to other countries. It is important to like being Irish. Our country is neutral. We don’t like taking sides as it leads to wars which the Irish are clever enough to know leads to preventable deaths. We don’t go to wars willy nilly we are a quiet unprovoking country who gets by. I think other countries have a good impression of us. My family are glad to be Irish (sic) (aged 14).

Despite this apparent value placed on neutrality, peace and diversity, national and religious categories were defined exclusively. Non-nationals were readily identified; those living on the other side of the border and the ‘traditional enemy’ not necessarily included in the national in-group explicitly defined as all embracing. For instance, the following 14-year-old rejects the possibility that those living in Northern Ireland are Irish stating: The main reason I would be annoyed is that I am in no way British. I do not live in Northern Ireland, I live in the republic of Ireland. Plus even though some British people are very easy to get along with I would prefer if they would live in their own country and not on our island because I don’t like the way that they have just come across the Irish Sea and practically just said we want this land.

Similarly, a striking theme amongst the British identifiers in Northern Ireland was the fact that their nationality copper-fastened their position within the United Kingdom. Reference to being British and part of the UK was invoked, to reject Irishness, as much as to embrace Britishness. In this way, the border was seen as maintaining British identity. For instance, one Protestant British identified male living in Northern Ireland wrote, without irony, ‘The border is good as it splits us from Ireland’ (aged 14).


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The complexity of meanings ascribed to national identity was illustrated by the range of answers young people provided in describing what their nationality meant to them. Included within the plethora of ideas were issues such as national government policies, national leaders, folklore and culture. Invocation of these issues was always followed by a positive appraisal of the associated nationality, be it Irish or British. Further, these comments included reference to associated positive emotions or behavioural concomitants. For instance, one young female in establishing her identity as Irish stated: I love playing Gaelic football and I don’t know where I’d be without it. I also love St. Patrick’s day (aged 14).

Another male, asserting his Britishness, stated: I live in Northern Ireland and I am proud of our link with Britain. We are in a different country and have different rules which are made by the Queen of England and not the Government of Ireland (aged 14).

In some instances, in-group identification was associated with out-group derogation. One self-defined Irish Catholic girl from Northern Ireland in outlining her national identity preference wrote: I would rather be called Irish than English I don’t like English people. I don’t like them, they think that they rule us : : : .Fuck da Brits, Fuck da Queen (sic) (aged 15).

Whilst nationalities were viewed as positive for the most part, there was evidence of contextual effects on young people’s perceptions of their national identification. Emotion, but perhaps shame more particularly, appeared to be particularly problematic for young people to deal with. For instance, a Catholic male from the Irish Republic who self-defined as Irish wrote: My nationality means a lot to me in many ways. I am proud to say I am Irish when we do something good, for example beating the world champions England in rugby. But then there are some times when I am not proud to be Irish, for example, in 1998 when there was a bomb in Omagh which killed several people. On that day back in August I wasn’t proud to be Irish (aged 13).

Similarly, a female respondent who self defined as Irish and Catholic stated: Being Irish makes me proud. I’m proud of my nationality because the Irish are very well liked world-wide. I dislike the way that we are known for pubs and alcohol. I was very proud when Ireland done well in the World cup, but I don’t think our government should have let the Americans re-fuel in Shannon airport and bringing our wee country in the war (aged 15).

Beliefs about socialization experiences: Family, community and history The significance of the parental role in shaping their children’s beliefs and opinions was explicitly acknowledged. This transmission of identity and associated attitudes from parents to their children was viewed as both common and inevitable. One Roman Catholic female living in the Republic of Ireland described how her father’s beliefs, and indeed experiences, have impacted on her with the result that she now adopts his beliefs and opinions wholeheartedly. She stated: My own father was arrested and served (a number) of years for doing work for the IRA. I believe that he did nothing wrong. (Names three men) did no wrong either and yet they

588 Orla T. Muldoon et al. paid the ultimate price, their lives : : : I have my beliefs from my father. Other Protestant or Catholic children get theirs from their parents. It is just the way it goes (aged 14).

Given the difficulty that may be associated with stepping outside the traditional boundaries where intercommunity tensions are high, it is interesting to note that young people described how the transmission of positive values regarding one’s own and the other group was as a result of proactive position on the part of parents. This is in direct contrast to the inevitability they associated with the transmission of more negative values from generation to generation. Although the young people accepted the importance of parental influence, increasing age was believed to be related to increased personal control and choice related to identity relevant behaviour. For example, a Roman Catholic boy from the Republic of Ireland who self-categorized as English/Irish considered that: Children are often influenced by their parents or grandparents : : : You automatically as a child think the same. But as I’ve grown up I’ve started to take up my own ideas and opinions as my knowledge of the world has increased, I have began to question things more and give my own answers and opinions. Everyone I think goes through these stages (aged 15).

Though this point was asserted overtly and confidently, there was clear evidence to the contrary within the essays written. Young people described identity relevant practices which were encouraged, supported and compulsory despite assertions to the contrary. For instance, one 14-year-old male stated ‘My parents always bring me to mass on Sunday. But I don’t think they have any affect on my beliefs’. In effect, there was a benign acceptance of these practices and arguably the divisions they recreated. Similarly, the differences perceived between those residing in Northern Ireland and the Republic outlined previously could also be traced to mundane everyday markers of the two jurisdictions. Whilst attesting to the insignificance of the border, allusions to different currencies, shopping, road signs and mobile phone networks marked the everyday social reality of the two jurisdictions. Indeed, though respondents refereed to and correctly identified the border, they also asserted its irrelevance. Young people also discussed socialization practices that they did not view as appropriate, however always in relation to other parents, never their own. Parental behaviours that were highlighted as problematic ranged from unfavourable discussions in front of children, accounts of verbal abuse towards an out-group, or not permitting their children to interact with members of the other community. For instance, a Roman Catholic male from Northern Ireland wrote: I often see sometimes (sic) parents looking out their windows shouting unsuitable names at Protestant/Catholic people while their children sit beside them and either take it all in or shout it with them. Young children do this because they are either told to do it or learned how to (aged 15 years).

Indeed, the unacceptability of overt negative discourse regarding the other community is perhaps suggestive of silence within-households regarding community relations being the norm. It also points to the belief that promotion of good relations requires a proactive stance. The influence of the wider community in identity was also evidenced. For instance, religious affiliation influenced respondents’ feelings towards the border in Northern Ireland. Protestants perceived the border as playing a role in protecting British identity, whereas young people from the Republic perceived the border as


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creating a barrier from the troubles and therefore welcomed the segregation from those in Northern Ireland. Despite acceptance of the border as a divider, contact and integration with other groups within each jurisdiction was viewed as positive. This applied equally to those living in Northern Ireland, discussing Protestant and Catholic relations, and those living in the Republic discussing relations between nationals and non-nationals.

The role of religion: Religion and nationality Whilst the analysis has revealed the complexity of national identity, it also reveals conflation in young people’s constructions of national identification. This may reflect the predominance of the overlay between national and religious affiliation in Ireland. Denigration and disregard for the religious out-group was a recurrent theme within this category and there was clear evidence of anti-identification or oppositional identification. This is exemplified by a belief that those who are Irish are also Catholic, while those who are Protestant are British. A self-defined Irish Protestant female illustrated the cost of this conflation for those identifying across the traditional religious boundaries when she wrote: Yes, I am Irish as I live in Ireland therefore not British! I have strong opinions about this and feel that British people are from Britain and Irish people are from Ireland. This has nothing to do with religion but where I am from. If your house number is 50 you don’t call it 40 just because it is nearby or your Grandparents live there (her emphasis, aged 14)

Further, in line with other evidence of embodied action, these conflated national and religious identities were believed to have an associated set of behaviours, and a belief was expressed that there was an expectation to engage in behaviours typical of their ascribed identity. Whilst the presentation of religious and national identities as incompatible may well be strategic, its presentation as such by the diversity of groups sampled undermines this contention. Ironically, despite the exclusivity associated with religious identification, being brought up to respect others was attributed to having parents who held strong religious beliefs. Many respondents explicitly stated that if an individual was raised in a Christian way, then this would facilitate more tolerant intergroup attitudes. For the most part, this can be attributed to the differing meaning of religious identity evidenced. Religion was viewed as both a collective identity, intrinsically political rather than spiritual, as well as a personal identity in terms of faith, morality and worship. However, the passage below indicates that, in maximizing her personal distinctiveness within the context of her own religious frame of reference, this young woman implicitly accepts that for many, religion underpins their intolerance. She wrote: Not everyone is like me, some people hate the sight of Catholics which I don’t think that’s right, as God said, ‘love everyone as I love you’ (self-defined British Protestant female, aged 14).

One area where personal choice, parental influence and religious identity were seen as intersecting was in the area of romantic relationships. For instance, the young person below, though explicitly denying the influence of religion, implicitly acknowledges it. He stated: My family wouldn’t be into a that (influencing children’s views about religion) stuff : : : For example my Dads sister went out with a Protestant boy while she is Catholic. None of

590 Orla T. Muldoon et al. my dad’s brothers ever speaked or made an effort with that man because he wasn’t welcome (aged 14)

Indeed, the spontaneous references to ‘mixed relationships’ characterized them as controversial within families and to be avoided due to the difficulties which flowed from such matches. In line with research from other countries (Durrheim & Dixon, 2005), sex, marriage and reproduction across social divisions would appear to be an area where personal, parental and social forces combine strategically to maintain social divisions.

Discussion Informed by the adult social identity literature which views social divisions and identities as socially constructed often through embodied behaviours (Durrheim & Dixon, 2005; Wetherall, 2006), this study identifies parenting behaviour as a particularly powerful force in the recreation of social division and identities, not least because the personal and social so clearly intersect, yet parenting is essentially a private matter – a personal choice. Across our analysis, it was clear that young people failed to acknowledge the divisions constructed and recreated by national and religious identities. Whether loyal or indifferent to their national and religious groups, young people asserted that they strove to be inclusive, that they were all-embracing, largely by minimizing difference at a personal level. Alongside this discourse of inclusion and warmth, however, was a cross-cutting theme that recreated noninclusive national and religious identities frequently because of choices made by both parents and adolescents in everyday life. These choices recreated differences underpinned national and religious identities and marked out the distinctiveness and worth of the national and religious group and played a role in denigrating and excluding others. Young peoples’ views of identity socialization were informative. Parents and family were perceived as being central to young people’s understanding of nationality and religion, particularly at a young age. The natural inevitability of assuming the identities and associated attitudes of parents was a key theme in young people’s essays. Intergenerational continuity of identity was seen as a normative default which is in line with theoretical and empirical research in this area (Goosens & Phinney, 1996; Ward, 2003). None of the young people criticized their own parents’ practices. Practices highlighted as intolerant were always reportedly carried out by other parents. Contrary to the osmotic view of identity transmission, where tolerance was discussed, a more pro-active approach was viewed as necessary to the development of positive intergroup attitudes. This is an interesting contention and is in line with theories of identity development, which suggest that young people come to understand such differences because of their centrality in everyday life (Connolly & Healy, 2004). However, a word of caution is also worthwhile here. Adolescents had readily accessible discourses of inclusion into which they had clearly been educated. This discourse was highly familiar and had real value as a strategic frame for supporting and justifying the social divisions being recreated by national and religious divisions. Using this framework, young people had a language for asserting inclusion and embracing diversity without having to question received wisdom and traditional allegiances and enmities. Therefore, religion was not constructed as a source of division, as it taught


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young people to be good to others. National groups readily accepted and embraced everyone, except those who were ‘reluctant passengers’. In effect, this study therefore suggests that adolescents are thinking about identities in a highly complex way and can invoke their strategic use at this relatively young age. Though adolescents argued that they had personal ownership and control over their own national and religious identities, a range of social behaviours had been established spanning sporting, family, school and wider community life that embodied their identity affiliations. Further, a striking theme in the essays was the explicit denial of parents influencing or educating their children regarding these group identities. Indeed, this reflects previous findings from studies of parents. Many parents cannot recall ever discussing contentious issues related to extant social divisions with their children (Gallagher, 2004). Indeed the need for such conversations may well be superseded by the information obtained from social behaviour evident in their everyday life. If, as Durrheim and Dixon (2005) contend, embodied social behaviours arising from personal choice are central to the recreation of social divisions, this study suggests that parenting behaviour is crucial to this process as it represents a key intersection between personal, family and sociocultural milieus. Finally, adolescents in this study had a strong sense of what they were not. There was clear evidence of oppositional identification (Kelman, 1999). Given that identity lies at the heart of the political conflict in Northern Ireland, as it does in many other situations of intergroup conflict, this is perhaps not surprising. Indeed, negative interdependence between groups in such situations can be seen to be a major barrier to reconciliation at a macro-level (Kelman, 1999). Nonetheless, this study highlights how negative interdependence plays out for some young people at the psychological level, by creating interlocked but oppositional identities. As a result, perhaps, young people confused their national and religious identities or viewed them as interchangeable. Others without the traditionally overlapping national and religious identity pattern were irritated by the traditional combination. Whilst this presentation of identities as compatible or incompatible may represent a strategic representation of these combinations, the pervasiveness of the theme and the enduring and multidimensional nature of the divisions in Ireland is more suggestive of a real and enduring identity phenomenon. The finding highlights the difficulties which can occur for those living in Northern Ireland who embrace a nationality across the religious divide and as such this overlap is likely to maintain perceived differences between the two main religious traditions in Ireland. In conclusion, the essay methodology employed in this study has provided insight into the perceived role of socialization on young people’s views of national identification. The essay methodology was an efficient and valuable means of collecting qualitative data, though is less responsive than traditional interview methods. Further, the literacy demands of the task means that it is not a suitable method for young adolescents or children. In addition, the GT approach, though the method of choice in this instance, is not without its limitations. The conclusions drawn from the analysis are circumscribed by the specificity of the participants’ views and the subjectivity of the researchers’ analysis (Pidgeon & Henwood, 1997). Judgment of saturation of category content is essentially subjective (Charmaz, 2003b). Despite these limitations, there is an increasing acknowledgement that the specific can inform the general and add to empirical and theoretical knowledge bases (Charmaz, 1995). It is hoped that the rigour and transparency of the GT analysis conducted counteracts the acknowledged subjectivity of the method. To


further enhance transparency, the essay responses are archived and available via the web (http://www.ucd.ie/euiteniba/). Future research could usefully aim to consider wider patterns and processes associated with national identification using traditional survey methods. Particular attention to how these patterns vary with age, gender, religious and national affiliation should also be considered, given the high degree of variability evident within the current responses. Further research examining intergenerational continuity of identity and the parents’ role in the transmission of embodied practices and their relationship to the development of identity should also be undertaken. The verification of children’s accounts and the match between parents’ and children’s views would be a particularly strong design for such research. The current paper has begun the process of unravelling the multiplicity of meanings associated with national identity for young people. It also highlights the perceived inevitability of intergenerational transmission of identity and the important role that everyday social behaviours can have in creating and recreating identity-based social divisions.

Acknowledgements The authors gratefully acknowledge a grant from EU Programme for Peace and Reconciliation, as part of HEA North-South Strand 2 programmes

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