The Troubled Mind of Northern Ireland

The 'Troubles' in Northern Ireland have endured for so long that eventually the abnormal has become normal. This volume examines the processes by which society has become gradually dehumanised, and the inhuman conditions under which people have been forced to live so long have come about. The authors seek to understand this situation and build upon the current literature, using their different personal and professional backgrounds to great effect to create a wider perspective. They describe the political background, the framework of Kleinian psychoanalysis, and then bring the two together to create a new foundation from which to move from a troubled mind to a mind at peace.

So how can we increase our understanding of [the 'Troubles'] and discuss the conditions whereby people may be more able to relate to each other in more humane rather than destructive ways? The following book is a modest attempt to answer some of these complex questions, using perspectives which, we hope, are novel and which can add to the existing body of literature on the 'Troubles' to date. Of course the way we build up our views on the world are contingent upon many factors, not least the way we have grown up, witnessed and processed events which surround us in our everyday lives. Both authors have sought to understand how and why the abnormality and violence of many aspects of life in Northern Ireland have become normal, but from different personal and professional standpoints. -- From the Introduction