Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of prison experience in ex-political prisoners in Northern Ireland in the context of changing and conflicting master narratives.

Design/methodology/approach

A series of nine interviews were conducted with Loyalist and Republican political ex-prisoners in Northern Ireland. Eight were male and one was female. All had been in prison for substantial sentences relating to the Troubles.

Findings

This study highlighted the challenges faced by political ex-prisoners regarding the changing conflicting master narratives in Northern Ireland and identified how they deal with these challenges. The participants adapted to post-conflict society by attempting to understand and make sense of their experiences, including justifying their actions as appropriate for the era and identifying positive changes in society resulting from the conflict.

Research limitations/implications

A narrative approach can be beneficial for understanding the experiences of political ex-prisoners. It enables a theoretical perspective to look not only at the personal but also at social elements of why people behave as they do. The findings demonstrate that political ex-prisoners do have different experiences to non-political ex-prisoners. The sample size was small and was drawn from a specific group of political ex-prisoners who were actively seeking reconciliation. The findings may be different for other groups.

Practical implications

A narrative approach can help the practitioner understand the context in which a person lives; ex-political prisoners may be very different from ordinary ex-prisoners because of the context in which they were imprisoned and the reasons for which they were imprisoned. They are likely to continue with the narrative of the conflict they fought in and may still have the same aims (e.g. Northern Ireland to become part of Ireland), though they may or may not believe in the same means. These are issues that should be discussed and elaborated when working with ex-political prisoners.

Social implications

The master narratives active in the society into which the political ex-prisoner is released may impact the success or otherwise of their re-integration into society.

Originality/value

Understanding the role of conflicting master narratives in dealing with the implications of being an ex-political prisoner.

中文翻译：

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政治监禁后的生活叙事：北爱尔兰的共和党和保皇党前囚犯

目的

本文的目的是在不断变化和相互冲突的主要叙述的背景下，研究北爱尔兰前政治犯的监狱经历的影响。

设计/方法/方法

对北爱尔兰的保皇党和共和党政治前囚犯进行了一系列九次采访。八名男性，一名女性。所有人都因与麻烦有关的重刑而入狱。

发现

这项研究强调了政治前囚犯在北爱尔兰不断变化的相互冲突的主要叙述方面所面临的挑战，并确定了他们如何应对这些挑战。参与者通过尝试理解和理解他们的经历来适应冲突后社会，包括证明他们的行为适合那个时代，并确定冲突导致的社会积极变化。

研究限制/影响

叙事方法有助于理解政治前囚犯的经历。它使理论视角不仅可以观察个人行为，还可以观察人们为何如此行事的社会因素。研究结果表明，政治前囚犯确实与非政治前囚犯有不同的经历。样本量很小，并且来自积极寻求和解的特定政治前囚犯群体。其他组的调查结果可能不同。

实际影响

叙事方法可以帮助从业者了解一个人的生活环境；由于被监禁的背景和被监禁的原因，前政治犯可能与普通前囚犯有很大不同。他们可能会继续讲述他们在冲突中战斗的故事，并且可能仍然有相同的目标（例如，北爱尔兰成为爱尔兰的一部分），尽管他们可能相信也可能不相信相同的方式。这些是在与前政治犯合作时应该讨论和阐述的问题。

社会影响

在政治前囚犯被释放的社会中活跃的主要叙述可能会影响他们重新融入社会的成功与否。

原创性/价值

了解相互冲突的主要叙述在处理作为前政治犯的影响方面的作用。