Ex-Combatants, Religion, and Peace in Northern Ireland

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xiv

   PDF

2. Introduction

   • John D. Brewer, David Mitchell, Gerard Leavey

   Pages 1-7

3. Religion and the Northern Ireland Conflict

   • John D. Brewer, David Mitchell, Gerard Leavey

   Pages 8-30

4. The Personal Faith of Ex-Combatants

   • John D. Brewer, David Mitchell, Gerard Leavey

   Pages 31-44

5. Religion and Motivations for Violence

   • John D. Brewer, David Mitchell, Gerard Leavey

   Pages 45-70

6. Religion and Prison

   • John D. Brewer, David Mitchell, Gerard Leavey

   Pages 71-90

7. Ex-Combatants and the Churches

   • John D. Brewer, David Mitchell, Gerard Leavey

   Pages 91-117

8. Perspectives on the Past: Religion in the Personal and the Political

   • John D. Brewer, David Mitchell, Gerard Leavey

   Pages 118-152

9. Conclusion: Religion and Transitional Justice in Northern Ireland

   • John D. Brewer, David Mitchell, Gerard Leavey

   Pages 153-176

10. Back Matter

    Pages 177-192

    PDF

Studies of Northern Ireland's ex-combatants ignore religion, while advocates of religious interventions in transitional justice exaggerate its influence. Using interview data with ex-combatants, this book explores religious influences upon violence and peace, and develops a model for evaluating the role of religion in transitional justice.

• conflict
• intervention
• Peace
• violence

"This book is the first of its kind. There will no doubt be further studies and publications on the subject in the future but this important and much needed text will prove to be the reference point concerning religion and ex-combatants in Northern Ireland for students and academics for many years to come."

- Dave Magee Blog

"[This book's] main conclusions deserve to be widely disseminated and discussed."

- Dr Gladys Ganiel, Trinity College Dublin

"Based on 29 in-depth interviews with loyalists (part of the Protestant/unionist community) and republicans (part of the Catholic/nationalist community), this is the first major book to analyse the religious beliefs and practices of those who

engaged in violence, including their perceptions of how religion influenced them." - Marginalia

• University of Aberdeen, UK

  John D. Brewer

• School of Communication, University of Ulster, UK

  David Mitchell

• University of Ulster, UK

  Gerard Leavey

JOHN BREWER is Professor of Post Conflict Studies at Queen's University, Belfast and former President of the British Sociological Association. He is elected to four learned societies and has an honorary degree from the Brunel University for services to social science. His latest book is The Public Value of Social Science.
DAVID MITCHELL is Research Associate, School of Communication, University of Ulster at Jordanstown and former Research Assistant in the School of Sociology, University of Aberdeen. He completed his Doctorate at the University of Ulster, Magee College, where he was tutor and Associate of INCORE (Centre for International Conflict Research).
GERARD LEAVEY is Professor and Director of the Bamford Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing at the University of Ulster, UK. He has undertaken extensive research in mental health services and has a long-standing interest in help-seeking, inequalities, religion and ethnicity.

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