ORLA LYNCH BSC MLITT PHD

UNIVERSITY OF ST ANDREWS, SCOTLAND.

Victims of Terrorism : a Comparative Analysis

Project Title - Assessing support initiatives for victims of terrorism in the United Kingdom and Spain: Lessons for the European context

Research Team

FINDINGS - NI

Discrepancies exist in the construction of victims needs Distinction between victim and non-victims' constructions of victims' needs. Members of victim-led groups were more likely to actively voice the concerns of

victims in their service than their counterparts. Those who did not self identify as victim of the conflict, on the other hand, often

objectified their accounts of victims needs The construction of the victim category, in turn affected the articulation of victims'

need. Those who self-identified as victims tended to produce accounts that were

embedded in the socio-political context in which they were articulated. Those who did not self-identify as a 'victim' tended instead to pathologise the

emotional responses to the conflict and even problematised the psychological stability and legitimacy of those involved in victim-led services in Northern Ireland

This reproduction of the peace discourse is creating a need among the victim by denying the legitimacy of their identities.

Meeting victims needs becomes a moral necessity for the rest of Spanish society. Victims as unique victims of a trauma, unrelated to victims of other types of crime.

FINDINGS - SPAIN

Positioning of the victim of terrorism on a national stage as a representative of democracy and the rule of law in stark opposition to the narrative of the perpetrators of the violence.

The creation of a victim’s narrative Victim’s organisations seek dominance of national stage

through this objective truth. Victims represent a moral force that can act in the public

good, but also are constructed as individuals who sacrificed being for the greater good.

Tension between categories of victim.The construction of a victim identity impacts on the

perception of (public) needs.

CONCLUSION

Being victim of terrorism and political violence is a unique experience that is context dependent and inextricably linked to the complexities of the time in which it occurs.

The protection and legitimisation of the identity of victim is a central theme.

In NI the notion of legitimacy is central to the issue of victim representation

The frame used to define victims – using a victims narrative or reflecting the narrative of a peace process, impacts on the perception of need.

A micro and a macro framework for viewing victims of terrorism.