Lucy Adams - Herald Scotland - 12th March 2010
It is the age-old issue that dares not speak its name, but sectarianism is now being tackled head-on within the confines of Scotland’s prison system.
The walls of classroom eight in HMP Addiewell are covered in A3 sheets adorned with words, people and places associated with cultural and religious divides.
On one side of a red line is the Queen, on the other the Pope. It is like looking inside the head of a word association participant; chapel, IRA, Celtic, Catholic, Protestant, Rangers, Masons, Orange. On another sheet there are two scribbled flags, one of the Union Jack, the other the Irish tricolour.
Stepping into the room, the entrenched problems between Israel and Palestine are being debated.
Sitting in a semi-circle are 11 men – many of whom are serving sentences of four years or more for crimes of violence.
This is the final part of a six-week course funded by the Scottish Government and run by the Iona Community. Its aim is ambitious.
“The whole point is to promote tolerance and inclusion,” says Helen Wass O’Donnell of the Iona Community.
“We have die-hard Rangers and Celtic fans. We’ve done a lot of role-playing work and got them to argue from the other side and talk about how they feel doing that.”
The course, called Can you hear the bigots sing?, looks in depth at the history of the Battle of the Boyne and Bloody Sunday and more recent events such as the dispute between parents and pupils of Holy Cross Roman Catholic Primary School and the residents of a loyalist area in the Ardoyne area of Belfast.
Ms Wass O’Donnell said: “We watched a film about Holy Cross Primary School and then gave them random numbers. Depending on their number they had to argue things from a different point of view. It is taking people out of their comfort zone and trying to show them a different perspective.
“A lot of the work we have done has been in relation to asylum seekers, stereotypes, gender and sexuality. It is not just about sectarianism.”
Last week Fergus Ewing, the Community Safety Minister, took part in the debate and said he was very impressed.
“A lot of them said they hadn’t realised the facts,” says Laura McAleese, who wrote the programme.
“After watching a film on the Holy Cross dispute and looking at the lyrics from football songs, they were shocked and said they hadn’t fully known what it was about – particularly the Famine Song, as they usually only sang the first few lines.”
As the course is coming to a close, the supervisors are assessing whether attitudes have changed. A similar course run at Polmont Young Offenders Institute saw attitudes change in more than half of the 50 participants.
The first question is whether it is acceptable for someone to crack a sectarian joke. The men answer with a number between five and one, one meaning they absolutely disagree.
At least two say they have changed their mind and no longer think this is acceptable, but two stick to their original line – that it is all right.
The men’s response is similar to questions about whether it is acceptable to sing Irish Republican and rebel songs at Old Firm games or call ethnic minority groups by slang terms.
They then shuffle out of the semi-circle and line up. The supervisors ask them to take a step forward if they are “less sectarian” and have learnt from the course. Out of the 11 men, only one stays at the back of the room, rubbing his tattooed neck and chastising his “pal” for leaving him on his own.
“It is one strand of what we are trying to do here in terms of making some impact on reoffending,” says Audrey Park, governor of Addiewell. “Opening a new prison is not an easy thing to do. It is quite a tricky balance to strike but it does give us the opportunity to try new things like this programme.
“There is no doubt that the staff are here to make a difference. It is about getting the right, meaningful interventions in place at the right time.”
Iona Community: a history
• The Iona Community was founded in Glasgow and Iona in 1938 by minister George MacLeod.
• From a dockland parish in Govan, he took unemployed skilled craftsmen and young trainee clergy to Iona to rebuild both the monastic quarters of the medieval abbey and the common life by working and living together, sharing skills and effort.
• The Iona Community of today is an ecumenical charity that has a history of working with young offenders.
• Its aims are to promote inclusion and build community cohesion. It is committed to tackling sectarianism.
• It covers a diverse range of areas including working in youth centres, schools and prisons and producing books and CDs that reflect the ethos of the community.
• It also offers residential courses.
See also:
Religious bigotry laws
Anti bigotry reports
Labour's guilty secret: BNP is a result of drift on immigration
List of Scottish Saints
|
Readers please email comments
to: editorial AT martinfrost.ws including
full name
Return to Home Page |
||
| Note: martinfrost.ws contains copyrighted material, the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available to our readers under the provisions of "fair use" in an effort to advance a better understanding of political, economic and social issues. The material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving it for research and educational purposes. If you wish to use copyrighted material for purposes other than "fair use" you must request permission from the copyright owner. |