Psychosocial Perspectives on Peacebuilding

Brandon Hamber , PhD is Director of the International Conflict Research Institute (INCORE), an associate site of the United Nations University based at the University of Ulster and Professor of Peace and Conflict Studies. He is also an Associate of the Transitional Justice Institute at the university. He was a Mellon Distinguished Visiting Scholar in the School of Human and Community Development and the African Centre for Migration and Society at the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg (2010-2013). He trained as a Clinical Psychologist in South Africa and holds a PhD from the University of Ulster. Prior to moving to Northern Ireland, he co-ordinated the Transition and Reconciliation Unit at the Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation in Johannesburg.  He has published some 40 book chapters and scientific journal articles, including Transforming Societies after Political Violence: Truth, Reconciliation, and Mental Health was published by Springer in 2009, and published in 2011 in Spanish by Ediciones Bellaterra and entitled Transformar las sociedades después de la violencia política. Verdad, reconciliación y salud mental.

Elizabeth Gallagher , Ph.D. previously worked as a Research Associate at INCORE, an associate site of the United Nations University based at the University of Ulster. She worked on the IDRC Trauma, Development and Peacebuilding Project. She graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Psychology and Organisational Science from the University of Ulster and obtained an MSc in Health Promotion from the same Institution. She has recently obtained a PhD from the School of Psychology also at the University of Ulster. She has previously worked on a cross-national study involving senior academics from Universities in The Netherlands, England, Cyprus, Israel, The Basque Country and Northern Ireland. This study assessed national identity, intergroup attitudes, and the development of enemy images withyoung children in both non-divided and divided societies. Dr Gallagher is currently based at the Institute of Nursing and Health Research at the University of Ulster where she is working on a large scale project examining the differences in how residential facilities support people with intellectual disabilities with challenging behaviour and/or mental health problems.