The Dynamics of Inter-group Reconciliation and Dialogue Among Young People in Belfast (Northern Ireland) and Vukovar (Croatia): Interpretation of the Past and Expectations for the Future

The present study aims to explore the relationship between the perception among young people in Belfast (Northern Ireland) and Vukovar (Croatia) of being their ethnic group a victim throughout the centuries and propensity to forgiveness and reconciliation. More specifically, it aims to examine the moderating role of empathy and attribution of responsibility in the process of reconciliation. Several studies suggest that one of the most important capacities required for coexistence and reconciliation is the ability to imagine the experiences of the ‘other’ group and in particular to empathise with the suffering of one’s enemy (e.g., Devine-Wright, 2001). Moreover, it is argued that if we want to create a society with less polarization we need to understand why both groups acted as they did, and above all we need to explore the responsibility of our own group. When talking about the history, people may use to attribute responsibility to all members of the out-group (‘collective responsibility’), and to only few individuals of the in-group (‘individual responsibility’) when referring to negative historical events. This study shows that if people could admit the responsibility of certain individuals in one’s own group and accept that not all members of the out-group have had the same degree of responsibility in the conflict, they have more propensity toward reconciliation in post-conflict areas.