Abstract
The familial impact of terrorism is an area of terrorism studies which is seriously under-researched and thus poorly understood. The IRA’s off-duty targeting strategy meant that officers were vulnerable to attack when they were at home. This had a negative effect on family life. In addition to officers having to remain security conscious, so did their wives and children. Some officers who were under threat, had to move home. This caused serious social disruption to the officer’s family. The ‘police family’ had an important social part to play in providing support for RUC families during the Troubles. This chapter explores the impact of terrorism on RUC officers’ families and pays particular attention to families which have suffered bereavement.
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Notes
- 1.
Queen’s Speech at the award of the George Cross to the RUC, 12 April 2000. Available from http://royalulsterconstabulary.org/gc2.htm.
- 2.
SPED statistics provided by the Police Service of Northern Ireland, 4 September 2015.
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Southern, N. (2018). The Impact of Terrorism on Officers’ Families. In: Policing and Combating Terrorism in Northern Ireland. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75999-9_5
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