Accounting for Irish Catholic ill health in Scotland: a qualitative exploration of some links between ‘religion’, class and health

Abstract

This paper considers the ways in which accounts from GlasgowCatholics diverge from those of Protestants and explores the reasons why people leave jobs, including health grounds. Accounts reveal experiences distinctive to Catholics, of health-threatening stress, obstacles to career progression within (mainly) private-sector organisations, and interactional difficulties which create particular problems for (mainly) middle class men. This narrows the employment options for upwardly mobile Catholics, who may then resort to self-employment or other similarly stressful options. The paper considers whether the competence of Catholics or Catholic cultural factors are implicated in thwarting social mobility among Catholics or, alternatively, whether institutional sectarianism is involved. We conclude that, of these options, theories of institutional sectarianism provide the hypothesis which currently best fits these data. In Glasgow, people of indigenous Irish descent are recognisable from their names and Catholic background and are identified as Catholic by others. Overt historical exclusion of Catholics from middle class employment options now seems to take unrecognised forms in routine assumptions and practices which restrict Catholic employment opportunities. It is argued that younger Catholics use education to overcome the obstacles to mobility faced by older people and circumvent exclusions by recourse to middle class public-sector employment. This paper aims to link historical, structural and sectarian patterns of employment experience to accounts of health and work, and in so doing to contribute to an explanation for the relatively poor health of Catholic Glaswegians with Irish roots.

Mortality differences and inequalities within and between ‘protected characteristics’ groups, in a Scottish Cohort 1991–2009

“…Socio-economic position explained about half of the morbidity excess for middle-aged Catholics in Glasgow [ 27 ]. Some qualitative data have suggested that institutional sectarianism restricting employment opportunities for (especially older) Catholics may have been a cause of the higher mortality for this group [ 57 ].…”

Religion and Health: A Review and Critical Analysis

“…The religious may ignore or ostracize those who do not belong to their church. Those not belonging to a dominant religion may face obstacles to obtaining resources, hardships, and stress that deleteriously affect their health (Bywaters et al 2003;Walls and Williams 2004). Religious leaders may abuse their own members physically, emotionally, or sexually (Rossetti 1995;Tieman 2002).…”

Does equality legislation reduce intergroup differences? Religious affiliation, socio-economic status and mortality in Scotland and Northern Ireland: A cohort study of 400,000 people

“…One explanation for this inequality is sectarian conflict which is most overt in relation to provision of Catholic schools and among fans of rival sports clubs (Bradley, 2006;Flint, 2012). More profoundly, lower socio-economic status and concomitant health problems among Scottish Catholics relative to Protestants have been attributed to discriminatory employment practices and latent sectarianism (Walls and Williams, 2003;Walls and Williams, 2004). Other authors dispute the importance of sectarianism in modern Scotland and suggestions that it contributes to the Scottish effect (excess mortality in Scotland in comparison with other regions of the UK that is not entirely explained by socio-economic status (SES) at either the individual or area level (Popham and Boyle, 2011)) have received little support (Graham et al, 2012).…”

“…In Scotland, although widespread violent conflict has been avoided, debate regarding the prevalence of sectarianism prompted the late introduction of religion questions to the 2001 Census. It has been suggested that prejudice against the minority Catholic population in the employment market has restricted upward social mobility, leading to higher levels of health problems associated with economic deprivation (Walls and Williams, 2004;Walls and Williams, 2003). Equality legislation of the type seen in Northern Ireland was not enacted in Scotland or the rest of Great Britain until the Equality Act of 2010 and there remains no analogue to the FETO.…”