Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
Psychosocial Notebook - IOM Publications - International ...
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Chapter 1 • Silvia Salvatici<br />
and nuns) and several families of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs). In<br />
the countryside one Serbian village (Gorazdevac), remains, and is populated<br />
by around 12,000 people. As in the other Serbian enclaves, freedom<br />
of movement is highly restricted, though weekly bus transport to Belgrade<br />
is provided.<br />
In Mitrovica, which is divided into two zones by a river, the North is<br />
Serbian, and only a few Albanian families still live there. Many of the<br />
inhabitants of Northern Mitrovica come from all over Kosovo, while part<br />
of the people originally living in this area have since moved to Serbia.<br />
South of the river lies the Albanian zone. The area houses most of the families<br />
who lived above the river before the war. Mitrovica is the region<br />
where tensions between the two communities most often degenerate into<br />
violence.<br />
The interviews were gathered in these towns, as well as in villages. The<br />
subjects interviewed were chosen to represent a wide variety in terms of<br />
age, social background and gender. The context in which the conversations<br />
took place also differed. Interviews were often conducted at home, but also<br />
at the work place, in public areas, and in schools. Some of the subjects<br />
were interviewed more than once, sometimes first individually, then with<br />
a group of friends, family or classmates. These interviews of more than<br />
one subject were different, in that they allowed the relational dynamic of<br />
a group to emerge. Particularly interesting were the conversations we had<br />
with families. Usually, especially amongst Albanian Kosovars, it was the<br />
recognized head of the family (a grandfather or the oldest brother), who<br />
spoke for the entire group. The other relatives only answered questions<br />
addressed directly to them and this, usually, to confirm what the head of<br />
the family had previously said. The women’s position was generally marginal:<br />
during interviews, they usually sat outside the circle of conversation,<br />
or were not present at all. The only exception to this rule was an<br />
elderly grandmother who had outlived the grandfather of the family. This<br />
tendency to attribute the role of speaker to a specific member also extended<br />
to informal groups, so that feelings and opinions recognized by all<br />
members could be expressed in one voice.<br />
The interviews themselves were usually set up through a network of<br />
relationships that formed gradually. In many cases, connections were made<br />
through friends or relatives of the subjects, and interviewers met with<br />
interviewees more than once. Coffee, tea, and the exchange of gifts often<br />
preceded the interviews. This procedure was chosen as the most suitable<br />
to create an atmosphere of trust and confidence, as a necessary first step in<br />
changing the rhythm of interview into that of flowing conversation. The<br />
results of the project comprise not only the materials thus gathered in the<br />
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