Chevannes : It is critical to invest in the youths. - IAN ALLEN/STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER
The Gleaner late last month hosted a public Editors' 'Forum on Guns, Gangs, Garrisons: The impact of violence on health and society', at the Jamaica Pegasus Hotel, New Kingston. Today we present excerpts of presentations by Professor of Anthropology Barry Chevannes, Research Fellow, Mona School of Business, University of the West Indies. Excerpts from other panellists were presented on July 22.
DR. BARRY Chevannes, professor of social anthropology, Research Fellow, Mona School of Business, University of the West Indies:
The causes of the gangs, guns and garrisons are not exclusive but mainly internal. Therefore, the solutions to this problem that we face with are mainly internal. What I am saying is that we have created our own problems and we have to fix those problems.
The problems are multi-factorial. There are problems of politics. There are problems of corruption. There are problems of socialisation. There are problems of masculinity ... I guess something has happened, that allows or causes or facilitates our young men just simply flying off the handle. You get enraged for very simple things ...Over in Mountain View, one of the incidents there in which two people were killed was triggered by two men having a fight or an altercation on the bus. One spilling orange juice on the other and the orange juice was taken as a terrible big insult requiring the death of somebody else.
I believe that social disorder creates the conditions for the easy recourse to violence. The disorder creates the conditions and poverty creates the greatest disorder. The point I am making is, the youths are a problem today but they are also in a way the solution. The same source of energy that has given Jamaica that brand name (is) the same force that is turned in reverse. The solutions that we seek are solutions that need to tap into that creative energy, allow people to control it and to redirect it into the positive creative ways.
Now ... let's ... think, therefore, of the many things that have to be played at the same time and synchronised in order to have a positive outcome.
CRITICAL SOLUTIONS NEEDED
Let me give you what I consider to be the main factors in the solution.
One is the economy. It is critical to invest in the youths. Once you establish peace in that community, there is nothing for them to do. They need vision. They need skills. They need that creative enlargement that I talk about and they need education.
Secondly, we miss the point often that what education is about is socialising our young people. I think the shift system is a horrible system. It is an assembly line system that was not intended to last more than a few years.
I believe there are the reforms of the security forces so let me say, (there is need to reform) not so much the security force but the criminal justice system, because it takes too long to get justice. We have to improve the quality and the training of the security forces, wipe out the corruption.
