Wendel Abel

Jamaica has had a long and violent history. Slavery, plantation system and colonialism left a legacy of violence and aggression. Few countries in this world have had this experience. Slavery was brutal, oppressive and devalued people. It generated a culture of violence and aggression that has been transmitted in a transgenerational manner. Generations have been socialised to be violent and aggressive. I encourage readers to read Douglas Hall's book, In Miserable Slavery.

Terrible tribal politics

Notwithstanding our achievements in maintaining a stable democracy, this country has developed a terrible, tribal political system; a system of 'political apartheid' which is deeply rooted in garrison communities. This is perpetuated by both political parties and facilitated by the distribution of spoils and scarce benefits. Violence is used as means of isolation, intimidation, control, dividing and polarisation.

Socio-economics, scarcity and lack of opportunity

This country has been in dire economic straits for the past 30 years and as a result, the unemployment rate is high especially among young people. There are many communities in which there are well-intentioned and hardworking youngsters who lack the opportunity for gainful employment.

We see these persons lining up at construction sites early every morning in search of an opportunity to make an income. This leads to high levels of hopelessness, helplessness and a state of haplessness as our young people are locked out of the opportunity structure of society. The resultant effect is high levels of frustration and desperation which lead persons to resort to criminal activity to survive.

Added to this, Jamaica is reputed to be among the countries with a large gap between 'the haves' and the 'haves not'. Research has shown that it is not so much absolute poverty per se that contributes to high levels of crime but relative poverty.

The role of media

The media plays a major role in the glamorisation of violence and aggression in this society. The overexposure to violence influences people's behaviour as learning of new behaviours takes place vicariously and through social modelling. Overexposure also desensitises people's reaction as behaviours that originally induced negative reactions no longer appear shocking.

Popular culture

The popular culture is one that promotes violence in its rawest and crudest manner. Violence toward minorities and women is often extolled and promoted. Why are we then surprised that our young people are so violent?

The lost inner cities

Our inner cities are characterised by persistent poverty, high levels of unemployment, underdevelopment and disorganised neighbourhoods. In many communities, persons reside under subhuman conditions with poor infrastructure.

Family life is greatly diminished and generations of children are brought up in large tenement yards where they are exposed to dysfunctional patterns of behaviour and lifestyles. Many of these communities breed a culture of violence.

All these factors (mentioned above) influence people's behaviour in the context of the family, school and community creating a culture of faulty socialisation. In many households, the method of disciplining is harsh and our children are severely punished and brutally treated. The education system reinforces this brutal treatment and does not focus sufficiently on life skills training such as problem-solving skills, conflict resolution skills and assertiveness training.

If violence is to be tackled in this country it has to be a collective action and not the sole responsibility of the police; economic and social opportunities must be created; the inner cities must be rescued and the educational system has to be restructured to place greater emphasis on life skills training. The media too should take a more responsible approach to news presentation and politicians should reduce political polarisation. We all should play our part.