Peter Espeut | Jamaica is a war zone

No, today I am not writing about our world-class murder rate, or our high incidence of police killings. Today I write about the raging battle for the hearts and minds of the Jamaican people over discipline and sexual and personal morality.

We learn from Sociology 101 that a society reproduces itself by socialising its new members (the young) into the desired norms, values and behaviour patterns. This takes place primarily through the family, and secondarily in schools and churches; oftentimes, the young absorb different and contradicting norms and values from their peers.

We learn from Psychology 101 that, in a family, a child learns different but very important things from each parent; to that extent, it is impossible for a mother to properly ‘father’ a child – especially a man-child; a father figure is necessary for the holistic personality development of both boys and girls.

Therefore, we are on solid ground when we advocate – from psychology and sociology – for the ideal: that each child should grow up and be raised by both parents. The Church does not have a monopoly on good sense.

Psychiatric health professionals Hickling and Walcott in 2013 published research findings (in the West Indian Medical Journal) that 41 per cent of Jamaicans suffer from personality disorder of one kind or another; in their view, Jamaica’s high crime rate and social instability may have its source in this phenomenon.

In many ways, then, Jamaica is a sick society. Without the example of parents who love and care for each other, boys and girls may learn that relationships between the sexes are adversarial and exploitative, and that sexual intercourse is a commodity, suitable for a transaction in cash or kind.

Never mind what is taught elsewhere, pressure from highly sexualised advertising and dancehall culture is brought to bear on the young to engage in early sexual activity; masculinity is defined in phallic terms; and womanhood is about childbearing. In this context, self-control and sexual discipline is a non-issue, and the problem feeds on itself.

The psyche of the young is a real battlefield.

NURTURING INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS

Males who have low self-esteem due to poor education and low skill levels may seek to improve their sense of self-worth in aggressive sexual activity, maybe even rape. Unable to attract female company close to their own age, they may seek to abuse children; or to turn to each other. The open catcalling and sexual harassment of girls and women on Jamaican streets is evidence of, well, immaturity and personality disorder.

The relatively high incidence of sex abuse in Jamaica, often associated with vicious violence, is evidence that too many of us are damaged, and unable to enter into deep, nurturing, interpersonal relationships.

The promotion by some of highly sexualised lifestyles, where so-called ‘safe sex’ in all orifices is normalised and encouraged, and with abortion the convenient solution to unwanted pregnancies, will only drive us to higher levels of personality disorder. The battle is not only for hearts and minds, but for bodies, too.

It may sound prudish – but it is backed up by solid science – that the only sure long-term solution to high levels of crime and social disorder may well be the employment of strategies which strengthen families, encourage self-discipline, and allow young people to encounter each other as persons rather than as hot bodies.

What is required is social engineering.

We cannot lament the lack of discipline in society, particularly in schools, without having discipline on the curriculum. Restrictions on school clothing, hair grooming and ornaments, tattooing and body piercing are important to build character in the young. How they behave after they leave school will be the legacy of how they were formed in school. We must give them the best start we can.

Peter Espeut is a sociologist, development scientist, and a Roman Catholic deacon. Email feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com.