Aundreen Cameron | When ‘vulnerable’ are labelled as ‘uncontrollable’

Culturally, Jamaicans have long held their own colloquial remedies for “bad bruck pickney”. These are children that the adults around them seem to have exhausted all the seemingly effective behavior modification techniques available to them.

Some well-known strategies: to beat it out the child, prayers, exorcisms, stern ‘talking to” or to put the children “under manners”. Often there are some children who seemingly escape the intended behaviour moulding from these punishment, the Jamaican law describes this as an  uncontrollable child”.

 

Legally, the concept of the ‘uncontrollable child’ stems from Section 24 of the Child Care and Protection Act (2004), which empowers the parent or guardian of a child to bring that child before a juvenile court where the said parent or guardian can prove that they are ‘unable to control the child’. 

Culturally, an uncontrollable child is one who exhibits behavioural problems, and is in some way or form, ‘acting out’. Psychologically, the ‘uncontrollable child’ is one whose ordinary brain functioning has been impaired by toxic stress and trauma; he or she is a representation of a failing culture, society, and support system. 

On any front, the label of ‘uncontrollable’ is inherently problematic, carrying the implication of deflecting responsibility from a state which criminalises what is often the manifestation of vulnerability inherent in structural inequalities, and offsetting parental and community responsibility and accountability.

LEGISLATIVE FRAMEWORK

Despite the passing of Amendment Bill to the Child Care and Protection Act (CCPA), enactment remains elusive.

The current legislative framework of Section 24 of the CCPA empowers the court to make either a correctional order or to make an order for the child to be committed to the care of any ‘fit person’ or to be placed under the supervision of a provision and after-care officer, children’s officer or some other person for a specified period not exceeding three years. Such a child is recognised as ‘a child in need of care and protection’. However, in the absence of a residential treatment facility, children who are identified as having severe behavioural problems are invariably placed under a correctional order and then incarcerated in the care of the Department of Correctional Services.

In a 2025 report by Jamaicans for Justice based on information received by the Department of Correctional Services, 60 children were in custody at the Rio Cobre Juvenile Detention Centre and South Camp Juvenile Correctional and Remand Centre as of October 31, 2023 on the basis of being ‘uncontrollable’. Further, the report outlined that children are continually being admitted into various juvenile facilities, and that ‘uncontrollable’ was one of the most frequent bases of admission.

The proposed amendment includes changes to: end the practice of placing uncontrollable children into penal institutions, abolish the terminology of ‘uncontrollable children’ and substitute it for ‘behavioral issues’, and remove the judge’s discretion to place ‘uncontrollable’ children who have not committed a crime in penal institutions and replace it with an option for the court to make a therapeutic order. Senator Johnson Smith highlighted that the availability of residential and non-residential therapeutic orders would allow for children needing extra care to be placed in treatment centres and for others to attend a therapeutic centre daily or as required. However, these proposed effects are still yet to be implemented.

 BEHIND THE LABEL

A 2011 report by the Office of the Child Advocate (OCA) described the typical profile of a child in conflict with the law. It revealed that behind that label, there is extensive trauma, poverty, exposure to violence and gangs, family instability, abuse, and neglect. The typical profile of an ‘uncontrollable’ male child is ‘a poor reader from a low-income family … who is the head of his household … and missed school because bus fare and/or lunch money was not available’. Similarly, in a 2013 study by the OCA assessing the condition of ‘uncontrollable’ female children at the Horizon facility, it was revealed that most of the girls were sexually abused at some point in their lives. Their accounts of sexual abuse ranged from being raped or sexually assaulted repeatedly by family members, within foster homes, or by strangers from as young as nine years old.

 Many children are confronted by high levels of violence and lack the engagement, guidance and positive role models required for optimal development. Such continued exposure to extreme levels of poverty, abuse and violence disrupts brain development and increases the risk of lifelong physical and mental health issues. 

Toxic stress is commonly noted in children who are in circumstances where they feel unsafe over a long period of time and do not have the buffering effect of being cared for by supportive adults. Accordingly, it is not surprising that the majority of ‘uncontrollable’ children are children who, because of traumatic life experiences, have developed mental health problems which may manifest in the commission of criminal acts, or the exhibition of maladaptive behavioural patterns.

Beyond the therapeutic intervention contemplated by the state in the amendments, socio-cultural interventions are required on several levels. First, parent-focused interventions might help to reduce reliance on harsh discipline, and reduce child behavioural problems before they become entrenched. 

Many parents in impoverished neighbourhoods have mental health illnesses and lack the means to seek support. Second, families require social support to alleviate much of the socio-economic strain which leads to conflict, toxic stress, and exposure to crime and violence. Finally, gender-specific interventions focused on dismantling harmful gendered understandings and perceptions of violence towards women might reduce the proportion of ‘uncontrollable’ girls in juvenile facilities.

Justice requires a radical reconstruction of cultural underpinnings and legal frameworks. As long as vulnerable children are criminalised and are not provided holistic support, we will remain complicit in the harming of those who need us most.

Aundreen Cameron is a JYAN advocate, attorney -at -law and 2025 Rhodes Scholarship recipient for Jamaica.