Wendel Abel - I AM WHAT I THINKJAMAICA HAS the third highest murder rate in the world. Crime and violence has far surpassed epidemic proportion and our inner cities are in a state of rebellion. The recent upsurge in murders has generated more fear, more fright and more frantic discussions. But we are nowhere closer to a solution.
I conducted a series of in-depth interviews with a number of inner-city residents and I am even more convinced that a lot of the violence and homicides are due to poor interpersonal skills. Our people do not know how to communicate in a civilised manner and we do not know how to resolve differences using non-confrontational strategies.
In a 1995 study conducted by Joan Shaw, inner-city students reported the following: 66.7 per cent knew of a community member who died from violence; 80 per cent had witnessed street violence; 60 per cent had witnessed gang wars; 60 per cent had witnessed gun shooting and 74 per cent had witnessed stabbing. These statistics speak to the high level of exposure to violence.
HOW DID WE COME TO THIS?
This has not occurred overnight. There are a number of factors that have contributed to the crisis we now face:
1. A long history of violence. Plantation slavery has left us with a legacy of violence.
2. A culture of violence This society has shifting normative values toward violence which only serves to perpetuate it. Children are disciplined harshly. The media glamorises and over-exposes violence.
3. The decay in our inner cities Our inner-city communities have been allowed to decay. In many communities the law of the jungle rules.
4. Diminished family life Teenagers who are unprepared for parenthood are having children. In addition, 30-40 per cent of families are headed by a single mother and many children are reared without a constant father figure.
5. Lack of life skills Far too many of our people lack appropriate life skills, the ability to express emotions and to resolve conflicts.
6. Access to guns International data suggest that countries with strict gun control laws have low rates of murder.
WHAT REALLY WORKS?
The response to the crime problem has been at best reactive and punitive. We have overemphasised the role of policing in addressing the crime and violence and still the problem has not been controlled. Effective programmes must be comprehensive and focus:
1. On children at risk and their families, especially in inner city communities.
2. On life skills training, problems solving, moral reasoning, and promotion of emotional competencies and on anger management.
3. On family life education and parenting skills training.
4. Development of our inner cities: a major part of our problem lies within the inner cities and programmes must be directed at redevelopment of these vulnerable and fragile communities.
5. Values and attitudes that condemn violence, promote a culture of tolerance and inclusion and extol and promote law, order and decency. We have to recreate a society which has zero tolerance toward people who violate the rules.
In general, programmes do not produce immediate results and they are not cheap. I urge our policy makers, the police, funding agencies and other organisations involved in the redevelopment of our inner cities to review the strategies I have outlined. Time has almost run out on us. Let us get it right now.
Dr. Wendel Abel is a Consultant Psychiatrist and Senior Lecturer, University of the West Indies; email: yourhealth@gleanerjm.com.
