Tag Archives: jamaica

Parenting and Family Structure in Jamaica and the Wider Caribbean

jamaican childIn many Western countries, the nuclear family, in which both parents are members of the household, is believed to be ideal. In Jamaica and the wider Caribbean, however, the nuclear family is often the exception rather than the rule. A large proportion of families in the region still consist of only one parent, usually the mother, with fathers adopting a marginal role in child-care and nurturance. According to the UNICEF publication “Situation Analysis of Jamaican Children,” over 45% of the households in Jamaica are female-headed. Such family structures are generally accepted as the norm in the Caribbean, and are often viewed as functional responses to the problems faced by people living in the region. Continue reading

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Aggression in Jamaica

hand gun and bloodIn many areas of Jamaica, interpersonal aggression and societal violence are commonplace. Such is the state of affairs that Jamaica has earned the unfavourable reputation of being one of the most violent countries in the world (Hickling, 2008). The staggering statistics attest to this fact. In the year 2000, Jamaica ranked third in the world in murders per capita and in 2005, the annual rate of homicide was more than three times the global average (World Bank, 2007, cited in Smith & Green, 2007). Continue reading

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