The Crisis of Public Safety in Jamaica and the Prospects for Change

Harriott, Anthony

doi:10.1080/10999949.2001.12098179

Cited by 6 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 2 publications

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“…The logic behind this explanation is consistent with Anthony Harriott's (2001) account of the urban poor in Jamaica, which, like ghana, is a former British colony that continues to struggle with the vestiges of colonialism. Many of the critiques that have been leveled against the ghanaian police-including corruption, brutality, and failure to protect the most vulnerable communities-have also been made against the Jamaican police.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

“…Many of the critiques that have been leveled against the ghanaian police-including corruption, brutality, and failure to protect the most vulnerable communities-have also been made against the Jamaican police. According to Harriott (2001), the tenuous relationship between the urban poor who live in stigmatized Jamaican communities and the police is due in large part to the fact that they are subjected "to overpolicing and a fair degree of harassment based on a lower threshold of criminal guilt being applied to them relative to other citizens. They are thus more likely to be unjustly arrested or detained" (p. 61).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Procedural Justice, Obligation to Obey, and Cooperation with Police in a Sample of Ghanaian Immigrants

Pryce

Johnson

Maguire

2016

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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Theory and research highlight the importance of procedural justice for inculcating people’s obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with legal authorities, yet questions remain about the universality of these relationships across cultures and contexts. We examine the influence of procedural justice and other factors on Ghanaian immigrants’ obligation to obey and willingness to cooperate with police. The findings suggest that when police are perceived to behave in a procedurally just manner, people feel an increased obligation to obey their directives and willingness to cooperate with them. Perceived police effectiveness does not influence Ghanaian immigrants’ obligation to obey police, but is the most dominant factor in shaping their willingness to cooperate with police. Respondents’ views of police in Ghana did not influence obligation or cooperation. The implications of the results for theory development, empirical research, and policies intended to improve police–immigrant relations are discussed.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 61%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Procedural Justice, Obligation to Obey, and Cooperation with Police in a Sample of Ghanaian Immigrants

Pryce

Johnson

Maguire

2016

Criminal Justice and Behavior

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“…While we were able to show an association between levels of crime and cases of SAM within communities, this observational study cannot establish causality. However, Harriott (2001) described the concentration of urban joblessness, poverty, poor educational opportunities and generalized marginalization in Jamaica as being criminogenic [ 31 ]. We posit, therefore, that these might represent modifiable sociocultural factors that can be used as the basis for interventions aimed at curbing the problem of malnutrition.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Socioeconomic factors associated with severe acute malnutrition in Jamaica

et al. 2017

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ObjectivesSevere acute malnutrition (SAM) is an important risk factor for illness and death globally, contributing to more than half of deaths in children worldwide. We hypothesized that SAM is positively correlated to poverty, low educational attainment, major crime and higher mean soil concentrations of lead, cadmium and arsenic.MethodsWe reviewed admission records of infants admitted with a diagnosis of SAM over 14 years (2000–2013) in Jamaica. Poverty index, educational attainment, major crime and environmental heavy metal exposure were represented in a Geographic Information System (GIS). Cases of SAM were grouped by community and the number of cases per community/year correlated to socioeconomic variables and geochemistry data for the relevant year.Results375 cases of SAM were mapped across 204 urban and rural communities in Jamaica. The mean age at admission was 9 months (range 1–45 months) and 57% were male. SAM had a positive correlation with major crime (r = 0.53; P < 0.001), but not with educational attainment or the poverty index. For every one unit increase in the number of crimes reported, the rate of occurrence of SAM cases increased by 1.01% [Incidence rate ratio (IRR) = 1.01 (95% CI = 1.006–1.014); P P<0.001]. The geochemistry data yielded no correlation between levels of heavy metals and the prevalence of malnutrition.ConclusionMajor crime has an independent positive association with severe acute malnutrition in Jamaican infants. This could suggest that SAM and major crime might have similar sociological origins or that criminality at the community level may be indicative of reduced income opportunities with the attendant increase in poor nutrition in the home.

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“…In situations where community members must rely on each other for their joint survival there are higher levels of cooperation and increased social bonds. One factor that distinguishes Jamaica from the other Caribbean islands is the presence of tenement yards [46] , [47] . These yards are large lots on which multiple families live and share resources, including food and other amenities – as well as cooperate to solve problems and to socialize [47] .…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In the current study we asked adolescents to provide us with their perceptions of the quality of their neighbourhoods. Despite the high levels of crime, and unemployment [53] – [55] in Jamaican society, Jamaican adolescents had the most favourable perceptions of their neighbourhoods. This may explain why neighbourhood factors had a stronger association with lower levels of depressive symptoms for Jamaican adolescents than for adolescents in the other islands.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Neighbourhood Factors and Depression among Adolescents in Four Caribbean Countries

et al. 2014

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BackgroundPast research suggests that perceived neighbourhood conditions may influence adolescents' emotional health. Relatively little research has been conducted examining the association of perceived neighbourhood conditions with depressive symptoms among Caribbean adolescents. This project examines the association of perceived neighbourhood conditions with levels of depressive symptoms among adolescents in Jamaica, the Bahamas, St. Kitts and Nevis, and St. Vincent.MethodsAdolescents attending grade ten of the academic year 2006/2007 in Jamaica, the Bahamas, St. Vincent, and St. Kitts and Nevis were administered the Neighbourhood Characteristics Questionnaire along with the BDI-II. Social cohesion, attachment to the neighbourhood, neighbourhood quality, neighbourhood crime, and neighbourhood disorder scales were created by summing the relevant subscales of the Neighbourhood Characteristics Questionnaire. Multiple regression analyses were used to examine the relationships of perceived neighbourhood conditions to depressive symptoms.ResultsA wide cross-section of tenth grade students in each nation was sampled (n = 1955; 278 from Jamaica, 217 from the Bahamas, 737 St. Kitts and Nevis, 716 from St. Vincent; 52.1% females, 45.6% males and 2.3% no gender reported; 12 to 19 years, mean = 15.3 yrs, sd = .95 yr). Nearly half (52.1%) of all adolescents reported mild to severe symptoms of depression with 29.1% reporting moderate to severe symptoms of depression. Overall, Jamaican adolescents perceived their neighbourhoods in a more positive manner than those in the Bahamas, St. Vincent and St. Kitts and Nevis. Results of a series of hierarchical multiple regression analyses suggested that a different pattern of neighbourhood factors for each island were associated with depressive symptoms. However, neighbourhood factors were more highly associated with depressive symptoms for Jamaican students than for students in the other three islands.ConclusionsNeighbourhood factors appear to be partially associated with adolescents' self-reports of depressive symptoms. However, other factors may mitigate this relationship.

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The Crisis of Public Safety in Jamaica and the Prospects for Change

Cited by 6 publications

References 2 publications

Procedural Justice, Obligation to Obey, and Cooperation with Police in a Sample of Ghanaian Immigrants

Procedural Justice, Obligation to Obey, and Cooperation with Police in a Sample of Ghanaian Immigrants

Socioeconomic factors associated with severe acute malnutrition in Jamaica

Neighbourhood Factors and Depression among Adolescents in Four Caribbean Countries

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