The University of the West Indies, Mona

Like Bush Fire (June 2016)
Male social participation and violence in urban Belize
Authors: Herbert Gayle, Virginia Hampton and Nelma Mortis

This book is based on the study “Male Social Participation and Violence in Urban Belize”, which was completed in 2010, Belize’s first comprehensive study of social violence. Born out of the Mayflower Street grenade attack on May 21, 2008, the study was designed to focus on urban violence. The 2,210 persons interviewed included school children, community members, police officers, government officials-and even members of the Crips, Bloods and MS13 gangs.

The study utilized a cocktail of qualitative, quantitative, participatory and integrated methods to create a research base that could inform policy changes necessary to secure the social order needed to take Belize through its post-independence transition. Six years later it becomes inevitable that this book would also critically asses the changes that have been effected in Belize by the Report. Clearly the energy that created the study remained high for a couple years; nonetheless, since then things have become worse, with Belize jumping from a top ten position to being among the top five most violent countries in the world. Five years later data from the Living Standards Measurement Survey (2015) suggest that the standard of living is not becoming better in Belize, with 50 percent of children and 43 percent of youth living below the poverty line.

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Dr Gayle is also the director for Fathers Incorporated and Head of Department. He can be reached at herbert.sgayle@gmail.com.

- By Aldene Shillingford MSW and Nicola Williams MSW 

August 2015 saw the Commonwealth of Dominica devastated by tropical storm Erica, which left in her wake 30 direct deaths and significant destruction of infrastructure. The Ministry of Social Services, Family and Gender Affairs in Dominica, requested the assistance of the Social Work Unit of the University of the West Indies (UWI). This was facilitated through the Caribbean Internship Programme (CIP), a regional partnership and service-learning initiative of the UWI.  Three graduate interns and a former social work lecturer were deployed to assist with enhancing the response to the challenges associated with post-disaster recovery.

Staff of two social service agencies, two graduate psychology interns and one social work intern, participated in a post disaster community-based psychosocial support workshop conducted by the former social work lecturer. The psychology interns later assisted staff in managing the increased number of trauma cases which turned up at the agency and the social work community-practice intern, replicated the workshops and engaged in other relevant community development activities. The reports from the field  were examined and revealed that this engagement is mutually beneficial in three major ways: 1.) it affords social science students hands on experience with the disaster management and mitigation processes; 2.) it fills an immediate need for appropriate skill sets for community-based psychosocial intervention post disaster and; 3.) it generates new areas of knowledge while enhancing the ability of local agencies to adequately respond to the full range of disaster outcomes at the individual, community and national levels.
Natural hazards such as storms, earthquakes and hurricanes are part of the reality for Caribbean communities. Therefore, the analysis of these experiences can aid with developing appropriate training curricula for practitioners and generate a framework for use with disaster mitigation in the Caribbean

Email Mrs Aldene Shillingford: aldene.shillingford@gmail.com
Email Ms Nicola Williams: nicola.williams07@uwimona.edu.jm 

- By Sharon Priestley

Abstract

This study examines the gender gap in life expectancy in Jamaica which ranges from 3.33 years in 1945-47 to 7.62 years at birth in 2010-12 when life expectancy at birth for both sexes increased from 52.9 years in the earlier period to 74.2 years in the latter. However at the global level the gender gap in mortality is in flux. In human populations more boys than girls are born but the disparity in survival just after birth due to higher male mortality is reduced with increasing age so that by adolescence there is little difference. While the increase in length of life are apparent for either sex, at every age through 2002-04, declines though slight (<1year) are observed for males over the last intercensal period. Given concerns raised by the PAHO/WHO about the sharp increase in premature deaths of males aged 10-24 from assault (homicides) and road traffic injuries, and the gender disparity in mortality rates from these two causes evident in every five year age group over the range, the risk profiles of young men are implicated. The paper explores the social and cultural context of male disadvantage in mortality which threaten population longevity and therefore sustainability. (199 words)

Email Dr Sharon Priestley: sharon.priestley@uwimona.edu.jm