THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Reports of gangs in Jamaican schools Julie Meeks Gardner Joan Thomas Caribbean Child Development Centre, Consortium for Social Development and Research, University of the West Indies, Open Campus Col. Oral Khan Safe Schools Initiative Ministries of National Security, Health, Education

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Background Much of the violence in Jamaica attributed to gangs Much of the violence in Jamaica attributed to gangs Anecdotal information only regarding involvement of children in gangs Anecdotal information only regarding involvement of children in gangs Safe Schools Initiative designed and conducted survey to investigate gang presence in schools Safe Schools Initiative designed and conducted survey to investigate gang presence in schools UWI commissioned to analyze results UWI commissioned to analyze results

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Aims To determine the scope of gang involvement in schools in Jamaica To determine the scope of gang involvement in schools in Jamaica To compare the results of different groups surveyed To compare the results of different groups surveyed

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Method 1. Cross-sectional survey carried out in 2007 Cross-sectional survey carried out in 2007 Govt.-supported secondary schools Govt.-supported secondary schools 3 groups of respondents: 3 groups of respondents: – Principals – School Resource Officers – Students Instrument: Instrument: – 30 items (closed) – Self-administered

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS School Resource Officers (SROs): Programme since 2004 Specially trained police officers Deployed in high risk schools Aim to reduce violence Activities: – mentoring students – mediating disputes – searching for weapons

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Method 2. Instrument: Instrument: – 30 items (closed) – Self-administered Data analysis Data analysis – Frequencies – Results compared by respondent type,location – Details of gangs only analyzed where respondents indicated a problem with gangs – Questionnaires with no school name were omitted from analysis

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Results 124 schools (50%) 124 schools (50%) 51 Principals (20%) 51 Principals (20%) 27 SROs (28%) 27 SROs (28%) 240 students 240 students

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Overlap in respondents’ schools

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Location of respondents

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Agreement among respondents from the same schools 5 schools had respondents from all categories 2 questions compared – ‘Is bullying a problem?’ – ‘Are there gangs at your school?’ Agreement ranged from 60-80%

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Bullying is a problem Response Principal reports (n=51) SRO reports (n=27) Student reports, mode* (n=87) %% Yes No Don ’ t know 20 3 Total Responded No response 60 1 Total 100

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Gangs present in schools Response Principal reports (n=51) SRO reports (n=27) Student reports, mode* (n=87) %% Yes No Don ’ t know 64 2 Total Responded No response Total 100

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Girls’ involvement in gangs

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Grades of gang members

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Number of gangs

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Gang activities ActivitiesPrincipal reports (n=23) % SRO reports (n=16) % Student reports(n=61) % Extortion Drug use Drug sale Theft Sexual harassment Fights Other activities † 007 † These were: gambling, smoking and intimidation

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS School gangs linked to gangs outside

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Effectiveness of School Resource Officers

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Trends regarding gangs’ influence

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Gangs’ popularity among the general student body

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Analysis by location All responses analyzed by location No significant differences found by: – Urban vs. rural – KSA vs. rest

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Summary First quantitative survey of school gangs in Jamaica Gangs and related activities in about half of schools Gangs not confined to urban areas Gangs in the community may be influencing school gangs

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Limitations Wide variation among respondents Definitions of terms, though provided on instrument may have been problematic Informants were not gang members Problems with self-completed questionnaires, incomplete data

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS Recommendations Improve negative activities of groups Improve information sharing within schools Continued monitoring & more detailed research

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS

THE UNIVERSITY OF THE WEST INDIES OPEN CAMPUS