Ja's two main gangs are JLP and PNP, says sociologist
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
THE island's two main political parties - the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) - have been described as the two main gangs that have been wreaking havoc on the nation.
Sociologist, Dr Herbert Gayle, said during a recent symposium on criminal gangs in Jamaica at the Terra Nova Hotel in St Andrew, that the two parties cannot escape being included in the definition of what a gang is.
Gayle made the comments during his presentation of the main address entitled, Gangster for Life! Whose Life? An explanation of feuds in Jamaica.
"The country is divided into two major gangs, JLP and PNP. Look at the definition again of gang violence and you will see that the JLP and the PNP cannot escape being included. A gang is any group that has some degree of permanence that competes violently," Gayle said.
The two-day symposium was organised by the Ministry of National Security in a bid to develop a strategy to break down the culture of gangs in volatile communities and schools.
Gayle recently concluded months of research into the Jamaican gang phenomenon, where he interacted with 13 dons and visited 11 garrison communities throughout the island.
He said an interview conducted on a pool of 53 eight-year-old boys in the garrison communities revealed that the majority were aware of the significance of party colours.
"How many of them took less than five seconds to identify that green was JLP and orange was PNP? Four, and two of those boys needed special care while the other two just come from country," Gayle said.
According to Gayle 80 per cent of the murders recorded in Jamaica were gang related.
Keynote speaker at the symposium, Canadian criminologist, Professor Scot Wortley, said although gang-related killings had risen if the Canadian cities of Montreal and Toronto, Jamaican immigrants were not considered to be the main players. Instead it was the children of these immigrants who were born in the first-world country that resorted to gang activity.
Wortley, who had also just concluded a study on gang activity in Jamaica, said some residents of communities which were the stomping grounds of gangs saw them in a positive light.
"Many people felt that both the dons and the corner crews had a positive impact on the community," Wortley said.
Wortley said 34,000 Jamaicans had admitted to having involvement with gangs while five per cent of the population said they had relatives or friends who were members of gangs.
Earlier, Security Minister Colonel Trevor MacMillan told the symposium that 200 criminal gangs were operating in the island.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...OCIOLOGIST.asp
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
THE island's two main political parties - the ruling Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) and the Opposition People's National Party (PNP) - have been described as the two main gangs that have been wreaking havoc on the nation.
Sociologist, Dr Herbert Gayle, said during a recent symposium on criminal gangs in Jamaica at the Terra Nova Hotel in St Andrew, that the two parties cannot escape being included in the definition of what a gang is.
Gayle made the comments during his presentation of the main address entitled, Gangster for Life! Whose Life? An explanation of feuds in Jamaica.
"The country is divided into two major gangs, JLP and PNP. Look at the definition again of gang violence and you will see that the JLP and the PNP cannot escape being included. A gang is any group that has some degree of permanence that competes violently," Gayle said.
The two-day symposium was organised by the Ministry of National Security in a bid to develop a strategy to break down the culture of gangs in volatile communities and schools.
Gayle recently concluded months of research into the Jamaican gang phenomenon, where he interacted with 13 dons and visited 11 garrison communities throughout the island.
He said an interview conducted on a pool of 53 eight-year-old boys in the garrison communities revealed that the majority were aware of the significance of party colours.
"How many of them took less than five seconds to identify that green was JLP and orange was PNP? Four, and two of those boys needed special care while the other two just come from country," Gayle said.
According to Gayle 80 per cent of the murders recorded in Jamaica were gang related.
Keynote speaker at the symposium, Canadian criminologist, Professor Scot Wortley, said although gang-related killings had risen if the Canadian cities of Montreal and Toronto, Jamaican immigrants were not considered to be the main players. Instead it was the children of these immigrants who were born in the first-world country that resorted to gang activity.
Wortley, who had also just concluded a study on gang activity in Jamaica, said some residents of communities which were the stomping grounds of gangs saw them in a positive light.
"Many people felt that both the dons and the corner crews had a positive impact on the community," Wortley said.
Wortley said 34,000 Jamaicans had admitted to having involvement with gangs while five per cent of the population said they had relatives or friends who were members of gangs.
Earlier, Security Minister Colonel Trevor MacMillan told the symposium that 200 criminal gangs were operating in the island.
http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/...OCIOLOGIST.asp
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