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Reports of gangs in Jamaican schools

Julie Meeks GardnerJoan Thomas

Caribbean Child Development Centre, Consortium for Social Development and Research, University of the West Indies, Open Campus

Col. Oral KhanSafe Schools Initiative

Ministries of National Security, Health, Education

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Background Background • Much of the violence in Jamaica attributed to Much of the violence in Jamaica attributed to

gangsgangs• Anecdotal information only regarding Anecdotal information only regarding

involvement of children in gangsinvolvement of children in gangs• Safe Schools Initiative designed and Safe Schools Initiative designed and

conducted survey to investigate gang conducted survey to investigate gang presence in schoolspresence in schools

• UWI commissioned to analyze resultsUWI commissioned to analyze results

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AimsAims

• To determine the scope of gang involvement To determine the scope of gang involvement in schools in Jamaicain schools in Jamaica

• To compare the results of different groups To compare the results of different groups surveyedsurveyed

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Method 1.Method 1.• Cross-sectional survey carried out in 2007Cross-sectional survey carried out in 2007• Govt.-supported secondary schoolsGovt.-supported secondary schools• 3 groups of respondents:3 groups of respondents:

– Principals Principals – School Resource Officers School Resource Officers – StudentsStudents

• Instrument:Instrument:– 30 items (closed)30 items (closed)– Self-administeredSelf-administered

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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

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Method 2.Method 2.• Instrument:Instrument:

– 30 items (closed)30 items (closed)– Self-administeredSelf-administered

• Data analysisData analysis– FrequenciesFrequencies– Results compared by respondent type,locationResults compared by respondent type,location– Details of gangs only analyzed where respondents Details of gangs only analyzed where respondents

indicated a problem with gangsindicated a problem with gangs– Questionnaires with no school name were omitted Questionnaires with no school name were omitted

from analysis from analysis

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ResultsResults• 124 schools (50%)124 schools (50%)• 51 Principals (20%)51 Principals (20%)• 27 SROs (28%)27 SROs (28%)• 240 students240 students

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Overlap in respondents’ schools

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Location of respondents

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Agreement among respondents from Agreement among respondents from the same schoolsthe 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%

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Bullying is a problem

Response

Principal reports (n=51)

SRO reports(n=27)

Student reports, mode*(n=87)

% % %

Yes 55 82 62

No 37 18 33

Don’t know 2 0 3

Total Responded 94 100 99

No response 6 0 1

Total 100 100 100

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Gangs present in schools

Response

Principal reports (n=51)

SRO reports(n=27)

Student reports, mode*(n=87)

% % %

Yes 45 59 70

No 39 30 26

Don’t know 6 4 2

Total Responded 90 93 99

No response 10 7 1

Total 100 100 100

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Girls’ involvement in gangsGirls’ involvement in gangs

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Grades of gang membersGrades of gang members

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Number of gangsNumber of gangs

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Gang activitiesActivities Principal

reports (n=23) %

SRO reports(n=16)

%

Student reports(n=61)

%

Extortion 70 81 61

Drug use 74 88 54

Drug sale 35 31 30

Theft 61 81 67

Sexual harassment 22 50 67

Fights 87 94 82

Other activities† 0 0 7

† These were: gambling, smoking and intimidation

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School gangs linked to gangs outside

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Effectiveness of School Resource Officers

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Trends regarding gangs’ influence

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Gangs’ popularity among the general student body

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Analysis by location• All responses analyzed by location• No significant differences found by:

– Urban vs. rural– KSA vs. rest

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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

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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

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Recommendations

• Improve negative activities of groups• Improve information sharing within

schools• Continued monitoring & more detailed

research

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