Violence in Jamaica

The Jamaican society is very much a restless one, adopting from developed and developing countries around us and pioneering change at unprecedented rates. We are torn by conflicts over basic goals and direction, yet always sustained by the vision of a bright future as the last, best hope for mankind. We are a society of inconsistencies-a country of remarkable natural beauty, but pollution is quickly becoming a problem; a society of high ideals and dedication to promoting peace, but with a long and harsh record of social injustice and violence; a people and country of exceptional material wealth for the many, but dire poverty for the few. These are the things of which problems are made. When we deliberate on the Jamaican society, we can see problems of varied sorts, economic and social. As an attempt at maintaining clarity, the focus will be on social problems to be seen in Jamaica. Greater emphasis will be placed on the problems of crime and violence, unemployment, adolescent pregnancy, and poverty. The question is asked as to whether or not these social problems are attributed to a lack of ethical teaching and practice. The view is that while there is knowledge of ethical teachings, some aspects of the ethical teachings and practices are not properly taught or there is a drift to more contemporary views on some ethical matters, which eventually leads to the problems to some of the problems we now face in society. The social problems we have in Jamaica are interlinked; they feed upon and reinforce each other, and interweave into a coherent blanket, covering us all. 1 One of the problems that has become prevalent is that of unemployment; youth unemployment, especially is on a rise. In October 2011, a labour force survey was carried out by the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN). The number of unemployed persons in October 2011 was 159,700, an increase of 10,700 (7.2%) over the 149,000 in October 2010. In July 2011 unemployment was 151,900, an increase,

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