Jamaica Child Welfare and Suicide Quiz

Child Welfare and Protection

• This presentation covers Caribbean social issues, specifically child welfare and protection.
• Objectives include defining "child," the overview of the child welfare system in Jamaica, poverty and the child, general violence against children, specific issues in Jamaica, types of child abuse, effects, and solutions.

Child Definition

• A child is any human being under the age of eighteen years, according to the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC).
• 33% of the Jamaican population are children under 18 years old.
• 20% of the Jamaican population are aged 0 to 14 years old (Statista, 2023).

Modern Child Welfare System

• The child welfare system is based on the fact that children are unique and depend on adult care for a prolonged period for support and guidance.
• Guidance is provided by family, either both parents or one parent.
• If there's a family breakdown, care is provided by extended family members.
• If neither of the above avenues exist, organized societal institutions, like child welfare systems, provide alternative care.

Child Protection System (UN definition)

• A child Protection system is the formal and informal structures, functions, and capacities used to prevent and respond to violence, abuse, neglect, and exploitation of children.
• It involves human resources, finance, laws, policies, governance, monitoring, data collection, protection and response services, and care management.
• Different actors involved include children, families, communities, those working at sub-national/national/international levels.
• The outcomes from relationships and interactions between these components and actors within the system are key components.

Child Protection System in Jamaica

• The Government of Jamaica, with the help of ministries, departments, agencies, NGOs, and international development partners (like UNICEF), works towards the safety and protection of children.
• The National Plan of Action for an Integrated Response to Children and Violence (NPACV), launched in 2018 and concluding in 2023, is a joint effort led by the Ministry of Education and Youth, supported by UNICEF.
• This plan is based on a holistic rights-based approach to children's rights, participation, prevention, and protection at national and local levels.

Children Living in Poverty in Jamaica

• Poverties in Jamaica are higher than the national rate of 3.5%:
  • 15.7% of children live in poverty (2022).
  • 1 out of 6 children live in poverty (2018).
  • Extreme poverty among children is 4.3%.
  • Extreme poverty among adolescents is 4.1%.
• The pandemic (COVID-19) has impacted income for 80% of Jamaican households with children.
• A rise in anxiety, fear, and frustration in children has been reported.
• The Gross National Income per capita was $8,940 in 2020.
• Child labor is a problem, with 38,000 children aged 5-17 involved in child labor (ILO, 2022).
• Children are often exploited due to unemployment of parents.
• Children live on the streets.

Violence Affecting Children

• Violence is a significant challenge in Jamaica affecting children.
• Children are exposed to violence in homes, communities, care institutions, schools, and online.
• Jamaica has a high homicide rate (49 deaths per 100,000 in 2019).
• Risk factors for violence include: normalization of violence, low education, youth unemployment, and discriminatory practices against women and girls.
• 85% of children experience legally permissible physical discipline by parents or caregivers.

Specific Issues Around Children

• Wright and Weiss (1980) proposed 5 criteria for defining a social problem: observable, reportable, analyzed, solvable, with active involvement and efforts made to deal with the issue.

Child Abuse

• Child abuse is any act or omission by a parent or caregiver that results in death, serious physical/emotional harm, sexual abuse, or exploitation of a child.
• Any act or omission that presents an imminent risk of harm to a child also counts as abuse.
• Harm is any significant detrimental effect on physical, behavioral, psychological or emotional well-being.
• Types of abuse include physical, sexual, emotional, and neglect.
• 80% of Jamaican children experience psychological/physical violence as discipline (UNICEF, 2018).
• 64.9% of children are bullied at school.
• Girls represented a higher percentage of abuse cases reported.
• Abuse occurs in homes, schools, and communities.

What Causes Child Abuse?

• Reasons for child abuse are complex and include isolation, lack of support, stress, unrealistic expectations, developmental delays, intellectual disability/mental illness, lack of parenting skills, drug/alcohol problems, low self-esteem, and past experiences of abuse.

Effects of Child Abuse

• Child abuse has significant lasting effects including learning disorders, developmental delays, eating disorders, physical ailments, injuries/death.
• It may also cause violent/aggressive/criminal behaviour, drug/alcohol abuse, high-risk sexual behaviour, disrupted attachments, mental health disorders (like anxiety, attachment, post-traumatic stress, depression), and self-harm/suicidal thoughts.
• Suicide rates due to disability adjustment in Jamaica are 0.6% compared to other Caribbean islands.

Child Abuse - Solvability?

• Evaluation of whether a solution to child abuse exists involves examining active involvement of people in influencing others, and efforts (successful or not) in handling the problem.

Kidnapping and Abduction

• Abduction and kidnapping are terms that are sometimes used interchangeably.
• Kidnapping, according to common law, occurs when a person is forcibly abducted or taken away from their country to another.
• Kidnapping also includes forced taking or detention without lawful authority, for ransom or political purposes.
• Abduction is the unlawful interference with a family relationship (ex: taking a child without the involvement of the parent), regardless of the abduction victim's consent.
• Media, public safety organizations have a role in shaping a public perception of child abduction that may not reflect the current frequency of these crimes.
• Policies like the America's Missing Broadcast Emergency Response (AMBER) Alert system aim to quickly rescue abductees.

Responses to Child Abduction (USA)

• AMBER Alert, despite its ambitious goals, is seen as a form of crime control theater.
• This is due to issues like the disproportionate attention drawn to abduction cases, less consideration given to other crime types, and policy failing to fully solve the problem.

Responses to Child Abduction (Jamaica)

• Ananda Alert system in Jamaica is modeled on the American Amber Alert system, aiming to quickly rescue missing children.
• Ananda Alert aims to better address the needs of missing children, with more effective community engagement.
• Many horrendous incidents of child murder encouraged the establishment of the Ananda alert system in replacement of the Red Alert system.
• The system actively mobilizes public/private sectors and community participation.

Jamaican Laws

• Existing Jamaican laws provide frameworks for the physical and moral protection of children.
• However, these laws aren't always effectively enforced.
• Children often express a lack of confidence in the level of protection Jamaican law provides.

Jamaican Data

• The National Children's Registry (NCR) was established in 2007.
• It acts as a central point for recording, assessing, and referring reports of child abuse, neglect, and other matters deemed in need of care
• Over 96,000 reports were made between 2007-2020.
• Statisitcs on abuse cases often involve multiple types of abuse in cases reported to NCR.

Neglect

• Neglect is a serious disregard for a child's care or discipline.
• This includes failing to provide for basic needs like food, shelter, clothing, healthcare, and adequate supervision/hygiene.
• Data shows that numbers of reports of Neglect are increasing in Jamaica.

Physical Abuse

• Physical abuse is non-accidental physical harm to a child, not limited to beating, burning, choking, kicking etc.
• Numbers of reported incidents of physical abuse increased between various years.

Sexual Abuse

• Sexual abuse involves engaging a child in any form of sexual activity, without their knowledge or approval.
• It includes involving a child in sexual activity by an adult or older child.
• Figures show that sexual abuse is also a growing concern in Jamaica.

Emotional Abuse

• Emotional abuse is the expression of words, attitudes, or behaviors that cause serious emotional/psychological damage.
• Examples of emotional abuse include rejection, name-calling, bullying, yelling, criticism, isolation, and witnessing domestic violence.
• Statistics point towards a marked increase in cases of emotional abuse across various years.

Child Trafficking

• Child trafficking involves recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring, or receipt of a child using force, threat, fraud, deception or abuse of power.
• Statistics show a significantly low rate of reported incidents of child trafficking across the years.

Children Who Exhibit Behavioral Problems

• Children with behavioral problems are difficult to control and consistently get into trouble or misbehave.
• A growing trend suggests an increase in reported cases of children exhibiting these types of behaviors year over year.

Children in Need of Care and Protection

• Children who consistently get involved in various (mis)behaviours require support, care, and protection (whether they have exhibited behavioral issues or not).

Missing Children

• Jamaica has a large number of missing children, with data available only for 2007 through 2015.

Solving the Problem of Child Harm

• Addressing the issue of child harm requires a multi-faceted approach including legal frameworks (respect for parental responsibilities is relevant), opportunities for children's voices to be considered, addressing poverty/economic deprivation, forming coalitions, teaching children their rights, stopping the patronage of child labor and reporting suspected cases of abuse to keep children safe.

Sources

• Information from various sources, including reports, studies, and organizations, informs the complete picture provided in this summary.