For criminals
by his biological father.
If we know our history and the social science statistics surrounding fatherlessness, this should not surprise us. Some of the most famous killers in human history grew up in fatherless homes: Adolph Hitler, Saddam Hussein, Billy the Kid, Mark Lepine, and Charles Manson, to name a few.
Comparative psychology is the study of animals in order to find out about humans. The underlying assumption is that, to some degree, the laws of behaviour are the same for all species and, therefore, knowledge gained by studying rats, dogs, cats, and other animals can be generalised to humans. My first class in comparative psychology exposed me to Universe 25 or what my classmates and I called Rat City. Between 1968 and 1970 American ethologist John B Calhoun conducted a behavioural study of captive mice within an enclosure known as Universe 25. Several pairs of mice bred a population, which ultimately swelled to 2,200. Eventually they established social orders that created inside and outside factions, and soon mating ceased altogether.
The study confirmed Calhoun’s grim hypothesis based on earlier studies. In his theory he suggested that overpopulation spawns a breakdown in social functions. That, in turn, inevitably leads to extinction. These findings raised concern globally that Universe 25 could ultimately serve as a metaphor for the trajectory of the human race. Consequently, the Universe 25 project has been a subject of interest among architects, city planning councils, and government agencies around the wo rld.
There are several aspects of the study which bear close similarities to human life. In the early stages the rats lived peacefully. As the numbers grew, however, they became increasingly aggressive until they started to eat each other. I will focus on one group of rats dubbed the alpha males — those of high status. Calhoun reports: “The alpha males, by contrast, became more pugnacious and aggressive, often launching into violence with no clear provocation or motive. At times these males would roam around and indiscriminately rape other mice, regardless of gender.”
I say all that to say the primary cause of violence in Jamaica has its genesis in the breakdown of family life, resulting in a significant amount of fatherlessness and people growing up in overcrowded conditions with mothers engaged in the futile pursuit of trying to father children. Interestingly, at the critical stage of the study (the 1960s) which revealed the increasingly aggressive nature of the rats because of overcrowding, garrisons were mushrooming in Jamaica. High-rise buildings were going up with just enough space to house as many voters as possible. Social amenities did not seem to be important.
The question I must now ask is this: When such conditions exist, leading to crime and violence, how does this become a police problem?
Imagine, if you will, the unlikely situation of fitness certificates for motor vehicles being available, for a fee, without the vehicle being examined for defects, likewise, driver’s licences being available, for a fee, without one having to do a test for driving competence. When crashes start to increase in number and severity, is it reasonable to condemn the National Works Agency?
In a society that is ripe for criminal violence, the most that can be reasonably expected of the police is to contain crime. This is being provided by motorised patrol, rapid response to calls, and retrospective investigation of crimes. These strategies have only limited effectiveness because critical institutions in our society have become defunct or dysfunctional.
The public seems to be dissatisfied with reactive responses. I suspect they are looking for the improved results that a proactive approach could provide. Reactive policing is not appropriate for most of our serious crimes. It cannot deal with consensual crimes such as drug dealing behind closed doors. It cannot deal with crimes such as extortion and loan sharking as the victims are too afraid to report the crimes. It cannot deal with sophisticated white-collar crimes or political corruption in which the losses associated with the crimes are so widely distributed that people do not notice that they are being victimised. And it cannot deal with traditional street crimes in those parts of the city where confidence in the police has eroded to such a degree that citizens no longer call when they are being or have been victimised.
These are challenges for the police force. However, if a sustained reduction in crime and violence is to be realised, it cannot come from within the police force or from the minister of national security.
Unsuitable living conditions and dysfunctional family life are at the root of the country’s social problems. Fatherlessness is a silent killer. It is the most harmful demographic trend of this generation. Fix these and stop giving the police “basket to carry water”.