Race, politics and behavior in Trinidad and Tobago

Racism is a loaded word with too much surplus meaning. Its contemporary common usage encompasses every aspect of human and social sciences. It is an emotive word that is often avoided since it also defines the unconscious processes of the commentators whose creations are invariably within their own experiences rather than the spoken context. Regardless of which Government is in power, the stereotypes associated with whether the party is Indo or Afro-dominated add fuel to the phenomenon of racism, with each race fighting for eventual control. Whether this is a historical or evolutional instinct, the political parties employ means to get their supporters aroused and incensed, tugging at their emotions, a psychological display to secure party votes. This phenomenon sows the seed for human destructiveness and crime that is now rampant in the twin island states. The simple solution to this complex problem is power sharing, but the sociopathic leaders obsessed with power and control will have none of it.

Peacekeeping and peacemaking: the conceptual foundations of a plan to reduce violence and improve the quality of life in a midsized community in Jamaica

Thomas Jefferson noted that socials ills breed economic ills and vice versa. Every community in the world has its own thresholds and patterns of violence, and communities experience varied levels of deterioration of safety with a reciprocal increase in violence. The United States, having undergone 200 years of social evolution as an independent nation, has a spiraling problem with violence. Jamaica, with only recent independence from British sovereignty, is an ideal crucible for the study of evolution of violence in a very young demogracy and, hopefully, to identify problems and provide some solutions. Having gained independence from British rule in 1962, Jamaica immediately demonstrated a facile experimentation with forms of government that differed dramatically from what had been previously experienced under the rather rigid, autocratic British administration. In its 33 years of independence, this country has gone through some extraordinary shifts. An initial courtship with communist theory led to a destructive liason with Fidel Castro's version of Marxism. During this brief interlude, the intellectual ideals of equality and peace came into direct contrast with facts of a failing Communist regime. During this period, there was a steady exodus of wealthy Jamaican families for whom heavy taxation threatened financial ruin. The prime minister, the Honorable Michael Manley, a highly sophisticated left-wing intellectual liberal, soon realized the political cost of the alliance with his Caribbean neighbor, Fidel Castro, who was then and is now dedicated to old-fashioned, state-controlled Communism. He attempted to return to a free-market democracy with financial foundations that were, by then, very shaky. To succeed in a project to reduce violence and improve the quality of life, the entire community needs to be involved. From our work in countries where community projects were primarily financed by federal and state agencies, we were aware that the participation of private citizens in projects was essential for success. Commitment has an added intensity when personal time and funding is involved. Prime Minister Manley enthusiastically embraced and inspired this project, believing that it embodied the fundamental principles of democratic involvement to which he was committed. When the authors personally presented their plan to him, he accepted it immediately and with an obvious personal sense of urgency.(AU)

Conceptual framework for nutrition surveillance systems

This article describes the evolution of nutrition surveillance as an intervention strategy and presents a framework for improving the usefulness of nutrition surveillance programs. It seems clear that such programs' impact on nutrtional well-being will depend increasingly on their ability to reach and influence decision-makers. Therefore, it is important to consider political and social forces, and also to realize that if a program is too decentralized or too far removed from key decision-makers, its abiltiy to influence resource flows may be limited. It is of course important that the surveillance information provided be appropriate and of good quality. Therefore, the data collected should be analyzed to ensure they are accurate and representative. Once that has been done, relevant findings should be presented in a readily understanding form designed to meet the intended recipients' information needs. Such findings should also be disseminated to all important decision-maker constituencies, including external donors of nutrition assistance and the general public (AU)

Educational and career aspirations of secondary school students in Grenada following the American intervention

This paper reports a study of educational and occupational aspirations of secondary school students in Grenada following the 1983 American intervention. Questionnaire data were obtained from 729 students attending 7 of the island's 18 secondary schools. A status attainment model containing parental and family characteristics was tested. It was discovered that Grenadian students have exceptionally and unrealitically high aspirations. Although the opportunity structure in Grenada is very limited compared to that in the United States, the island's students have higher levels of aspirations. The status attainment model was not very useful in explaining either educational or occupational aspirations, as the levels of explained variance were less than 5 percent. The implications of high aspirations and low opportunities for the future of Grenada are discussed. (AU)

Tercentenary of the first English book on tropical medicine, by Thomas Trapham of Jamaica

Between 11 and 12 o'clock in the morning of 7 June 1692 occurred one of the most famous earthquakes in history, and the town of Port Royal in the island of Jamaica, described by writers of the time as the "Babylon of the Caribbean" and "the wickedest and richest city in the New World," slid into the sea. A contempory pamphlet described the disaster and illustrated it with a crude woodcut, showing that "Dr Trapham, a Physcian in this Place was Miraculously saved, by hanging the Hands upon the Rack of a Chimney and one of his children hanging about his Neck, were both saved by a Boat; but his Wife and the rest of his Children and Family were lost." (AU)

Health and nutrition in self-reliant national development: an evaluation of the Jamaican community health aide programme

This research is an in-depth case study of health and nutrition in Jamaica. It includes an evaluation of the Community Health Aide Programme in the western Parish of St. James with a population of 114,000 in 1975. The program employs village women who, after brief training, provide health and nutrition education and some direct health care to their home districts. The program began in 1973 in St. James with 120 aides. By 1976 over 1000 were employed island-wide. The conclusions drawn are that health aides training material well and performed up to reasonable expectations in their work effort. However, professionally-striving aides, probably rewarded by nurse trainer-supervisors, were definitely poorer in work output while being highest in training-test scores. Unfortunately, the program was not achieving most of its stated nutritional and health care outcome objectives in 1975. For example, efforts to increase breast feeding and improve nutrtitional status were unsuccessful. Although householders were attending family planning clinics significantly more often, no fertility reductions were detected. A major underlying problem was the planners' cultural idealist theories of health and dietary behavior. The data supports a more cultural-materialistic view. Observed nutritional status improvement between 1973 and 1975 is traced to shifts in Jamaican and international political-economic environments and not to the health aides education work. Shortcomings in the program were linked to the wider institutional environment of the country. A highly centralized political system was undermining efforts to decentralize program control. Nursing professions sharply limited the potential duties of health aides. Political patronage distorted the distribution of aides in favor of the governing party. Lastly, the program came under heavy influence from U.S. medical schools and funding sources. The study concludes that highly centralized, fractionated, and dependent political economies, such as many former colonial territories, will have difficulties implementing these programs successfully unless important pre-conditions are recognized. The programs must be an integral part of self-reliant development policies which allow genuine control of the health delivery system at the local level

Clinical perspectives on the Rastafari movement

Members of the Rastafari movement, which originated in Jamaica, are found in the Caribbean and in parts of the United States and Europe with a large Afro-Caribbean population. To help mental health professionals serve members of this group more effectively, the authors review the literature on the movement and present clinical cases examples with analyses and recommendations for interventions. The Rastafari movement is both a political and a religious group with a life-style that includes the wearing of dreadlock hairstyles and sacramental use of marihuana. The group also advocates opposition to traditional government and support member repatriation to Africa. Clinicians involved in caring for Rastafari are encouraged to make diagnosis based on phenomenological grounds rather than on social behavior. Many blacks who become engaged in the antithetical transformation to membership in the Rastafari movement may be attempting to resolve racial, religious, class and gender conflicts. The Rastafari movement may produce an affirmation of black identity and a moral framework for black people emerging from centuries of salvery, colonization and oppression (Au)