Dear Editor,
We, as a nation, seem to be nearly running out of excuses in desperation to find some answer to account for the runaway monster of crime now marauding across the nation.
To be fair, it is not so much that we are intellectually unable to identify plausible reasons which fuel the wildfire of burgeoning crime, it is more that we choose to ignore painful realities.
As I see it, there are three, or so, major root reasons for crime in Jamaica; and indeed crime anywhere in any country. If these can be tackled we are sure to see positive results, given, of course, the necessary resolve and political will. They are: 1. human nature. 2. societal organisation and culture, and 3. mental illness.
Human behaviour, at its best, even in the most "intelligent" of us, is mainly influenced by the instincts generated in the oldest, most primitive section of the brain responsible for violence, territoriality and forced capture of others and their goods, strong mating urges, the "rights" of the stronger to rule the weaker — even within the human family itself, such as men vs women or master over slave, and so on. Recreational drugs only enhance the expression of these instincts, often in anti-social pathways.
Neo-cortex reasoning is almost powerless against the primitive human urges. Neo-cortex devised the "miracle" of splitting the atom; nuclear bombs are now co-opted by our violent instincts to threaten annihilation.
Knowing the need for divine guidance, our creator, in designing our brain, gave us religions suitable for our various cultures, East and West, as guidelines to organise society in ways which will minimise the outbreak of violent tendencies due to perceived unfairness in societal organisation in any specific culture. This has also been used as excuses for religious war/crusades.
Violence in any society is a given, but relatively peaceful societies, or rather those with extended peaceful episodes, usually are of two types. They are either ruled by extreme ruthlessness or they are largely able to fulfil the basic needs of the vast majority of citizens.
Now, let us ask ourselves why, against this background, is Jamaica in the top five or so nations with the highest per capita murder rate for civilisations not
at war?
Cathy Brown
cathy291181@yahoo.com
The brain of crime
-->
We, as a nation, seem to be nearly running out of excuses in desperation to find some answer to account for the runaway monster of crime now marauding across the nation.
To be fair, it is not so much that we are intellectually unable to identify plausible reasons which fuel the wildfire of burgeoning crime, it is more that we choose to ignore painful realities.
As I see it, there are three, or so, major root reasons for crime in Jamaica; and indeed crime anywhere in any country. If these can be tackled we are sure to see positive results, given, of course, the necessary resolve and political will. They are: 1. human nature. 2. societal organisation and culture, and 3. mental illness.
Human behaviour, at its best, even in the most "intelligent" of us, is mainly influenced by the instincts generated in the oldest, most primitive section of the brain responsible for violence, territoriality and forced capture of others and their goods, strong mating urges, the "rights" of the stronger to rule the weaker — even within the human family itself, such as men vs women or master over slave, and so on. Recreational drugs only enhance the expression of these instincts, often in anti-social pathways.
Neo-cortex reasoning is almost powerless against the primitive human urges. Neo-cortex devised the "miracle" of splitting the atom; nuclear bombs are now co-opted by our violent instincts to threaten annihilation.
Knowing the need for divine guidance, our creator, in designing our brain, gave us religions suitable for our various cultures, East and West, as guidelines to organise society in ways which will minimise the outbreak of violent tendencies due to perceived unfairness in societal organisation in any specific culture. This has also been used as excuses for religious war/crusades.
Violence in any society is a given, but relatively peaceful societies, or rather those with extended peaceful episodes, usually are of two types. They are either ruled by extreme ruthlessness or they are largely able to fulfil the basic needs of the vast majority of citizens.
Now, let us ask ourselves why, against this background, is Jamaica in the top five or so nations with the highest per capita murder rate for civilisations not
at war?
Cathy Brown
cathy291181@yahoo.com
The brain of crime
-->