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Kingston, 04 July 2007 (Panos) - Young males in three inner-city communities think that their lives would be better off if they were women, at least so says a recently concluded study sponsored by the World Bank and the Jamaica Social Policy Evaluation (JASPEV).
Females in the inner-city are more likely to be encouraged to remain in school and are seen as giving better returns on parental investment said the study which was done by, Herbert Gayle – a lecturer in the department of Social Sciences at the University of the West Indies and two other researchers.
“Females are seen as better for parents’ investment as boys do not show the kind of effort they require especially when it comes to school,” said Gayle.
Sponsored by the World Bank and the Jamaica Social Policy Evaluation (JASPEV) Project the research paper looks at how youths assess their identity, the support they receive from those in authority as well as their relationship with the police and the implications for social policy.
Researchers Dr. Kirstan Hawkins, Herbert Gayle and Mr. Horace Levy presented their findings on recently at the Terra Nova Hotel in Kingston.
Respondents from all three communities studied agreed that males received considerably less support than females.
“They agreed that the female’s femininity and sexuality placed them at an advantage in negotiating support. Youth argued that women can rely on men but not the other way around,” the study said.
“Young females often expressed disappointment at and sorrow for male youth of their communities. They described some of the youth as ‘lost and not going anywhere, careless, irresponsible and illiterate’. They were therefore not fit for progressive females.”
In Cool blue (pseudonym for rural community examined in research) it was estimated that more than half of the young men were illiterate.
It was also noted, “Most males have low self esteem (as a result of illiteracy). They idle at school and smoke gamma. Females are more ambitious. Even after the mistake of pregnancy they will still go back to school. They are more likely to complete high school and even college.”
In the inner-city communities, youth also described their male peers as illiterate and “they get offended when the girls go and look outside man.”
Both males and females suggest that women are ‘lucky.’
One youth of Harrason gardens (pseudonym used for inner-city community) compared the luck of females and males in the following manner: “She go on the road and look depressed and get man for the day or long term. If a man does that, a woman walks pass him and pat him on the shoulder.”
Women, the respondent said were also more likely to be employed, even though they share the same inner-city or rural address.
According to researcher Herbert Gayle, poor, youthful males are only employed as gardeners and security guards in ‘uptown Kingston.’
In the rural community researched, it was observed that among young people who were doing really well economically were young women who had bought and sold coffee and were driving name brand cars from the proceeds of their investment.
‘Forced Ripe’ was done by the peer research participatory method and involved eighteen young women and men between the ages of 17 - 29 years old from the communities of Tower Hill, Richmond Vale and Fletchers Land in St. Andrew, St. Thomas and Kingston.
Training was conducted by Dr. Kirsten Hawkins of options UK and local consultants Mr. Herbert Gayle, anthropologist and lecturer in the Department of Sociology, Psychology and Social Work and Mr. Horace Levy supervised the research
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