DESPITE CLAIMS that the degeneration of the Jamaican family is at the root of the country's surging crime problem, a criminology scholar is arguing that family structure is not a major in the nation's dilemma.

Professor Anthony Harriott, director of the Institute of Public Safety and Justice at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona, said research conducted at the UWI suggests that there is better family structure in Jamaica than in other Caribbean islands with less crime.

Harriott, who was giving the main address on Tuesday at the GraceKennedy Foundation's annual lecture entitled 'Controlling Violent Crime: Models and Policy Options' at the Little Theatre in St Andrew, said research suggested that family structure was not necessarily at the heart of adult delinquency in Jamaica.

Absence of fathers

It has been widely argued that the absence of fathers in the homes and lives of many youngsters, particularly boys, is one of the main reasons they get involved in criminality.

Households devoid of fathers have been blamed for churning out many of society's delinquents. In the United States, for example, 85 per cent of prison inmates had no fathers at home, according to data from the Texas Department of Corrections.

Additionally, a study conducted by the University of California's Cynthia Harper and Princeton's Sara McLanahan concluded that each year spent without a dad in the home increases the odds of future incarceration by about five per cent.

In Jamaica, single mothers head a large majority of households.

Take a larger look

"If you were to take a larger look at the Caribbean, just for starters, a number of colleagues at the UWI about a year or so ago, collected data in three countries - Trinidad, Barbados and Jamaica - using very large samples and collecting hundreds of items on the family and its relationship, particularly to delinquency and some aspects of the violence problems. The data showed that family in Jamaica, is in some respects, in better shape than in countries such as Barbados," he said.

"Suggestions from the empirical research suggest that it is not so much the structure but family stability that matters.

"When you have 'child shifting' you get higher rates of delinquency. So if the father goes off and then the mother can't cope with the four or five children and she sends one to the aunt and then she goes off and she sends them to the grandparent or they are left with the neighbour, that's where the problem comes in."

Professor Harriott said not enough work has been done on the issue, but based on research so far, he is unable to make any clear or hard statement relating to the family and adult violence.athaliah.reynolds@gleanerjm.com