Question: Jamaica is undoubtedly facing a crisis from its escalating crime rate.

Comment on the role of the home in containing this deadly monster. Answer: Police say lottery scam funding weapons purchase in t. James!" Ananda case still wide open!" #arger social networ$ may sa%e children!" &ang feud reason for mans' stepsons death!"!#otto scammers mo%e offshore!" (c(illan warns roo$ie cops of crucial crime role!" leuth gets three wee$s to probe bribery!"' these are some of the headlines in the )aily &leaner published on *riday' +ctober ,' -../. 0hey bemoan the scourge of crime in our island home. +f note is the fact that these headlines were ta$en from one section of the days publication. 0his points to the fact that crime is a cause for gra%e concern in Jamaica. 1t has gotten worse with each year and there seem to be no real solution in the foreseeable future. +n a%erage' i2teen hundred 34'5..6 murders are committed in Jamaica each year. 0his is one in e%ery 45-7 people li%ing in the country. As a society we are almost at a loss for solutions. 8hat ne2t9 ociologists posit that babies are born with instincts' also called id. 0herefore' e%erything else is learnt. :uman beha%iour is learnt. 0hose responsible for teaching this beha%iour are called agents of sociali;ation. <ecause a childs first human encounters are usually with its family' the family is considered the primary agent of sociali;ation. e2tended family. >esearch shows that a large percentage of the crimes committed in Jamaica are by males under thirty years old. *urther' some sociologists argue that the criminal mind is de%eloped in the first fi%e years of a persons life. <y this notion it can be deduced that a great le%el of the responsibility for the crime monster can be placed s=uarely on the home. (erylyn Campbell?*linch' Assistant Professor at the @orthern Caribbean Ani%ersity' in her article 0he >od of Correction: <eating tic$ or <eha%iour &uide!' published in the )aily &leaner on July B' -../' points out that one of the ways parents are e2pected to socialise their 0his places the responsibility of de%eloping personalities and characters s=uarely in the hands of parents' and sometimes the

children is to teach them how to beha%e appropriately.!

he further went on to say " adults

should' therefore' be proacti%e in teaching acceptable beha%iour.! 8hile she argues against corporal punishment' she admits that parents must be clear in disciplining their children so they refrain from misdeeds because they are wrong and not Cust to a%oid punishment. swayed by e%ery wind of doctrine that pass their way. Part of the problem we face as a society in tac$ling crime' is the le%el of literacy of our people. )isciplined indi%iduals ma$e for more intelligent people. 1t can be argued that intelligence does not pre%ent one from being criminal?minded. 0his is true. 1t is also true that intelligence coupled with integrity ma$e for a person who can reason and will stand for what is right. +n the contrary' we constantly witness reprisal $illings which defy all reasoning. Additionally' it cannot help as an e2ample' when a child comes home and reports an anomaly at school' only to ha%e the family react by ta$ing up arms and turning up to e2act re%enge. 1t is also important that the family teach by e2ample. 1n addition to playing the role of discipliner' parents are to spend time with their children' generally lo%ing them and helping them to de%elop their self esteem' or as the sociologists e%idenced' their ego and super ego. elf esteem' or lac$ thereof' %ery often becomes a determinant in an indi%iduals beha%iour towards others. +ne may not be inclined to pro%e that he is the don! if he thought he was more important than a don! to begin with. +ur problem as a people are deep rooted social ones' some of which can be addressed by ha%ing the family play a greater role in the de%elopment of indi%iduals. 1t is important to lay the foundation of good character and beha%iour' upon which indi%iduals can build their li%es. 8e may not be able to sa%e this generation' but we can attempt to ma$e Jamaica better for the ne2t generation. Proper discipline in the home creates good social citi;ens' with integrity. 0hese indi%iduals will not be