Page 32 - Social Norms Survey

pro-violent norms offer social standards of behaviour about what is or is not acceptable,

and are quite contrary to the message that the CSJP wishes to transmit.

Some commonly reported individual risk factors are: 10
• Children with learning disorders

• Deficits in social cognitive information processing
• Persons having a low IQ

• Exposure to family conflict and violence (CDC, 2016).

Family risk factors include:
• lower socioeconomic status

• Low parental involvement and supervision
• Authoritarian childrearing styles

• Parental criminal history
• Drug use (CDC, 2016).

Other (social) risk factors include:

• Social rejection
• Little to no community participation

• Association with delinquent peers
• Subpar academic performance (CDC, 2016).

Some of the pro-violent norms that may influence behaviour at the individual, community

and national levels, specifically in the Jamaican context are:
• Glamorization of the “gangster” culture and the perceived “values” associated

with it such as: loyalty, respect, brotherhood, etc.
• “Informa (Informer) fi dead” culture

• Condoning (and almost legitimizing) criminal activities
• “Turning a Blind eye” in a culture of silence

• Gendered identity and relations that manifest and perpetuate gender-based

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10 Penn State, Applied Social Psychology (ASP) Youth Violence: A Learned Behavior, October 30th, 2016. https://sites.
psu.edu/aspsy/2016/10/30/youth-violence-a-learned-behavior/

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