* Perceptions and experiences of violence among secondary school students in urban Jamaica

AbstractObjective. To obtain information on the perceptions and experiences of violence among secondaryschool students in Kingston, Jamaica, and its environs.Methods. Data collection was carried out from September through December 1998. Two researchersadministered questionnaires in 11 randomly selected secondary schools, to a total of1 710 students who were in either grade 7 or grade 9 and who were aged 9–17 years old (meanof 13.2 years). Frequency distributions of the responses were compared by gender, age, gradelevel, socioeconomic status, and school type.Results. Seventy-five percent of the students thought that someone who was reluctant tofight would be “picked on” more, 89% thought it generally wrong to hit other people, and 91%thought it wrong to insult other people. Eighty-four percent knew of students who carriedknives or blades from such items as a scalpel or a utility knife to school, and 89% were worriedabout violence at school. Thirty-three percent had been victims of violence, and 60% had a familymember who had been a victim of violence. Eighty-two percent thought that violent televisionshows could increase aggressive behavior. Factor analysis of selected responses was carriedout, yielding five factors: neighborhood violence, school violence, perceptions of acceptable behaviors,level of concern about violence, and general experiences and perceptions of violence.The factors varied with gender, age, grade level, socioeconomic status, and school type.Conclusions. These results will help focus interventions aimed at reducing violence, providea baseline for later comparisons of perceptions and experiences of violence, and offer abasis for comparing the experiences of young people in urban Jamaica with those of young personselsewhere.