Jamaican anthropologist of social violence Dr. Herbert Gayle held his public lecture on Friday night at the Bliss Center. The theme was The Failure of Suppression, Why and How Violence Reduction Makes Dollars and Sense. In his two and a half hours, he covered everything about violence, including the crucial mother-son bond that when it isn't there, often spawns gangsters:..
Dr. Herbert Gayle, Violence anthropologist
"First characteristic of a gang member: is an absent father and mother he has a bad relationship with. Do you think I'm joking? Call any NGO that works with gangs. Ask them for you to talk with 10 and see how many of them have a good relationship with their mother. The gang becomes their home because they don't have a home to go to. So, while you would look at normal kids, one out of ten may have a problem with their mother. In gangs, five, six or seven have a major problem crisis with their mother and the papa gone. You can't see what's going on? So, when I have a child who has an absent father and a mother who use to torture him and gang says, 'I am your Jesus.' He has no other Jesus that he knows but the gang. I interviewed a boy who shot his first cousin here in Belize and he said to me, "the gang told me to do it." And I said, "But that is your cousin." "But he doesn't feed me." You get it?"
Throughout the week we will be airing short clips from the Gayle presentation.
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