Name of candidate: Latoya Bingham

School: Fair Prospect High

Centre #:100034
Candidate #:100034__________
Teacher: Miss Burke

Title: An examination of the Health and Educational development regard to the

Affect of crime and violence in Zion Hill Portland.
Zion Hill is a small district in the Parish of Portland. It is located
In the County of Surry, Jamaica and is about 230 km from the heart of the
Kingston City. The community council is responsible to keep meetings with
young adolescents in the district relating to matters of crime and violence.
There are approximately 125 houses in the district of Zion hill.

Map of Jamaica
showing the
Location of Zion
Hill.

I have been a resident of Zion Hill for the past sixteen years. During this time I have
Observed a number of young adolescents involved in crime and violence on a daily basis.
The Problem: Crime and Violence
Causes and Effect:
The Location: Zion Hill, Portland

The method used to collect data is a survey in the form of Questionnaires. I have decided
to use printed questionnaires. The questionnaire as a tool for collecting data has a number
of advantages as followed:
 It requires little time to be completed.
 It can be done at the convenience of the person required to have it completed.
 It guarantees confidentiality since respondents are not required to attach their
names.
 Distribution and collection of the questionnaires are not time consuming.
Copy of questionnaire

A Survey of the Health and Educational Development regard to the affect of crime and
violence in Zion Hill Portland.

Dear Villagers,
This is a survey being carried out in Zion Hill Portland to determine how does crime and
violence affect health and educational development of teenagers. This study is being
conducted as an assignment for a social studies course I am at present pursuing.
You are advised to answer the following questions honestly and truthfully. Since you do
not have to write your names anywhere on the paper, no one will ever know who answered
in a particular way.
Remember this is not a test. There are no wrong or right answers. Most of the questions
can be answered by a tick in a box like this . Specify instructions are given where
necessary.

Thank You.
Yours Sincerely,
Latoya Bingham.
1. Gender male [ ] female [ ]
2. What is your occupation? ________________________.
3. To what ethnic group do you belong?
4. African decent [ ]
Chinese decent [ ]
Indian decent [ ]

5. How long have you been residing in Zion hill?

Over 10 years [ ]
6-10 years [ ]
1-5 years [ ]
6. Do you use drugs? Yes [ ] No [ ]
7. Have you ever been caught up in crime and violence? Yes[ ] No [ ]
8. Do you attend school? Yes [ ] No [ ]
9. Why did you choose to be involved in crime and violence?
To satisfy basic needs [ ]
To send yourself to school [ ]
To send your child to school [ ]
To defend yourself or a love one [ ]
10. If the answer is applying to any of the answers above, how regular did this occur?
Very regular [ ]
Fairly regular [ ]
Not regular [ ]

11. To what age group do you belong?

15 – 18 [ ]
19 – 22 [ ]
24 – 29 [ ]
30 – 34 [ ]
35 & over [ ]
12. Are the political representatives of the community supportive of community
development?
Yes [ ] No [ ]
Explain Your Answer
As stated earlier Zion Hill District has approximately 125 households. It was calculated
that a sample of 20 % was necessary in order to ensure accurate conclusions as how crime
and violence affect Health and Educational development of teenagers in my area (20% of
125 = 25%).

A total of 30 questionnaires were prepared for distribution to the community members. It

was expected that at least 25 % of these will be returned.

I therefore decided to choose the households by a process of random selection which will
cater for all the requirements mentioned above. The numbers of all houses in the
community were written, each on a slip of paper. Each slip of paper was folded and placed
into a box. The box was closed and shaken with vigour to ensure a through mixture of the
numbers. A total of 30 slips were then drawn from the box one at a time while shaking the
box in the process.

The thirty (30) households thus selected were then supplied with questionnaires. In
instances where members were not at the front step on the veranda with a note to return the
completed questionnaires in the letter box at my home.
A total of 30 questionnaires were distributed to the community members, out of which 20
were returned. Of these respondents 40% were male and 40% were female.
 Bar Graph

60%

50%

40%
% of
30%
respondent
20%

10%

0%
10 - 15 16 - 21 30 and
age age over
Years of respondents

Fig 1 showing the length of residents of respondents.

Fig 1 shows how long respondents were residing in Zion Hill. It can be seen that 55% were
living in the area for over 30 years, 40% between 16 – 21 years.
Fig 2 Pie chart showing the crime and violence relations of residents in the community.

It was agreed by 100% of the residents, where crime and violence took place 6 days per
week. 50% of the chart is the rate of crime and violence, 25% is the learning ability of
students, while 15% is the rate of unemployment and 10% is the eating ability of
individuals.
 Times Percentages
6:00 – 8:00 am 12%
8:00 – 10:00 am 3%
10:00 – 12:00 pm 5%
12:00 – 2:00 pm 5%
4:00 – 8:00 pm 10%
9:00 – 12:00 am (most frequent) 50%
No significant time 15%

Fig 3 showing the frequent times of crime and violence in the community.
A significant 50% of individuals say that crime and violence took place during the
midnight hours, while 15% had no comment on specific times. My own observation is that
crime and violence has a strong impact during the midnight hours.
There was numerous complains by the residents of Zion Hill Portland that crime and
violence has become a problem for 6 days per week. This left residents with a number of
alternatives to have meetings with these individuals to get or catch the perpetrators and get
them out of the community. Most crime and violence took place during the midnight hours
(50%).While the learning ability of students remained at (25%).

Persons complained about street youngsters on the street regularly being involved in crime
and violence on a daily basis. This further finds support in the fact that crime and violence
is a big problem to the residents in and out of the community.
The survey has revealed a number of differences with the respect of crime and violence in
Zion Hill Portland, These include:

1 Crime and violence usually take place 6 days during the week. This was indicated
by 100% of the residents. This fact has forced some residents to keep meetings on behalf
of this information.

2 Crime and violence was frequent in schools as a result most students would face
serious punishment. This was claimed by 15% of the residents.

3 Both perpetrators (80%) and community members agreed that persons involved would
face serious punishment based on the law.

4 Most of the crime and violence took place during the midnight hours.
The importance of crime and violence to individuals can be overestimated. In order to
maintain healthy living and educational performance in Zion Hill, the community sectors
in the area as well as the government all have their parts to play to alleviate many of the
problems experienced by the community.

One of the most important recommendations is to get perpetrators locked up for being
involved in crime and violence. Furthermore, to get students to react more in their learning
institutions. For this to work teachers as well as parents need to ensure that their
child/student are not allowed to do as they like.

Members of the community can further play their part by keeping the neighbour wood
watch alert system up and running. The police would make regular visits to the community
tom ensure that persons abide by the neighbour wood watch laws.

The local government authority must be notified to embark on the program of educating its
employees, so that they will see their job as being of major importance in helping to
eradicate crime and violence and improving the area of Zion Hill Portland.
The successful completion of this study would not have been possible without assistance
from a number of persons. First I would like to thank the residents of Zion Hill for their
support and most valuable time spent on answering the questionnaires that was given to
them.
13. Do you attend school? Yes [ ] No [ ]

14. Why did you choose crime and violence?

To satisfy basic needs [ ]
To send your self to school [ ]
To send your child to school [ ]
To defend yourself or a love one [ ]

15. Have you ever been caught by the police? Yes [ ] No [ ]

16. Do you suffer from a mental disorder after carrying out crime and violence?
Yes [ ] No [ ]

17. How serious do you think crime and violence is at present?

Very serious [ ]
Not serious [ ]
Mild [ ]
 Bar graph showing the age group of the persons who participated in the research.

Fig 4 showing the age group of respondents.

Figure 4 above showing the age group and percentage of respondents that
responded to the survey that was carried out in Zion Hill It can be seen that 5%
belonged to the 15 – 18 age group, while 20% belonged to the age group[ of 19 –
24. The age group of 27 – 29 had 10%, while the age group 30 – 34 had 20%. The
highest percentage came from the age 35 and over.
Pie chart showing the number of persons who have been involved in crime and violence.

Figure 5 that 60% of the respondents have been involved in robbery as it is the highest
percentage on the chart. This was a result as robbery was common within the community.
Table 1showing the reason for an increase of crime and violence in the community as it
relates to education.

Reason Percentage
 Peer pressure 10.5%
 Lack of money & food. 10%
 Lack of a proper education. 20%
 Poverty 8%

As it relates to the table a lack of a proper education the majority of persons find it difficult
to cope with the pressure of every day life, which is 20%.
Table 2 showing the reason for a downfall of crime and violence in the community as it
relates to education.

Reason Percentage
 Jobs are available based on 10%
meetings that were held.
 Family members have started 7%
helping their one another.
 Overseas members have come 5%
back to give support to their
family members.
 Grades are better at school. 10%

As it relates to the table Grades are better at school while jobs are available based on
meetings that were held in the community.
Title Page -----------------------------------------------------------------
Acknowledgement -------------------------------------------------------
Introduction ---------------------------------------------------------------
Statement of the Problem -----------------------------------------------
Method of Investigation ------------------------------------------------
Procedures used to collect Data ----------------------------------------
Instrument used to collect Data ----------------------------------------
Presentation and Explanation of Data ---------------------------------
Interpretation of Data -----------------------------------------------------
Findings ---------------------------------------------------------------------
Recommendation ----------------------------------------------------------
Name of candidate: Latoya Bingham
School: Fair Prospect High
Centre #:100034
Candidate #:100034_________
Teacher: Miss Burke