An overview of the influence of the school and the family on ones sociopolitical socialization PAUL ANDREW BOURNE, M.Sc (pending); B.Sc (Hons); Dip. Edu. Introduction Culture has three major tenets, and these are: ‘technological’, ‘sociological’ and ‘ideological’ (Bourne, 2006; Thomlinson, 1965) Political Sciences cannot be viewed in a vacuum disconnected from the other sub-disciplines of the social sciences, as it is continuously interfacing with issues in sociolog...
Paul Andrew Bourne, B.Sc (Hons.); Dip. Edu. An investigation into the attitudes of school personnel toward ‘gifted’ children in two inner-city secondary school in Kingston, Jamaica. INTRODUCTION The education system is a mode of psychosocial and cultural socialization for all societies (Haralambos and Holborn, 2000). It is through this medium that many children are exposed to the requirements of an organic society. Societies function on the basis of solidarity; the purpos...
Paul Andrew Bourne, B.Sc. (Hons); Dip. Edu. INTRODUCTION Contemporary societies hold particular social prejudices that surface primarily because of their interpretations of the world, which unfold in actions, policies and theses. Many systems are designed against stated groups. Single mothers are oftentimes viewed as outcast, and if they are young, – they are labeled ‘whores’. This group is marginalized by societies in comparison to the orthodox married couple. Policies, directl...
Paul Andrew Bourne, B.Sc. (Hons); Dip. Edu. The World Health Organization (W.H.O) is to be lauded for its involvement in the advancement of women’s ‘rights’ in the context of reproductive choices, and its effort in the coinage of a conceptualization and an operationalization on the phenomenon that is important in social research. This organization coupled with the United Nations (U.N) has extensively researched numerous population issues in different areas of this world. They have spe...
Paul Andrew Bourne, B.Sc. (Hons); Dip. Edu. Many developing countries continue to grapple with deficient economic resources, reprehensible government policies and a robust hegemonic class that maintain the exploitation of the laboured class. These societies have a social welfare system that does not ameliorate the wellbeing of the poor. With time, it is revealed that the demagogues are primarily concerned with self, associates and the perpetuation of the status quo that oftentimes exclud...
By Paul Andrew Bourne, M.Sc. (pending); B.Sc. (Hons); Dip. Edu. Introduction Many peoples throughout the world and more so in Jamaica conceptualize health and health care as the absence of physical pain or any such indicators, and therefore they primarily address those symptoms. This is a rather simplistic perspective that one should take on the subject, as health is the absence of illness and the psychosocial well-being of the individual. People casually perceive health, and then th...
By Paul Andrew Bourne, M.Sc. (pending); B.Sc. (Hons), Dip. Edu. The ‘sugar daddy’ phenomenon has been a controversial area of focus in the Jamaican social culture. It has been purported by many lay researchers that the women are the only beneficiaries from these relationships (that is, practice). The phenomenon is becoming a norm within the Jamaican society. But the initial practice began with younger innercity females being lured into sexual escapades by middle/upper class older men...
By Paul Andrew Bourne, B.Sc. (Hons); Dip. Edu. One of the many social taboos in Jamaica is male sexuality by way of same sex. This situation has oftentimes resulted in the fear of peoples to venture into this experience in order to unearth particular social truths. Although this study had a small sample size and was unable to gather its data by the use of probability sampling technique that is made for external generalability. Nevertheless, this survey was able to use convenience sampli...
By Paul Andrew Bourne, M.Sc. (pending); B.Sc. (Hons); Dip. Edu. Introduction It was during the unprecedented social upheavals in Europe that the formal study of sociology was developed. The industrialization of the topologies at the time meant that people were migrating from rural to urban areas, and the traditional agents of authority, such as the Church and the landed aristocracy, were losing much of their influence. This period earmarked the birth of organized labour, modern i...
Introduction Political Sciences cannot be viewed in a vacuum disconnected from the other sub-disciplines of the social sciences, as it is continuously interfacing with issues in sociology, psychology and demography, to name a few, in order to ground various theorizing. The issue of socialization is crucial to political scientists as well as to other social scientists. Nevertheless, the branch of study in the social sciences that looks comprehensively at socialization is sociology. As...
Paul Andrew Bourne, B.Sc. (Hons), Dip. Edu. As someone who has taught in the public sector for approximately fourteen (14) years, I have had to learn ‘good’ customer relation skills and have come to expect the same from others with whom I do business. I have had countless cogent experiences with individuals in Customer Service at the University of the West Indies, Mona Campus, which speaks to a trend in ‘poor’ service from that department. However, it appears that some of the ‘customer ...
By Paul Andrew Bourne Come August 31 and-or September 1 of each year, many tertiary graduants will add more numbers to Jamaica’s labour supply – (seeking employment). The new recruits will be unsure of any job opportunities. This is because of the government’s policy directive to all public institutions. It is to freeze post for the next two (2) years. Although the quality of our labour supply will improved significantly from the outputs of the various tertiary institutions, many lendi...
Paul Andrew Bourne, BSc. (Hons.); Dip. Edu. INTRODUCTION The author has been intrigued by the BARBADIAN and BAHAMIAN economies and how those counties have outperformed the JAMAICAN economy from the vantage point that the latter leading in the 1970 was the economic giant of the Caribbean and Latin America. The economic environment, the political directorates’ management team and the social amenities are all aspects of the reason that explains why such a situation may have occ...
By Paul Andrew Bourne, MSc. (candidate), BSc. (Hons.) The PNP administration and the governing policymakers have been eagerly promoting "performance pay for teachers." This is rightfully so in an economy with dwindling resources and low productivity. In a global context of high-end competition from efficient producers, the missing element to date in the discussion is "what about those at the helm of the society?" Many people in this nation continue to advocate for the fundamental issues ...
By Paul Andrew Bourne I was named Paul Andrew Bourne by my parents Janet Green and Percival Bourne. The Victoria Jubilee Hospital, Downtown Kingston, is where I was born on December 5, 1968. Besides having lived with my mother, I was also raised by my stepfather, Alfred Beckford. Some people asked, "Can anything good come from the ghettos?" Despite that claim, I am the first of three children for my mother; and I was raised in the communities of August Town and Waltham Park. Thos...