Correlates of conflict, power and authority management, aggression and impulse control in the Jamaican population

The object of this study is to establish the correlates of the phenomenology of conflict and power management in the Jamaican population.

A total of 1506 adult individuals were sampled from 2150 households using a stratified sampling method and assessed using the 12 questions of the Jamaica Personality Disorder Inventory (JPDI) on the phenomenology of conflict and power management that are grouped into the psychological features of aggressive social behaviour, unlawful behaviour, socially unacceptable behaviour and financial transgressive behaviour. The database of responses to the demographic and JPDI questionnaires was created and analysed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 17.

Of the national population sampled, 69.1% denied having any phenomenological symptoms of abnormal power management relations while 30.9% of the population admitted to having some degree of conflict and power management, ranging from mild (10.3%), to moderate (17.1), or severe (3.5%). There were 46.55% of the population which had problems with aggressive social behaviour, 9.33% had problems with unlawful behaviour, 9.58% had problems with unacceptable social behaviour and 37.74% had problems with financial transgressive behaviour. Significant gender and socio-economic class patterns for conflict and power management were revealed. This pattern of conflict and power management behaviour is critical in understanding the distinction between normal and abnormal expression of these emotions and actions.

Nearly one-third of the sample population ` studied reported problems with conflict, abnormal power and authority management, impulse control and serious aggressive and transgressive behaviour.