The Parental Relationship as Perceived by the Arrested Adolescents in the Cayman Islands

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore and understand the lived experiences of arrested male and female youths relative to their relationship with their parents. Sixteen youths whose ages ranged from 13 to 18 years participated in the study. All came from the Frances Bodden Girls’ Home and Bonaventure Boys’ Home. A qualitative research approach, based on a phenomenological design, illustrated that there were two categories of relationship structures existing for these participants. The first type of relationship was an aversive youth/parental relationship. The second illuminated essences conducive to a more socially accepted constructive parental relationship between parent and adolescent. These findings will further help in the development of training programs, and intervention strategies for those who work with youths like ones in this study who commit crimes, while also showing policy makers what intervention programs best work to assist them in reducing such acts in their communities from these individuals. These results should also aid families in developing a more positive relationship with their adolescents through early social bonding practices, while de-emphasizing the labeling of the child as they developed which often precludes such a bonding between parent and child during the social and emotional stages of development for the child. Dedication This is for Mary Appelle Belk (1909-1987), Jean La-Rue Belk-White (1941-1980), Carole Adair Belk, and P. Anthony White. All of you are the prerequisite of me. The facts, percentages, and statistics are profuse concerning adolescent delinquency and deviance, but have we actually heard the voices of our charges? After all, it is their experiences that contribute to what we imperil ourselves to understand. 2-Pac “Shhh, I felt, I wa’ talking to him still. I wa’ talking to him, telling him to stop fooling around with them lil’ young girls, try bring my mummy from Honduras or sumin’ to try get us back as a family. But he really wasn’t listening to me da’ much. So I just left him alone. I start do my foolishness now. All kind, like fooling around, stealing scooter, breaking people windows. Them kind a things still. ” Bo Bo “They show a whole lot of difference. Well my mommy love me or she was with me more often than she was before. She do things with me. She make me feel better. She really didn't make me feel like thinking about what happen. My daddy, he just, I just sense a change when he look at me, the way like, the way he look. The look on his face. ” Beautie “It makes me feel very bad and a way, because to know like, I would want a mother. That I wish I had a mother to like tell me, ‘Oh, hey you can't go to this place and you can't go to that place. ” Shanty “I did so many things that was upsetting. I don’ know how to say it, oh gosh. ” Star “. my grandfather always say ‘bout, he always says this ‘bout, ‘Whenever I do become somebody, all I must do is buy him one black shirt. That's all he need is on black shirt’. So he never told me what it really meant, but like how I know it is that people only wear black at funerals. So I don’ know, I am not going to say that because I don’ exactly know what he saying. But he tells me anytime I become somebody; all I must do is buy him one black shirt. ” Acknowledgments To Joel Frances who saw the need for this type of social inquiry; Deanna Lookloy for facilitating the opportunity; Dr. Mark Lockhart for availing himself for needed assistance; Marlon Bodden of the Royal Cayman Islands Police Service for allowing schedule flexibility; Diann Greene for transcribing the data; Mauren Jervis-Scott, Vicki Bryant, Grace Anderson, Michael Stewart, and Leroy Levers of the Frances Bodden and Bonaventure Homes respectively for providing instrumental support in the data collection stages. To all the participants in the study who took the time to search within themselves and tell their stories.