Global Journal of Transformation in Law, Human Rights and Social Justice [ISSN: 2581-4001]

Legal Dispute and Religious Conflicts Erupt between Buddhist temple and vegetarian house: Case from Indochina

Rujittika Mungmunpuntipantip, Viroj Wiwanitkit — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

A legal dispute over land use and religious space at Wat Rong Bom Samak Kitham, located in Phetchabun province Thailand, has sparked social and legal tensions. A controversial demolition of religious structures by the temple’s administration led to a public outcry, with accusations of the violation of religious rights, causing both physical harm and significant social unrest. This case sheds light on the intersection of legal rights, religious freedom, and community dynamics.

Legal Oppression and the Marginalisation of Poor Black Jamaicans: A Structural and Empirical Analysis of Race, Class, and Inequality in the Criminal Justice System (1970-2024)

Paul Andrew Bourne, PhD, DrPH. — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study examines the structural production of legal oppression and the marginalisation of poor Black Jamaicans within the criminal justice system between 1970 and 2024, arguing that postcolonial legal systems operate within historically embedded race and class hierarchies that shape unequal access to justice and legal outcomes. It investigates how socioeconomic deprivation, institutional discretion, and legal procedures interact to produce disparities across arrest, bail decisions, pretrial detention, sentencing, and incarceration. Using a mixed-methods design, the study combines quantitative time-series modelling (OLS and ARIMAX) with qualitative documentary analysis of court records, legal texts, NGO reports, and media case studies to capture both statistical relationships and lived institutional processes. The quantitative analysis is expected to show that poverty significantly predicts adverse legal outcomes, particularly higher probabilities of pretrial detention and incarceration, while access to legal aid and bail reform functions as a partial mitigating factor. The qualitative findings are anticipated to demonstrate that policing practices, judicial discretion, and monetary sanctions systematically disadvantage low-income defendants, reinforcing cycles of legal and social exclusion. The study is grounded in structural inequality theory, conflict theory, labelling theory, and institutional theory, providing an integrated explanation of how race and class inequalities are reproduced through legal institutions. Comparative references to jurisdictions such as Canada, the United Kingdom, and selected Caribbean states are used to contextualise Jamaica’s legal trajectory and reform challenges. Overall, the study contributes to socio-legal and criminological scholarship by combining empirical modelling with contextual interpretation, while advancing policy discourse on bail reform, legal aid expansion, sentencing transparency, and restorative justice, ultimately arguing that substantive justice in Jamaica requires both legal reform and broader socioeconomic transformation.

Structural, Organisational, and Behavioural Determinants of Police Misconduct in Jamaica: Developing a Professionalism Enhancement Framework for the Jamaica Constabulary Force

Paul Andrew Bourne, PhD, DrPH. — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Unprofessional behaviour within police institutions remains a significant challenge for law enforcement agencies, particularly in developing societies where institutional constraints and socio-economic pressures are prevalent. The Jamaica Constabulary Force has faced sustained scrutiny due to allegations of misconduct, excessive force, and ethical breaches that undermine public trust. This study examines the structural, organisational, and behavioural determinants of unprofessional conduct among Jamaican police officers using a multidisciplinary analytical framework. Drawing on organisational theory, procedural justice theory, and ethical leadership theory, the research proposes a Professionalism Enhancement Framework (PEF) tailored to Jamaica’s policing environment. A qualitative research design was employed, relying on a systematic literature review and a comparative analysis of international policing models. The findings indicate that organisational culture, weak accountability systems, inadequate training, and leadership deficits significantly contribute to unprofessional behaviour. The study argues that sustainable reform requires a holistic and integrated approach that addresses both institutional structures and individual behaviour. The recommendations provide a strategic roadmap for enhancing professionalism and restoring public confidence in policing in Jamaica.

The Business of Crime in Jamaica: An ARIMAX Time-Series Analysis of Economic Incentives and Criminal Enterprise

Paul Andrew Bourne, PhD, DrPH., Abianne Mitto — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Crime in Jamaica has increasingly been conceptualised as a structured economic enterprise shaped by macroeconomic conditions rather than isolated social disorder. This study empirically tests the business-of-crime thesis using an Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model with exogenous variables (ARIMAX) applied to multi-decade annual time-series data on homicide rates and macroeconomic indicators. The model incorporates unemployment, real GDP per capita, remittance inflows, and law enforcement expenditure to assess persistence and economic responsiveness in violent crime. The findings reveal strong autoregressive dependence, with an AR(1) coefficient of 0.512, indicating substantial temporal persistence and path dependence in homicide trends. Unemployment demonstrates a positive and statistically significant effect (β = 0.087, p <0.01), whereas GDP per capita shows a significant negative association (β = −0.154, p < 0.05), confirming that macroeconomic expansion reduces incentives to participate in criminal markets. Law enforcement expenditure exhibits a marginally significant negative effect, whereas remittances are not statistically significant in the short run. Long-run multiplier estimates indicate that sustained improvements in employment and economic output generate amplified reductions in homicide rates over time. Forecast performance comparisons show that the ARIMAX model outperforms a baseline ARIMA specification, indicating improved predictive accuracy when economic covariates are included. These results support the interpretation of crime in Jamaica as economically conditioned and structurally persistent.

The Evolution of Domestic Violence in Jamaica: A Sociopsychological, Economic, and Time-Series Analytical Framework for Policy Intervention

Paul Andrew Bourne, PhD, DrPH. — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Domestic violence in Jamaica has transitioned from a culturally embedded and largely concealed phenomenon into a recognised public health, criminological, and socio-economic crisis. This study examines the historical evolution, prevalence, sociocultural determinants, psychological consequences, and economic implications of domestic violence in Jamaica from 1970 to 2024. Drawing on interdisciplinary theoretical perspectives, including feminist theory, ecological systems theory, strain theory, and social learning theory, the study provides a comprehensive explanation of the persistence and transformation of domestic violence across time. The research also introduces a quantitative modelling framework using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Exogenous Variables (ARIMAX) to analyse macroeconomic predictors such as unemployment, GDP, inflation, and poverty. The findings indicate that domestic violence in Jamaica is sustained by the interaction of patriarchal norms, economic deprivation, intergenerational trauma, and institutional limitations. The study proposes a four-pillar intervention framework centred on prevention, protection, rehabilitation, and structural transformation, integrating sociopsychological and economic strategies. This study contributes to Caribbean scholarship by offering a theoretically grounded, empirically adaptable, and policy-relevant model for addressing domestic violence.

The Role of Law in Addressing Structural Issues in Society

Rujittika Mungmunpuntipantip, Viroj Wiwanitkit — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The role of law in shaping societal structures is integral to fostering a fair, just, and equitable society. Laws are designed not only to regulate behavior but also to address deeper, systemic challenges such as economic disparity, social inequality, and access to resources. By tackling these issues at a structural level, the law can be a powerful tool for social change. This article explores the ways in which legal frameworks address the structural problems that persist in modern societies and examines the importance of reform and enforcement in creating a more balanced society.

The Role of Jamaican Law in Social and Human Development: A Critical Analysis of Its Contributions to Progress and Deviance

Paul Andrew Bourne, PhD — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

This study critically examines the role of Jamaican law in shaping social and human development, while also assessing its contribution to deviant behaviour within the population. Drawing on an integrated socio-legal, strain, and postcolonial theoretical framework, the research conceptualises law as both a developmental instrument and a potential source of institutional strain. A mixed-methods approach is employed, combining qualitative thematic analysis with quantitative econometric modelling using Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) and Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Exogenous variables (ARIMAX). Secondary data spanning 2010–2023 are utilised to examine relationships between legal effectiveness, socio-economic conditions, and deviant outcomes, particularly homicide rates. The findings reveal that legal effectiveness significantly influences behavioural outcomes, with conviction rates negatively associated with deviance (β = -0.71, p < 0.01) and judicial inefficiencies, such as case backlog, positively associated with crime (β = 0.0009, p < 0.01). Additionally, socio-economic variables, particularly unemployment (β = 0.92, p < 0.01), exert strong upward pressure on deviant behaviour, thereby supporting strain theory. While Jamaican law contributes to governance, human rights protection, and aspects of social development, its uneven implementation, limited accessibility, and institutional inefficiencies constrain its developmental potential. The study further demonstrates that deviant behaviour is both structurally and institutionally driven, with legal systems playing a dual role in mitigating and reinforcing such outcomes. The research identifies a critical gap in the literature by integrating legal, economic, and behavioural analyses within a unified empirical framework. It concludes that comprehensive legal reform, supported by socio-economic policy integration, is essential for enhancing development and reducing deviance in Jamaica.

Coercive Citizenship and the Postcolonial State: State Violence, Social Class, Psychological Supremacy, and the Poor in Jamaica, 1962-2026

Paul Andrew Bourne, PhD, DrPH — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Jamaica achieved political independence from Britain on August 6, 1962, establishing a constitutional democratic state whose formal institutions promised citizenship, political participation, liberty, equality before the law, and national self-government. Yet the post-independence period has also contained episodes in which coercive state power has been directed towards populations located disproportionately within economically disadvantaged, territorially marginalised, politically stigmatised, or socially vulnerable communities, including the 1963 Coral Gardens violence, the 1978 Green Bay killings, the 2010 West Kingston operation, recurrent fatal encounters with security forces, and state interventions involving informal settlements and unauthorised land occupation. This study develops the concepts of coercive citizenship and psychological supremacy to investigate whether these apparently heterogeneous episodes reveal a deeper pattern in which formally equal citizens experience the coercive capacities of the Jamaican state unequally according to class, territory, tenure, political history, and social legitimacy. Drawing upon John Stuart Mill's theory of liberty and social tyranny alongside Fanon's colonial analysis, Galtung's structural violence, Foucault's disciplinary power, Bourdieu's symbolic power, and postcolonial scholarship, the study constructs an interdisciplinary framework for distinguishing legitimate governmental authority from domination and excessive coercion. Methodologically, the research employs comparative-historical analysis, structured process tracing, qualitative documentary analysis, theoretical triangulation, negative-case analysis, and international comparison with Brazil, South Africa, India, the United States, and selected Caribbean societies. The study argues provisionally that the central problem is not simply whether the Jamaican state has exercised violence, but whether differential exposure to coercive power has produced unequal experiential forms of citizenship within a formally democratic political order, thereby reproducing selected psychological and institutional features of colonial hierarchy while simultaneously generating distinctly postcolonial forms of domination, resistance, accountability, and reform.

Christian Religiosity, Sexual Behaviour, and Interpersonal Violence: A Systematic Review of Global Evidence

Paul Andrew Bourne, Dr.PH., PhD. — Wed, 16 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

Christianity remains an influential social institution whose teachings, practices, and organisations may shape sexual conduct and violent behaviour across societies. This systematic evidence synthesis examined research on the relationship between Christian religiosity, sexual behaviour, and interpersonal violence. Peer-reviewed systematic reviews, meta-analyses, and empirical studies were identified through searches of scholarly databases and citation sources, with emphasis placed on evidence published since 2000. Findings indicated that greater religious commitment was associated with slightly delayed sexual initiation, fewer sexual partners, and lower levels of physical and sexual aggression. However, these associations were modest, context-dependent, and insufficient to establish causation. Religiosity showed no consistent protective relationship with condom use or contraception, while abstinence pledges did not reliably produce sustained behavioural differences and were sometimes associated with lower contraceptive use among sexually active participants. Evidence concerning domestic and intimate partner violence was similarly mixed. Christian faith, prayer, congregational support, and pastoral care sometimes strengthened resilience, hope, and help-seeking among survivors, yet teachings concerning submission, forgiveness, suffering, and marital permanence occasionally delayed disclosure or encouraged continued exposure to abuse. Christianity appeared most beneficial when religious commitment promoted self-regulation, dignity, informed decision-making, non-violence, social support, safeguarding, and perpetrator accountability. Its influence became less protective where shame, gender inequality, institutional secrecy, or inadequate professional referral were present. The current study concludes that Christianity may contribute to positive behavioural change, but its effects are conditional rather than automatic. Churches should combine spiritual formation with comprehensive sexual-health education, trauma-informed pastoral practice, safeguarding procedures, professional partnerships, and transparent institutional accountability.