This book lends a fresh, psychological approach to identity and Jewishness in the Caribbean. It explores the ways in which individuals in the islands have maintained their connections to Judaism as lineage, as a religion and as a culture. Transported overseas from Spain and Portugal in the 1500s while fleeing the Inquisition, and later during the second wave of exodus from Europe under threat of World War II, the Caribbean provided safe harbours for a number of Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews. There is no doubt that their presence in the Caribbean and Latin America over the last 500 years has had a tremendous impact on the growth and development of industry, modern commerce and culture. Their contribution to their new island homelands has been a lasting one. From the technology for the cultivation of sugar and the development of trade and commerce across the Atlantic, to the arts and education, Jewish life within the region has left and continues to leave an indelible mark. For the author, there have been many stops along the way in completing this book. She has travelled and interacted with Jews across the globe, and these encounters were the genesis of the questions she asked herself about Jews of all descriptions. Indeed, many of the questions and their answers arise from an existential need to rationalise her own thoughts about her personal identity. This is a pattern that the author has noted among a number of the theorists included in this work. From Erickson with his Danish-Jewish background and the subsequent elaboration of his psychosocial theory; to Stuart Halls cultural theory, born out of his own mixed heritage and later inter-ethnic marriage; and Nathan Blumenthal, who changes his rather Jewish name to Nathaniel Branden as he becomes known for his psychology of self-esteem. Of course, it is impossible to speak of identity without acknowledging the seminal contribution of Freuds psychoanalytic theory as a way of making meaning for ourselves in the world. Common to these theorist and many others, readers will encounter their own struggle with national, personal and ethnic identities while exploring the pages of this book. Claiming an identity suggests an autonomous act of loyalty to chosen identity, and for some this can mean the abandonment of previous ways of seeing themselves. This is the central threat of acts of identity; it signals, I am with them and equally, I have no allegiance to you. These are the sentiments over which battles are waged, causing people who appear indistinguishable from each other to obliterate neighbouring nations. This book is a story of the survival of a people, practice, culture, and religion.

This book brings together the most recent work of Caribbean psychologists in the English-speaking islands of Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad on gender and sexuality. The authors analyse the unique challenges posed by contradictions between cultural values and modern sexual expression in the region. They examine a broad range of topics such as conceptions of gender roles in primary school children, sexual behavior and emotional social intelligence in adolescents, and sexual identities and orientations in adults. Chapters cover issues including how women who have sex with women (WSWs) self-identify, the 'Lebenswelt' (life world) of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Jamaica, transsexual care and its psychological impact, the influence of music on sexuality, how intimacy is defined, as well as the relationship between identity formation and the fear of intimacy in Jamaica, and the practice of polyamory in Jamaica and Trinidad. This distinctive collection is the first of its kind, grounded in both qualitative and quantitative research. It presents a sophisticated comparative analyses of the cultures of the Anglophone Caribbean represented by Trinidad, Jamaica and Barbados to offer a broader discussions of intimacy and relationships. With practical implications for therapy, it will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners of gender and sexuality studies, psychology and culture.

This book brings together the most recent work of Caribbean psychologists in the English-speaking islands of Jamaica, Barbados and Trinidad on gender and sexuality. The authors analyse the unique challenges posed by contradictions between cultural values and modern sexual expression in the region. They examine a broad range of topics such as conceptions of gender roles in primary school children, sexual behavior and emotional social intelligence in adolescents, and sexual identities and orientations in adults. Chapters cover issues including how women who have sex with women (WSWs) self-identify, the 'Lebenswelt' (life world) of men who have sex with men (MSM) in Jamaica, transsexual care and its psychological impact, the influence of music on sexuality, how intimacy is defined, as well as the relationship between identity formation and the fear of intimacy in Jamaica, and the practice of polyamory in Jamaica and Trinidad. This distinctive collection is the first of its kind, grounded in both qualitative and quantitative research. It presents a sophisticated comparative analyses of the cultures of the Anglophone Caribbean represented by Trinidad, Jamaica and Barbados to offer a broader discussions of intimacy and relationships. With practical implications for therapy, it will be of great interest to scholars and practitioners of gender and sexuality studies, psychology and culture.

This book examines the racial and socio-linguistic dynamics of Jamaica, a majority black nation where the dominant ideology continues to look to white countries as models, yet which continues to defy the odds. The authors trace the history of how a nation of less than three million people has come to be at the centre of cultural, racial and linguistic influence globally; producing a culture than has transformed the way that the world listens to music, and a dialect that has formed the lingua franca for a generation of young people. The book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of Caribbean linguistics, Africana studies, diaspora studies, sociology of language and sociolinguistics more broadly.

This book examines the racial and socio-linguistic dynamics of Jamaica, a majority black nation where the dominant ideology continues to look to white countries as models, yet which continues to defy the odds. The authors trace the history of how a nation of less than three million people has come to be at the centre of cultural, racial and linguistic influence globally; producing a culture than has transformed the way that the world listens to music, and a dialect that has formed the lingua franca for a generation of young people. The book will be of particular interest to students and scholars of Caribbean linguistics, Africana studies, diaspora studies, sociology of language and sociolinguistics more broadly.