Cross-Generational Relationships: Perceived Norms and Practices in Jamaica

This report from C-Change/ FHI 360 documents a study that sought to explore the dynamics of cross-generational relationships in Jamaica with the aim of informing communication programmes working to decrease cross-generational sexual practices and their related risks, including gender-based violence (GBV) and HIV. This study defines cross-generational sex as sexual behavior between two people who are at least 10 years apart in age. In short, it found widespread perceived norms of infidelity, concurrent sexual partnerships, and acceptance or indifference to these kinds of relationships. Key motivators for participating in these relationships were found to be sexual gratification and emotional and financial support.

As explained here, FHI 360’s Communication for Change (C-Change) project in Jamaica, through funding from United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), provides technical assistance in social and behaviour change communication (SBCC) in an effort to improve the quality and scale of Jamaica’s response to the HIV and AIDS epidemic. In 2011, the project conducted a study in Kingston and St. Andrew (KSA) and the western region of the island. Ten focus group discussions (FGDs) and 69 in-depth interviews (IDIs) were conducted with younger (ages 16-20) and older (aged 25 years or older) males and females who had been involved in cross-generational relationships.

It was found that the primary motivator of cross-generational relationships for males (older and younger) was sexual gratification and for females, emotional support. Financial and material gains were also key benefits for younger males and females and a component of most cross-generational relationships. Participants' motivations and practices mirrored the perceived norms they reported. For example, participants did not believe that cross-generational relationships were rare in their community - instead, they mainly believed the community was indifferent to these relationships or approved of them for the material gain they offered. Participants believed marriage was less common among their peers than other types of relationships. Most marriages were thought to end in divorce as a result of infidelity. Participants also held the opinion that concurrency was common among their peers, and most reported that they had more than one sexual partner. High frequency of partners was most commonly reported by men (aged 25 years or older) involved in relationships with younger females.

Experts from the report follow:
"This study has many implications for HIV-prevention programming in Jamaica geared toward gender and STI [sexually transmitted infection]/HIV risk reduction. While respondents' participation in HIV testing was high, a number of issues emerged - power and sexual control, infidelity, stigmatization of homosexuality, abuse, and economic needs - mixed with younger participants' trust in their older partners to guide and support them. Focusing only on the financial/material motivations of cross-generational relationship participants is not enough. Other motivators, such as the desire for emotional support and sexual pleasure, also need to be addressed by communication programming. Programs must also tackle the extreme power inequities that exist within these types of relationships for younger participants and incorporate strategies, such as greater involvement of men, the family, and the community in programs addressing gender and social norms; livelihood development and creation of economic opportunities for young adults; and small group interventions to address personal risk reduction strategies and skills building. Educators should also consider building curricula around the issues identified for use in schools, which could be implemented through Jamaica's Health and Family Life Education Policy.

Given participants' widespread perceptions of the community’s acceptance of or indifference to some of the risk factors highlighted in the study, it is also believed that addressing individual-level behavior change in the absence of larger complementary efforts to address social norms, or their perception, would be insufficient. It is recommended that communication programs draw upon theories and models relating to perceived norms in order to address the underlying causes of higher HIV risk practices. An integrated approach is needed that addresses not only HIV prevention but the broader set of related gender, cultural, and sexual risk factors identified. This approach should be communicated through multiple, reinforcing channels across all levels of Jamaican society to provide the support young men and women engaged in cross-generational relationships need to make healthy life and relationship decisions."