The COVID-19 Incubator: Unpacking the Impact of the Pandemic on the Triple Vulnerabilities Experienced by Marginalised Communities

Abstract

In marginalised communities, COVID-19 intensified the experiences of child abuse, turf wars, and domestic violence—an arrangement the researchers coined “triple vulnerabilities.” In response, government and non-governmental organisations sought to address the violence that disproportionately affects these marginalised and vulnerable groups. This study explored these multiple threats and their impact on one marginalised community in Jamaica. The researchers addressed these conflicts by using psychodynamic and social theories as they posit that incidents in childhood impact our adult lives. The social theory focused on gender, social behaviour, and structure. It provided the framework to examine a social phenomenon like the pandemic and explained associated behaviours related to the violence that emanates in marginalised communities. A phenomenology research design allowed us to centre on participants and their lived experiences. The data collected were transcribed and coded using the NVIVO software, and the themes extracted were human insecurity, fear, gender abuse, and economic loss. The findings indicate that COVID-19 served as an incubator for heightening the occurrence of child abuse, turf wars, and domestic violence, increasing the risk to marginalised communities and their susceptibility to these vulnerabilities. The researchers discuss interventions aimed at reducing their occurrence to be implemented at the community level by internal and external stakeholders.