The Legacy of Slavery is one that affects every area of life, from social to economic. The uniqueness of the Afro-Caribbean slavery is that it is effectively equivalent to a 350 year long war waged against West Africa. Much of the psychology and sociology of slavery is helpfully informed by the study of war. The same kind of personalities become involved - the authoritarian, hard and ruthless. Similar justifications of being able to abuse the enemy are involved in war; there is an ‘us’ and ‘them’ ideology.

The effects of slavery on Africa were a depletion of population. The focus of the slave trade was on young men, but later women, due to their breeding ability. Afro-Caribbean slavery consistently targeted and traumatised young people in that very age range where trauma is most likely to be passed on to succeeding generations, who although not directly traumatised would themselves be involved in the trauma - thus compounding the effects of the atrocities.

The trading materials that enticed the African chiefs more than any other were the European weapons. These were traded at a rate of 3 guns per slave. This had the effect of fomenting of wars and tribalism, feeding internal slave trade. When people are fighting, land and habitations are destroyed, working men are not working, and food production is neglected, as well as other forms of production.
 
Caribbean slavery in particular was aimed at family destruction, where slaves were torn apart from their wives, husbands, children and parents. The destruction of the family unit, the rape of slave women were all tearing apart the primary unit of social stability.

The legacy of slavery can be seen in dysfunctional families, and the effects of this can in turn be seen in emotional and social consequences. There is a higher rate of dysfunctional families in the Caribbean than many other developing countries.

This in turn translates into poor education, poor mental and physical health, and high crime rates. Each of these will in turn be feeding each other. There is a kind of economic background that creates perpetrators - those who are economically deprived and long for a great future.

The concept of race was conceived during the 18th Century to justify slavery. The ideology of inferiority still exists with the Afro-Carribeans. The evidence of this demarcation along racial lines is still with us today, as research show.
 
... investigated the stereotype that African-Americans are intellectually inferior. He [Claude Steele, University of Stanford] found that black college students score lower than white students on standardised tests of school achievement, aptitude and IQ, but only if they’re told the tests are measuring intelligence, or if race is raised in some other way. Steele has found that he can completely erase the black-white differences on such tests by convincing students that the particular test they will take is not related to intelligence. Conversely, he can recreate the racial gap by an intervention as minor as having students indicate their race on a questionnaire.
Robert Adler, New Scientist, 30th September, 2000