BASSETERRE St.Kitts, August 10th, 2011 - The Abyss, an unfathomable deep crevasse, once entered it is virtually impossible to find your way out. The gang culture is our Abyss, this culture is steeped in death and destruction, it is often said once in there is no way out, the language of the gang culture uses phrases such as “blood in blood out” to reinforce this image.
We are losing a generation to this Abyss, failure to find away to rescue our youth will have devastating effects on our economy and our very future. A country without youth is a country destined to die.
There is a great deal of work being done to prevent youth from falling into the Abyss, Operation Future focuses time and resources on early intervention, it is easier to prevent a child from entering the Abyss than rescuing the child once they have fallen in. However, what can be done to rescue those who have already entered the Abyss? Are we to simply write them off?
Desistance programs that focus on bringing gang members out of the gangs and successfully reintegrating them into society are rare, most initiatives show short term results but see the youth return to the streets in due course, and long term success rates are not encouraging.
The Regina Anti-Gang Services, RAGS, is an exception, the initiative is having long term success, youth are abstaining from returning to the streets for in excess of 150 weeks. Regina Police Services is reporting that in the three years since the inception of RAGS they are seeing a reduction of up to 60% in active street membership in at least one of Regina’s most notorious street gangs.
The program utilizes audio and visual arts to attract youth into the program to gain their confidence then their life skills program, COLORS, Changing Our Lives On Regina Streets, assist the youth to develop skills enabling them to live a positive life.
A multidisciplinary approach is utilized where RAGS works with many public and private sector programs including Regina Police Services Anti-Gang Unit and the Saskatchewan Court System. The purpose of this conference is to introduce the RAGS program to the Caribbean, how it can be adapted to fit the unique culture of the Caribbean community and to encourage addressing this situation by thinking outside the box.
The conference will educate those who attend in unique aspects of the gang culture which distinguish it from simple criminality, discussions on restorative justice and why a judicial program which includes the broader community is more effective then the “tradition” system in reducing recidivism and addressing issues of youth crime without inhibiting the youths potential to achieve after coming in conflict with the criminal justice system.
At the conclusion of the conference the goal is to have developed a program which through public and private sector partnerships a workable intervention program can be implemented to “rescue our youth from the Abyss. “
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