Another murder; the crime wave is cresting

How can the tide be stemmed?
By Maurice Williams

It is pellucid that the country has not been able to apply any remedy with some degree of efficiency and effectiveness necessary to instill confidence in the adequacy of its response to crime; a rather uncomfortable situation in the extreme, for all residents who continue to hold out hope and wish that its incidence is reduced to more tolerable ranges.

Long term solutions to crime reduction and control reside not in efforts at better policing, law revision, stiffer penalties, penal reform, conferences, commissions, councils and inter-ministerial committees, but on an a completely new approach. An approach that encourages and provides tangible support to those institutions in society which give individuals a place and a stake in the community by making it possible for them to play a meaningful role; one which gives them a sense of purpose, a feeling that they are wanted, valued and a sense of belonging.

Crime prevention strategies, therefore, as a matter of course, should be built into the planning of all social and economic programmes. This measure would have the effect of mitigating the negative effects of criminal behaviour on development and progress. Such strategies must include primary prevention, which is designed to stop the problem even before it starts.

Through a process of early intervention, action must be taken so that anti-social behaviour, personal family or community problems are minimised or do not arise at all. All of the agents of formal and informal social control, the family, the school, the church, legislation, the court and the police are critical in crime reduction and control.

The Family

The family, as the first and most important institution in this society, must be lifted out of a state of dysfunction. Government has the first responsibility to ensure that the family is strengthened and supported.

Families, as the bedrock of our society, must be equipped to provide the greatest support to their members especially in difficult times. They must have the capacity to build resilience and strength to overcome challenges, to provide love, a sense of belonging, security, encouragement and inspiration that help members succeed.

While the majority of our families in St. Kitts appear to be doing well, the stresses in today’s society make it increasingly difficult for them to cope, even under the best of circumstances. A significant minority has simply not been able to take advantage of the opportunities that the national agenda provides. Poverty, lack of access to services, poor housing, lack of qualification, extended working hours, unemployment, defective socialisation practices breed a host of social problems which are manifested in various symptoms in several of our communities.

The problems and proliferation of gangs, delinquency, misuse and abuse of drugs, youth violence, all had their genesis in dysfunctional families, where child abuse and neglect were a more regular diet than nutrition and discipline in homes without structures and boundaries and in which parental skills and competencies were uninvited guests. It is through the process of socialisation that children learn conformity, but a family unable to meet its most basic needs cannot be motivated or encouraged to carry out even its most basic functions. This is where government’s investment is required most, but most lacking.

The epidemic of social malaise which infects St. Kitts society is merely a symptom of a deeper and more sinister pathology deeply rooted in experiences during infancy and early childhood and one which is still being treated with indecent levels of indifference and denial by the authorities.

It has long been recognised that the most important period in an individual’s development is the period between birth and five years. It is the period, through socialisation when a person’s character is molded and personality is formed. To a large extent, this period determines how the individual will adjust and conform to the responsibilities of good citizenship. The lack of love, security, attention and affection are far more likely to produce delinquency than bad material conditions. In the local context, this is the same period during which a significant proportion of children in the Federation are robbed of their innocence and have their voices silenced by the scourge of the worst forms of abuse and neglect. It is the same period during which multiple scores of children are growing up in homes without standards or rules and in which defective discipline reigns supreme. It is the period during which children are exposed to sexual initiation, even before they could speak. It is the period when infants and young children are punished, in fact BRUTALISED, by having their body parts burnt, bitten, scalded, fractured, broken, lacerated. They are tied, tossed, tussled and trampled upon. They are kicked, stomped upon and left with permanent reminders engrained in their flesh. And then there are the wounds without scars resulting from the most primitive forms of emotional and psychological abuse which always accompany these brutalities. They are berated, belittled and degraded, told they are no good and would amount to nothing. They are referred to as being ‘moo moo’ and stupid. They are often locked away in what could be described as dark and lonely dungeons of their homes for several hours, occasionally for days, without access to caregiver or nutrition. They scream, they yell, they bawl. They yearn to satisfy their basic need for love, affection, attention, security and nutrition; none of which comes on time, and when it does come it is displayed not in hugs and kisses and reassurance but in abuse, blame and emotional neglect by the most important person in their life…their primary caregiver. This pattern of behaviour is repeated several times over with regularity and complimented with prescribed overdoses of regular exposure to television cartoons, streaming with violence and adult content. This, sadly, constitutes the real world of a child who is not developmentally mature enough to separate fact from fiction. This is not the exception but a profile of childcare in St. Kitts. Wayward children are products of family dysfunction and bad parenting!

By the way, in regard to the influence of television, while the debate over its ill effects rages on, there is evidence which attempts to rebut the argument that viewing violence on television leads to aggressive behaviour and supports the reverse that individuals who are already aggressive gravitates to violence on television to validate and reinforce their own anti-social tendencies, which are achieved when they witness characters behaving in the same way they do.

From where does all the rage, violence and social decadence in St. Kitts originate? When in their infancy and early childhood, children are brutalised by the person upon whom they depend for love for breaking a rule which they did not know existed or the wrong which was committed. Could this be the key to unlocking the mystery of today’s youth who shoots indiscriminately, stabs and kills in cold blood without provocation? Is the early years’ experience of darkness and loneliness now manifesting itself into an unconscious craving for a prison cell which resembles a similar environment to the experience of their childhood dungeon, or is it partly the reason why so many youngsters find comfort, security and social status in prison and feel alienated by the free society?

The experience of these early formative must have some bearing on the current crisis and contributing to the social implosion, only the first little cracks of which are being revealed.

The wayward youth, who are wreaking untold havoc on St. Kitts’ society, are challenged not by deprivation of material possession or unemployment but by social indigence and moral destitution. They are children without a conscience, prone to violence, acting on unrestrained impulse, with easy and unrestricted access to deadly weapons. They are children who are the products of defective socialisation, inconsistent discipline or no discipline, impervious to pain and not able to appreciate the pain they cause to others or the consequences of their action. They are the young machos for whom prison holds neither fear nor terror but honour, and who revel in the publicity of their harm to society. They have nothing to lose and will boast that they are prepared to lose even that. For them, life is not sacred. They have now become the children who nobody wants. Neither the families in which they were born and which taught them to hate, nor the neighbours who looked on in silence, nor the streets in which they played, nor the communities in which they perfected their craft, nor the teachers who neglected their role in providing pastoral care, nor the society which treated them with indifference and denial are willing to tolerate behaviours they collectively nurtured, all the while, creating the “proverbial monster” which now cannot be controlled. This is the reality of the modern day gang member in St. Kitts.

The suggestion by responsible individuals that gang members are blowing themselves into extinction and are of no threat to law abiding citizens is a myth and offering the unsuspecting public only the comfort of porous body armour and penetrable psychological shield, while obscenely disregarding the realities of the situation in countries in which it is common for babies and innocent relatives to be shot and burnt alive in their homes, not by accident but in cold and calculated rage; at times, “the destruction of an entire nation to catch one man”. For the gang members, this is not a restricted or controlled commodity, it too will be imported, so too will be kidnappings and abductions and cybercrimes as were gun culture, gang culture etc. Importation of these contraband vices will find fertile minds in this country.

A good indicator of what the future portends is the thousands of preschoolers who flood the streets during the annual child month march and the growing number of those in nurseries. When these are combined with the rate of teen pregnancy, it cautions that storm clouds are still forming, ready to burst. The next generation of gang members is already being nurtured.

The entire country needs to be on emergency alert. Cute as these children are on the streets on parade day may not be a reflection of “good homes” in which they are well socialised and insulated from child abuse, neglect and family violence, but, more frighteningly, a reliable and steady source for the replenishment of gangs. Sustained action is required now to ensure that homes and families are no longer primary institutions for the creation of street children, juvenile delinquents and gangs.

The tide which is rising fast can be stemmed through early intervention strategies with at-risk-families, beginning while a child is still in the womb and  in maternity wards, and at prenatal clinics where parents will be provided information about good parenting; knowledge about services available; have the opportunity to discuss with professionals their current situation and circumstances surrounding their own growing up and being offered continuing services at day nurseries and pre-schools and through home visits by a multi-disciplinary team.

In the home, families will be assisted in meeting immediate and long-term material and other basic needs of all its members; provided emotional support; basic child rearing skills; introduced to knowledge and skills for positive socialisation; linked to required medical care and encouraged to  become involved in the appropriate use of health care.

These early intervention strategies will:-
• Better equip families to help themselves and their children;
• Empower and strengthen adults in their roles as parents, enhance parental capacity and empower families to act on their own behalf;
• Help prevent problems from occurring rather than curing them;
• Increase the stability of the family;
• Increase parental confidence and competence; and
• Promote the flow of resources and support to families to help all children have  the best start in life; flourish in childhood and to realise their full  potential.

In St Kitts, the roots of crime are buried deeply in homes and families. This is where social engineering is required for effective crime prevention, stopping it before it starts!

This effort will be supported by an effective child protection protocol which will ensure that all children have a safe place for sleeping; playing; the opportunity to learn positive values and at least one responsible, loving and competent adult who is unconditionally committed to providing for his or her full development. The protocol will place a legal obligation on all childcare professionals to report all cases or suspected cases of child abuse or neglect to allow authorised agencies to deliver services which would ameliorate these situations.

The protocol will be supported by an effective and well structured foster care service which will provide for the alternative care of children, who are abused, neglected or abandoned, or whose natural environments place their development at risk.

A well established and functional family/juvenile court, presided over by a dedicated magistrate bolstered by strict enforcement of relevant legislation, will give efficacy to these strategies.