Dealing with the Perpetrators:

“We are on the cusp of success. We are on the runway to take off. The obstacle in our way is crime and violence.” So stated Prime Minister Andrew Holness recently. And I concur. The PM went on to say, “We are not going to overcome this by the police and security forces alone. It has to be a joint, cooperative partnership effort between the Government, the security forces, and the citizens.” (Jamaica Observer, January 23, 2017). True words, Prime Minister, and unless the crime and violence scourge is curbed, our national development goals, progress, and prosperity will be jeopardised.

There is no doubt that crime and violence is a stranglehold on the necks of our people, driving fears at all levels. Although it is a giant that has been with us for decades, it is not too big to be brought down. What is important is that the diagnosis is correct, the right medication is applied, and that we have a willingness to employ radical action and interventions that would actually make a difference. And, we must be willing to pay the price.

The ‘what’ and ‘who’ of crime

Having looked at the vexing and troublesome issue of the police problem in Part 1, the next issue we must address for real change is the ‘what’ and ‘who’ of crime. What are the major crime concerns?

According to police officials, they are: murder, lottery scamming, sexual offences, robbery, and larceny. We have to be honest about who is committing these crimes and be targeted in our approach. All the statistics and studies have shown that young men in the 16-35 age group (but mostly in the 20s) from poor communities are the primary perpetrators of crime in Jamaica. We need to face this issue frontally and focus our time, attention and resources in interventions that target this group. The aim is not to further marginalise and alienate them, but to finally bring them into the fold of positive, normative socialisation and experience.

Cause and effect

We must start by acknowledging the factors that push young men into crime. What are the issues facing them? Here are a few:

* unstable family life with poor parenting;

* lack of quality education;

* debased music lyrics filling their minds daily;

* poor housing;

* degraded physical environment;

* little or no job opportunities;

* little or no skills training options;

* poor treatment by the primary agents of the State that visit upon them regularly — the police;

* poor conditions in the lock-ups and prisons — a place where many visit regularly, even when it is not justified; and

* negative role models.

Giving the least but expecting the best

If they continually get the worst, or least, of everything, how can we reasonably expect the best from them? Thank God for many who have broken through, overcoming the odds, and who did not allow their circumstances to determine their outcome. This, however, cannot be a justification to allow inhumane conditions to remain; saying, if they made it, why can’t the others.

There is only one word that can best summarise these prevailing conditions, whether in the inner cities or rural townships, and that is injustice.

Injustice is a breeding ground for crime. Those who are fed the daily diet of injustice naturally tend to give out injustice.

Every act of crime and violence is an act of injustice done by someone against another person; therefore, if we focus on ensuring justice for the offending class — and, indeed, justice for all — we will see the crime rate go down.

If we keep aiming at crime, we will keep hitting the fruit and not the root, and hence it keeps bearing. But if we pull up the roots of injustice, the fruit will wither.

We may not at this time have the resources to deal with everything above, but we can start with some clear doables that could greatly lessen the constant diet of injustice, and instead begin to feed them hope — a most powerful and energising snack that gives strength to wait until better comes.

Clear, immediate doables

As a society led by Government, Church and private sector we must acknowledge the prevailing injustice, apologise for the neglect, commit to dealing with it, ask the people’s support, and immediately begin to deal justly by doing what is under our control. For example:

* Engage an islandwide communication and public education programme to change our mindset to one that says all Jamaicans are equal and deserving of the best opportunities. This could easily be attached to our current Vision 2030 programme.

* Clean up and do simple beautification of the physical environment and ensure that communities are well lit.

* Fix up and maintain basic social amenities in our communities.

* Mobilise the church, with its hundreds of volunteers, and various social agencies, along with non-government organisations, to conduct a wide-scale training effort in areas such as parental skills, conflict resolution and literacy.

* Institute new training for public servants to inculcate an attitude of service, respect and honour for all citizens regardless of station.

Transformative education

Another area that we must address is the education system. The emphasis must be to develop character and inculcate values, not merely to disseminate information.

Former US President Theodore Roosevelt, said: “To educate a man in mind and not in morals is to educate a menace to society.” Transformational education must be value-based. The re-teaching of values has to become a priority. Successive Governments and Ministers have spoken highly and passionately about the need for a values and attitudes programme for the nation, but actions have been slow and half-hearted.

Behaviour is governed by beliefs that inform thinking, which in turn inform speech, which drives action. There will not be behavioural change without a change in thinking and attitude. Therefore, at the centre of the nation’s social ills (of which crime is only one) is the lack of good values among the citizenry. We have produced a generation that has no clear sense of right and wrong; one that sees everything as relative.

We must find a way to engage the young men in our society and affirm them and teach them the significantly positive and productive roles that they are to play in our society. We must move beyond our classism and old ways of thinking. There is no ‘them’; there is only us, and this change of thinking and behaviour must be embraced and expressed by all of us if we expect change.

We have to be serious about fighting for this nation’s survival. Building the new Jamaica for progress and prosperity demands a total societal mindset and behavioural change. This must be guided by a political and pastoral leadership that is visionary, bold, selfless, courageous, and committed to the process.

Is the Government courageous enough to pursue the low-hanging fruits by taking even the simple steps such as I have outlined above? I wonder and I hope.

But, remember we all have a part to play; for they cannot do it alone. Let us all commit to fulfilling the words of our national anthem: “Justice, truth be ours forever, Jamaica, land we love.”

Copyright © 2017 by Rev Dr. Al Miller.

This article first appeared in the Jamaica Observer Read it HERE.