Renew family values to eliminate crime

I once watched a butcher kill a goat for a certain ritual. It was a horrible affair! I have since wondered what could possess one to choose such an occupation.

The events in Lauriston have us all shaken. And it has me thinking. I am of the view that when such perpetrators are apprehended, much is lost if we just shoot them or abandon them in the hellholes we call correctional insti-tutions. I think we should try to learn as much as possible about them that could help us to deal with the problem of violent crime.

It is important to understand the challenges facing us before we attempt to solve them. Too much of our money is spent based on anecdotal evidence. Each time something like this happens, we hear of calls for 'more funds' and 'skills training'.

We know little regarding the economic, social and institutional factors that cause our country to have such high crime rates, or what can cause a change in those rates. It is because of this paucity of empirical evidence locally why it is necessary to quote from the research done by scholars in other countries. A review of the empirical evidence in the professional literature has given policymakers elsewhere insight into the root causes of crime. Permit me to share some:

Over the past 40 years, the rise in violent crime parallels the rise in families abandoned by fathers.

High-crime neighbourhoods are characterised by high concentrations of families abandoned by fathers.

A 10 per cent increase of children living in single-parent homes leads typically to a 17 per cent increase in juvenile crime.

The rate of violent teenage crime corresponds with the number of families abandoned by fathers.

Neighbourhoods with a high degree of religious practice are not high-crime zones.

Even in high-crime inner-city neighbourhoods, more than 90 per cent of children from safe, stable homes do not become delinquents. By contrast, only 10 per cent of children from unsafe, unstable homes in these areas avoid crime.

The mother's strong affectionate attachment to her child is the child's best buffer against a life of crime.

The father's authority and involvement in raising his children are also a great buffer against a life of crime.

It should also be noted that the type of aggression and hostility demonstrated by a future criminal often is foreshadowed in unusual aggressiveness as early as age five or six.

But every nation is unique, and we need to do our own research to properly understand what confronts us. I once looked at the social enquiry report of 29 of our female juvenile delinquents. Of that number, only three had any contact with their father and the contact had to do with sexual molestation. Twenty of the others had no knowledge or contact with their father, and the remaining six had fathers who were totally ineffective.

Seven years ago, I visited a school in Spanish Town. Out of a class of 35, only five did not have some violent episode in their family. Four of them actually witnessed a parent being killed. A mental-health worker in the area told me that the number of cases are more than the rest of the island combined.

The history of the problem in this area, which predates One Order and Clansman, started with the hurried treks westward in the dead of night by miserable souls fleeing for their lives with little but what was on their backs. Leaving a traumatised, gang-raped daughter here and a six-year-old son there because their insides or their little feet were on fire. Today, we honour the architects of this wickedness with our votes.

Beheading another human reveals a deficiency in all the sensibilities that differentiate humans from wild animals. Claims that the recent reduction in murders is because 'Dudus' is gone betrays a simplistic, politicised, unsophisticated view by persons who know better, and it only serves to delay and frustrate the implementation of effective strategies. The solution is not going to come from the police. The root cause of violent crime is the breakdown of family and community stability.

The sequence has its deepest roots in the absence of a stable marriage. When we do the research, I suspect it is going to show that we have to cooperate in rebuilding marriages, families, neighbourhoods and communities. This demands special leadership.

Glenn Tucker is an educator and sociologist. Send feedback to columns@gleanerjm.com and glenntucker2011@gmail.com.