CRIME AND VIOLENCE: DEEPER LINKS

BY DR. DWAYNE DEVONISH, SENIOR LECTURER, UWI

The recent spate in gun-related crimes and other related offences has ignited the need for

robust academic commentary and research in the area of crime and violence at both

community and national levels. Research in 2015 has already revealed that, among 1500

Barbadians surveyed, over 70 percent believed that certain crime (especially illegal drug

trafficking and firearms) were deeply rooted in systemic corruption in the country and fuelled

by a number of high-level officials and elites. Although the majority had attributed rising crime

to ‘unemployed youth’ in impoverished at-risk communities, a significant proportion still

believed that crimes such as illegal drug trafficking and firearm importation reflected deeper,

illicit partnerships among the ‘top brass’ of society.

Recent interviews in 2018 with young and older residents of various ‘problem’ (or at-risk

communities) have also suggested that many of them felt stigmatised due to increasing

incidents of crime in their districts – attracting high levels of discrimination from police,

employers and outsiders. Many of youth in these communities felt that much of the crime is

brought in by a lot of ‘outsiders’ to the community and continues to further stain the declining

image of the community. However, both youth and older residents highlighted that crime goes

deeper than ‘boys on the block seeking to sell weed [marijuana] to make a living’. They

suggested that efforts should be better placed on locating the main sources responsible for the

illegal importation of the guns and drugs which are then channelled into the communities. They

also noted that this activity alone cannot possibly be financed or performed by unemployed,
poor youth in impoverished communities. Hence, many believed that certain law enforcement

officers, politicians and the ‘rich and elites’ all play a deeper and more strategic role in fuelling

gun-related and drug-related crimes (whether directly and indirectly) in the country. Certain

comments from interviews included:

“The police should focus their efforts on locating those who bring in the guns and drugs and
stop interfering with poor man” (Young male, 19 years)

“Where do you think the drugs and guns come from...not here...look higher” (Mature male,
45 years)

It was clear that much of crime and resultant stigma attached to these ‘so called high crime

communities’ have continued to adversely impact members of the same communities in many

diverse ways ranging from lack of job opportunities afforded to them to failures and drop-outs

of young people within the traditional educational system. There have been calls for

community-level projects and programmes to resuscitate, empower and destigmatise

communities that suffer from these effects of crime and violence.

Other Key Highlights of Key Findings (2015)

 Blacks (38%), moreso than other racial categories (Whites: 21%; Indians: 28%), believed that
domestic drug lords were responsible for crime and violence in the country.

 The belief that unemployed youth were responsible for crime and violence in the country was
much stronger among persons with college and tertiary education (60%) compared with those in
lower educational categories (e.g. those with only primary education: 40%).

 The belief that unemployed youth were responsible for crime and violence in the country was
much stronger among Indians (72%) than among any other racial group.
 The belief that politicians were responsible for crime and violence in the country was much
stronger among younger Barbadians aged 18 to 34 (31%) compared with older Barbadians aged
50 years and over (12%).
 Figure 1: Do you think there is a connection between
illegal drugs, armed violence and corruption in Barbados?

Won't say
4%
Don't know
14%

No
9%

Yes
74%