Pubdate: Fri, 28 Dec 2007 Source: Sun St. Kitts and Nevis (Antigua) Copyright: 2007 SUN Printing & Publishing LTD Contact: http://sunstkitts.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/4295 THE ROOT OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY It was more than a decade ago that violent crime started to force citizens of this Federation to take notice of its presence. At one stage, it appeared as though the phenomenon, at least as far as St. Kitts/Nevis was concerned, had consumed the majority of the people in the country. The frequency in which people were being robbed, beaten and even killed was alarming. Further, the situation was so alien to the citizens of this country that many were not even sure how to react to it. Many pulled in their windows and doors and became like prisoners in their homes. They did not want to find themselves in a position whereby they might have seen a crime committed or someone might have suspected that they saw the act. Either way, the whole thing had become very serious and maybe even worse as the authorities did not seem to have any clue as to how to deal with the problem. Following the intervention of United States law enforcement agencies, certain key figures in the activities were removed from the country and things seemed to have quietened down a bit. Since then, however, violent crime has again risen in a serious way and there have been some 35 murders in two years. Experts said that based on the size of the country, the number of murders is exceedingly high and someone has to move in a hurry to correct the problem. It must be that before attempts are made to find the solution, the genesis of the problem must be found and then a plan of action created to counter it. We know that illegal drugs would have played a significant role in the early life of the increased criminal activity but is it still the problem? Some believe this is the obvious answer but some others will suggest that the dominance of drug lords in the country is over and that it is something completely new that is causing the recent upsurge in violent crime. They believe a large part of it has to do with the fact that many of the young men of this country do not appear to be too keen on bettering themselves through education and it is indeed fair to say that the girls have been making greater strides in this area than their counterparts. Now that many of the boys have been finding themselves short on alternatives to make a significant livelihood, they have turned to crime in order to satisfy their various wants. It is also believed that some are being "carried away" with a "thug" attitude they have seen a lot of in recent times via television and one that is also glorified in several pieces of rap and dancehall music. One can agree that in all of this, there is room for the growth of a drug culture but, this apparently comes after a regular period of delinquent behaviour at an early stage in life. This is telling us that there is something going woefully wrong when it comes to the development of our children, especially our males. Therefore, some special effort must now be made to make sure that the young people of this country go through their education paces and give themselves a real opportunity to be successful and not have to turn to a life of crime in order to get what it is they believe will make their lives more comfortable. They must learn that nothing in life comes easy and that they must work hard for what they want in life. They must also learn that they should have respect for other people's property and even more, have a deep respect for the life of others. It does appear that although illegal drugs continue to play a part in violent crime in this country, it might be just a small one because the absence of the ability to resolve conflicts peacefully may be more of a feature in violent crimes. - --- MAP posted-by: Richard Lake