Professional social worker Fabian Sargeant is warning that Barbados will not solve its crime problem unless greater emphasis is placed on prevention, particularly addressing drug use, mental health and parenting issues among young people.
Against the backdrop of Government moving to establish an additional gun court, Sargeant, who works closely with at-risk youth, said while it may help the justice system deal more quickly with firearm cases, it does not address the root causes of crime.
“A gun court, to my mind, is just the fruit. I think we continue to focus on the fruit of the tree and not the root of the tree. We have to target these behaviours at the beginning,” he said.
Sargeant said that from his work with young men, one of the biggest issues driving criminal activity was drug use, which he said often led to gang involvement and violent disputes.
“I am extremely concerned about the drug use among young men. This drug use is creating behavioural issues, disputes within the home, and young men are not able to deal with conflict or their mental health.
“On top of that, drugs are contributing to gang activity, shootings, retaliatory shootings and drug-related incidents,” he said.
According to Sargeant, many of the gun crimes are directly linked to the drug trade.
He added that firearms are often used to protect drug operations.
“A lot of these issues start with drugs and end up with guns. Guns are used to protect the drugs. So it starts with drugs,” he said.
He suggested that in addition to enforcement measures, Barbados needed more diversion programmes, rehabilitation initiatives and youth intervention programmes to help redirect young people before they became involved in criminal activity.
Sargeant also pointed to what he described as growing apathy and lack of motivation among some young men, as well as poor parenting and mental health challenges within households, which he said
were contributing factors to youth delinquency and crime.
“You have a lot of parents who are not coping with their economic situation, their relationships or life generally, and that is reflected in their ability to parent effectively. When young people don’t get guidance at a young age, it manifests in their teenage years and adulthood,” he said.
Meanwhile, head of the Democratic Labour Party’s Commission on Crime, attorney-at-law and criminologist Verla De Peiza, also weighed in on Government’s crime strategy, supporting measures to strengthen the justice system but calling for a stronger focus on treatment, rehabilitation and early intervention.
In a statement earlier, De Peiza said she was pleased that Government had acknowledged its role in crime prevention, but expressed disappointment that the emphasis appeared to be on a gun court rather than the re-establishment of a Drug Treatment Court.
“I am disappointed that, while voicing that substance abuse and mental health are critical factors in criminal activity, the Government’s focus is on setting up a gun court as opposed to reestablishing a Drug Treatment Court,” she said. ( CLM)
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