Some people’s growing fears of becoming victims of crime have made them spend more time indoors and less trusting of others, even individuals they are familiar with.
They are also seeking more ways to protect and defend themselves if necessary.
Those were some of the findings from a study entitled The Fear Of Crime In Barbados,
which was presented by master of social work (administration and management) student at the University of the West Indies Cave Hill, Aliya Trotman, who is also an intern at the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit (CJRPU).
“One respondent said they choose to be isolated and not to go anywhere. Another person said they stayed inside more. Another person said they are fearful of wearing jewellery, how they dress and they are suspicious of people’s actions.
“One person said they don’t trust people even if they are the homies, because persons would do anything to anybody for gains.
“And then we saw increased youth disengagement. Young persons are no longer interested in community activities,” Trotman said yesterday during a stakeholders’ meeting hosted by the CJRPU at Baobab Towers, Warrens, St Michael.
The study was conducted to determine if Barbadians feared crime, to understand its impact on the community, to determine the root causes, and gather insight on plausible solutions.
“Thirty-three per cent of persons avoided community events due to fear. One person said nobody in their community comes outside after 6 p.m. There is a decline in trust in neighbours,” Trotman revealed.
“Some common factors included the fact that events were held at night. Some persons said that if the event was not within their community, they would not attend, and some persons avoided events with little supervision, such as fetes.”
The researcher said that people were also getting more protective of themselves and their homes.
“One respondent said, ‘I installed a camera in my home and I am even thinking about getting a gun, which costs $10 000’.
“So, just the thought that they could be victims, they are saying, ‘I want to get a gun’, which could potentially turn them from a victim to a perpetrator,” Trotman said.
Fifty-three per cent of the respondents were female.
Half of those surveyed were employed full-time, 23 per cent self-employed, ten per cent unemployed, ten per cent retired, 3.3 per cent employed parttime and 3.3 per cent students.
They were also asked what they believed was needed to solve the crime situation, with answers ranging from employment to harsher penalties.
“There was a very overwhelming support for preventative measures. One person said, ‘Bring back harsher penalties (for crime) to make people more sensitive. Another person said we must change the mindset of people through education and skills development programmes. While one other person said we should create more jobs, not only more jobs but higher-paying jobs for young persons, giving them something positive to do,” she said.
She added that 83 per cent supported increased police presence and more community programmes for the youth, but only 3.3 per cent called for boot camps. ( TG)
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