Girls And Crime

The Caribbean Is One Nation.
                                                                 

Submitted by the Mahogany Coconut Group

We now seem to be concerned that our young women are active participants in dangerous criminal activity. Societies do not become submerged in deviant behavior over night, this so called new phenomenon, has once more proven that everybody seems to be asleep at the wheel. Modern sociologists instruct us that deviancy is not the preserve on any one race, gender or class. However where a race or class is constantly down pressed, it tends to look outside of traditional approaches to problem solving and income. In other words if guns and drugs have become normal activity within the sub culture, it is obvious that it will attract both males and females.

In capitalist societies, it is normal to allow poverty to grow and then accuse the most poverty stricken as lazy, indifferent and don’t care-ish. We then hear cries for the church and communities to become involved and question the rights of economically challenged women to have children. The more fanatical disciplinarians express the need for barbarism such as the dreaded cat of nine tails, public floggings and death sentences. While some criminal psychologists might argue that some criminals, are born with genetic traits that lead to anti-social and deviant behaviors, this cannot be seriously the case or misfortune of any high percentage of our criminals.

There are some amongst us who cannot understand that the days of the petty village criminal are long gone. They are gone because the village communities have all but disappeared. We are therefore bemoaning the fact that these islands are no longer as safe as they were a half century ago. What we are failing to seriously recognize is that there is no demographic under age thirty five, which even existed when we were communities of villages.

It is a known fact that both girls and boys are using drugs and belong to gangs. Once certain trends become normal or popular within the society, they are very difficult to curtail especially when the resources to counter them are limited. Increase criminal activity was noticeable at least three decades ago and the response needed to combat the emerging trends was simply not a high priority.

It follows rationally, that younger generations of women, would find themselves in both positive and negative circumstance and activity. As harsh as it sounds, development does not only produce teachers, police, doctors and lawyers; it also brings or induces some citizens to pursue criminal careers! It was naive to believe that an upsurge in criminal activity would not include more females, than it did thirty years ago.