The entire society is in chaos and there appears to be no one with the capacity to step up and address the ongoing slide into the abyss.
We have girls engaging in a level of criminal activity and sexual deviance that was unheard of previously, young men who seem not to have any regard for their lives or anyone else’s, a criminal justice system which is crippled by gridlock and, more specifically, a prison system which has apparently gone haywire. When we add to this a government that prides itself on being a stranger to social innovation and proactive problem-solving we have a society that is barely hobbling along, rudderless and directionless.
In my mind we seem to be looking at these issues separately as if one has nothing to do with the other. We believe that we can solve the youth and social crisis problems separately from addressing the justice problems which are also then seen as separate from the inertia in social policy interventions. I completely disagree; all of the issues are interrelated, and movement or lack of movement in one area will affect the other. I have called for before and I am calling for again a fully multi-stakeholder and integrated framework to address these issues and to develop a long term process which is mindful of the intersectionalites across the issues. This problem will not be solved by Government alone; the responsibility cannot be on the justice system, the educational system, the family, or even the Church acting on their own. None of these agencies acting separately has the capacity to comprehensively address the social crisis.
Additionally, in my mind some of the issues are a result of our direct unwillingness or lack of capacity of those with the responsibility to take decisive action. We seem to like the thrill of looking the ongoing train head-on and jumping out of the way at the last minute.
I certainly am baffled by the recent allegations of female prison warders openly involved with inmates in direct contravention of the rules and regulations of the prison. All that we the public have to go on are Press reports. However, if indeed the allegations are true, not only should the prison warders involved be immediately going out the door but also the persons or persons responsible for not immediately enforcing the rules at the first sign of trouble.
People will continue to test the reins unless the rules are applied consistently applied. It is the same problem in the home, the school system and it is pervades the justice system. In the home we want to be our children’s friends and turn a blind eye to issues as they come to light. In this era of permissiveness we have forgotten the old adage of a “an ounce of prevention is better than a cure”. One does not have to beat a child into submission; it is the consistent reinforcement of rules and the fear of repercussions that will most often help to keep them in line. As parents we can sometimes fail to do our job and then pass the buck to teachers and the justice system to take the responsibility.
Within the educational system the attitude appears to be shuffle students as quickly as possible through the system regardless of the fact that all of the statistics show that many of them are leaving without adequate certification making them unemployable and without the basic fundamentals required for them to function within the mainstream of society. But there is no guiding vision, no clear focal point for direction and action, rather a hodgepodge of interventions inconsistently implemented over the system.
As for the gridlock in the justice system, thank God for Justice Cornelius, who has shown that perhaps all it takes is a firm decision to do something about a problem. It does not always require an act of Parliament or some great decree from a minister to solve issues. A large part of this problem is that long-announced promises of reform of the criminal justice system have, like much else been stalled in the forever slowly turning wheels of Government (sorry not sure they are turning but we give them the benefit of the doubt).
We therefore have a social system that is crippled and imploding as we watch. The question is: are we really willing to do anything about it? Are we willing to recognise that undirected societal outrage and sentiment cannot be a substitute for action.
Shantal Munro-Knight is a development specialist and executive coordinator at the Caribbean Policy Development Centre. Email: shantalmunro@gmail.com