#BTColumn – Incarceration is not the solution

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed by the author(s) do not represent the official position of Barbados TODAY.

By Guy Hewitt

As a father, son, brother, husband, and pastor, I’m deeply troubled by the escalation in violent crime in Barbados. 

While I appreciate that standing by and doing nothing is unacceptable, acting without considering the full consequences of one’s actions is equally risky. Here I’m referring to the new sentencing laws for gun crimes which include the possibility that someone who handles an illegal firearm could be imprisoned for life. 

While the Government’s view and a general perception seems to be that longer prison sentences prevent gun crimes, we need to determine whether this is a logical fallacy. Harsher sentences may not make us safer.

There are two popular arguments in favour of extended sentences. The first is incapacitation; longer prison sentences could prevent gun offenders from committing new crimes. Second, harsher sentences could be a deterrent to would-be perpetrators, who may choose not to carry guns.

However, research is divided on whether harsher sentences deter or prevent gun violence. A US study conducted by the University of Pennsylvania Law School, found that in the first three years after gun crime sentence enhancements were enacted across 30 US states, gun robberies declined by approximately five percent on average, whereas robberies without guns declined by 3 percent. 

In the widely-cited research paper on “The Impact of Enhanced Prison Terms for Felonies Committed with Guns” published in the journal Criminology, the authors concluded: “We found little evidence to support the intended purposes of firearm sentencing enhancements reducing crime rates and gun use.”

There are three factors that need to be considered. First, whether would-be criminals have any knowledge about sentencing laws. Second, whether the knowledge that the sentence of a gun-related crime carries a similar penalty to murder may cause perpetrators to seek to eliminate potential witnesses. Finally, and possibly most importantly, is that the legislation could be interpreted as socially biased as it fails to effect zero-tolerance on all illegal firearms allowing those of social and financial means to try to influence the legal process if apprehended for such. 

Having read political sociology, the study of how governance and society interact and influence one another, I believe that the question needs to be asked to what extent anomie, where a person feels alienated, worthless and that his or her ability to achieve anything is fruitless, is a factor in gun crime. 

After 50+ years of Independence, the hasty pursuit of republicanism, and too much long-talk about diversification, ours is still effectively a monocrop economy, tourism and service-sector based. These sectors exclude males who are further marginalised by a dated educational system that fails to unleash the creativity and critical thinking that they and Barbados so desperately need. 

Erica Ahdoot, the executive director of a US non-profit organisation that helps at-risk youth to graduate from high school and prepare for life, co-authored an opinion piece for The Washington Post about curbing gun violence. Her main point was: gun violence is a symptom of systemic racism, inequality and poverty.

Research is necessary to determine to what extent persons choose criminal activity because they believe that either there isn’t any other or any reason not to. There is a further need for deep introspection in our society to determine to what extent the individualism, materialism and social and moral decal emanating from many sectors is also a contributing factor. 

We cannot unlearn for our impressionable youth what transpired in Deacons on 2021 Good Friday. HYPERLINK to https://barbadostoday.bb/2021/04/08/bteditorial-no-parting-of-the-red-sea-on-good-friday/ Having lived in Jamaica and spent considerable time in Trinidad, I appreciated that the Deacons debacle was a thin edge of the wedge; it was the cause célèbre behind my consideration of representational politics. 

Some hold that our violent crime situation is one of chickens coming home to roost.

Part of the reason I reside in London is to support my children’s life chances that I felt Barbados couldn’t guarantee. As I have encouraged friends, and recommended to the previous administration, I urge this Government to actively explore opportunities for our young people to migrate, specifically to Canada, to secure a future for themselves. 

Canada has experienced one of the fastest recoveries from COVID-19 among advanced economies and is now facing critical labour shortages. In November 2022, Sean Fraser, the immigration minister, unveiled an immigration plan to help businesses find workers and to attract the skills required in key sectors including health care, skilled trades, manufacturing and technology. 

The Canadian government has set a target of 465,000 permanent residents for 2023, 485,000 for 2024 and 500,000 for 2025. As reasonably educated, civic-minded and law-abiding Commonwealth citizens, Barbadians should be at the front of the queue. This was my advice 10 years ago. 

Emigration could create the demographic space for Barbados to implement a progressive immigration strategy, which coupled with education and healthcare reforms, could appeal to members of our Diaspora and high net-worth individuals seeking to benefit from our double-taxation treaties. 

Our Diaspora awaits the promise of citizenship by double descent, that is, if they have a grandparent born in Barbados. 

We cannot pour new wine into old wineskins. As we journey into a new year, the riskiest thing we can do is to accept or try to maintain the status quo. As Barack Obama noted: “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”

As we journey into the new year, let each of us seek to be the change we need as a people and a nation. Happy New Year! May God continue to bless our belovèd Barbados. 

Guy Hewitt is a London-based minister of religion and racial justice advocate.