What are the triggers for the rise in gun crime? Is there an end in sight?
The 38 senseless murders in 2022 were closely monitored by Professor of Management and Organisational Behaviour at the University of the West Indies Dwayne Devonish. He’s concerned that perpetrators are more ruthless, and he fears it’s far from over.
In the second instalment of Barbados TODAY’s four-part series on gun violence, Professor Devonish joins criminologist Kim Ramsay in exploring why young men are gripped by this deadly scourge.
Dr Dwayne Devonish, Professor, UWI (Cave Hill)
“There is another thing that we are not talking about. It is the fact that there is money out there in this criminal activity. There are a lot of young men, even under the age of 20, who are being hired as assassins. All of these things come together to create the kind of activity that we have seen in 2022 and even a year before where we saw that upsurge in gun violence, especially among young men.”
The researcher added that what Barbados also witnessed in 2022 was a continuation of a breakdown in communities and families, and young men coming from impoverished households.
“It means that legitimate sources of income and employment are quite rare. They [young men] are quite frustrated, and these young men are seeing themselves at a crossroads and that the only avenue that they can take is through criminal activity. And with the leverage of illicit firearms, you are seeing this large upsurge in criminal activity facilitated through gun violence among these rival gangs,” he contended.
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