Pandemic fallout led to youth crime, research finds

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a disturbing rise in youth crime, prompting urgent calls for intervention, Cheryl Willoughby, director of the Criminal Justice Research and Planning Unit (CJRPU) said on Thursday.

She said the lack of educational support during lockdowns has disproportionately affected young men aged 16 to 18, now increasingly involved in serious offences such as murder and robbery.

Speaking at the launch of the National Peace Programme’s Livewise Campaign at the Starcom Network studios, she urged immediate intervention to address the social and educational gaps created during the pandemic.

The data, previously released in November, showed that many young men aged 16 to 18 are now disproportionately involved in serious crimes, including murder and gun-related offences, as well as acquisitive crimes such as burglaries and robberies. These young individuals are those who failed to receive appropriate education and intervention during the COVID years.

“When we examine the data we recognise that these young people are the ones who did not benefit really from serious sound education during the COVID period,” she explained, pointing to the disruptions caused by the pandemic’s shutdowns. “When you go back four years, you’ll recognise that was the time when Barbados literally shut down.”

Willoughby stressed the need to examine the aftermath of the pandemic on the education system and the psychological and social support systems available to young people. 

“We have to look at what systems have been put in place to mediate some of the crises these young people experienced as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic,” she said.

She emphasised that the pandemic left many young people without critical support structures, exacerbating vulnerabilities that have now manifested in higher crime rates.

In January, the CJRPU will interview young people on remand for murder to investigate their socio-economic backgrounds. 

“This information will be shared with the [ministry] so that programmes will remain relevant to the problems we see in Barbados,” Willoughby explained.

She also highlighted the importance of addressing family dynamics, which play a crucial role in shaping the behaviours and futures of at-risk youth.

Willoughby recounted a 2009 conversation with a Jamaican community leader who cautioned that Barbados was beginning to exhibit crime trends similar to Jamaica in the 1970s.

She said: “What was troubling to me was when he said: ‘You need as a country to do interventions immediately because Barbados is looking a bit like Jamaica in the 70s,’ and that caused me to pause. What I recognised is that we no longer had time to sit on the bureaucratic structure because behaviours among people change every day; it is not static.”

The CJRPU plans to launch a National Victimisation Survey to capture the hidden figures of crime, which are often not reflected in official statistics. 

“Official crime statistics do not reflect the true extent of crime in any country,” Willoughby said. She noted that previous victimisation surveys revealed crime rates four times higher than reported figures.

The pandemic has also highlighted the need for targeted interventions within schools. The CJRPU intends to collaborate closely with the Ministry of Education to craft effective programmes addressing the educational and social gaps left by COVID-19. Additionally, the unit plans to work with polyclinics to collect data on crime and violence, given the increase in cases treated outside the Queen Elizabeth Hospital. 

shamarblunt@barbadostoday.bb