SELF-RESPECT

Sep 02, 2010 Features / Columnists, Peeping Tom

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There are many reasons why persons engage in crime despite the obvious risks involved, but the main one is that the perpetrators feel that they will get away with their criminal conduct.
So long as criminals feel that there is a great chance of their criminal conduct being undetected or unpunished, this will encourage them to commit further crime. Once there is a high risk of criminals being caught, and once they cannot escape sanction for flouting the laws, crime is going to be reduced significantly.
There is, however, another important reason why criminal activities have risen in Guyana, and which is often not appreciated by policymakers and the public alike. That reason is the reduced sense of shame that comes with committing a criminal act.
In the past, a criminal was often looked down upon in society. He was seen and treated as an outcast. His criminal conduct brought shame and disgrace onto his family. He was seen as a bad egg.  It did not matter whether the crime was white collar or blue collar.
The stigma, the dishonour that was attached to criminal conduct is no longer around. In fact we reached a low point during the crime wave in Guyana when citizens openly celebrated the death of policemen and worshipped criminals. Some of our womenfolk developed a special attachment to hardened criminals to the point that even though they knew that these were wanted men, they fathered their children.
Some young girls idolized these criminals and could not be bothered by the embarrassment that they would bring to their families by indulging with these criminals. Criminals even found protection in certain places, and we had the most disgusting scenarios of women exposing themselves and children to great risk when they placed themselves between police and fleeing gunmen.
In other places, we have seen persons defend and provide pitiful excuses for criminal behaviour, such as saying it is linked to poverty. Yet, there are living examples of individuals in this country, including most of our prominent leaders, who were never born with gold spoons in their mouths, yet rose to positions of prominence and respectability without having to break the law.
If crime is going to be reduced in Guyana, there must be a complete change in attitude towards criminals. Criminals must be given a chance to redeem themselves yes; they must not be looked down at all times, but they must also not be supported and made to appear like angels or victims. They are neither.
A very sad event occurred recently. A small-time promoter was hauled before the courts on charges of tax evasion. (This aspect will be the subject of my column next week.) He was placed on a very small amount of bail. But he was so poor that the money could not be raised to facilitate a prompt release, and while he was waiting for the money to be raised or for the bail to be reduced, he decided to make a run for it and ended up jumping into the Mahaicony River. His body was recovered two days later.
The question that is bothering his family is why he jumped. Why did he make that decision to escape for such a trivial matter and also when he was awaiting the posting of bail?
I believe that this man was from the old school and that he could not handle the embarrassment that he had found himself in. He must have felt humiliated that as a small man he found himself before the courts and then had to suffer the indignity of not having his bail posted immediately.
He could not handle the prospect of having to spend a night in jail and so he decided that it would be best for him to escape the disgrace that he felt he had brought onto himself.
It is a great tragedy that this man had to do what he did. But the greater tragedy, which will be discussed in next week’s column, is why this man – a small-time promoter – was brought before the courts.
There are still persons in Guyana who are embarrassed by the thought of having to go to jail or to face the courts. This man should not have had to run, but he ran because he could not face what happened to him.
There are many others within our society who would not have run. In fact, some of them feel no bother at being hauled before the courts. They are not the least bothered at being arrested.
But this small man who was so humiliated at having to face the courts and then to find that his small bail might not be posted in time, decided to escape, because he valued something that money cannot buy – he valued his self-respect.
We would have less crime in Guyana if persons valued their self-respect. There would be less crime because those who committed crimes would be ashamed of dishonouring their family and community by a criminal conviction.

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