NCJ Number
182810
Journal
Caribbean Journal of Criminology and Social Psychology Volume: 4 Issue: 1/2 Dated: January/July 1999 Pages: 32-70
Date Published
1999
Length
39 pages
Annotation
This study examines violent and property crime trends for nine Caribbean countries and presents a case study of Barbados.
Abstract
The study was limited to serious crimes whose definitions were unambiguous, and the crimes were comparable for nine Caribbean states selected because of relatively reliable crime data. The longitudinal crime data were averaged for the 1980's and 1990's. Because of data completeness, Barbados was selected as a case study to assess the relative predictability of the modernization/deprivation thesis compared with the opportunity theory regarding island crime patterns. Three standard indicators -- per capital GDP, per capita electricity consumption, and the unemployment rate -- were chosen because of their frequent use in the literature. Three other indicators were developed to explore special features of the small-island tourist society. The first section of this paper reviews the general and specific (Caribbean) literature that links crime and development, with attention to Jamaica. Findings show that although murder rates remained relatively stable for Barbados, Dominica, Guyana, and Trinidad and Tobago, they increased markedly in Jamaica and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Since 1980, robbery rates have risen sharply in St. Kitts, Barbados, and Dominica, islands increasingly penetrated by drugs. Rape rates also show significant increases, reflecting a uniform rise in violence against women. Similar increases occurred in property crime rates, with some notable exceptions, which suggests underreporting. Primary factors responsible for the serious crime wave include the increasing spread of the narco economy and the emergence of a violent subculture of marginalized unemployed youth. The case study of Barbados indicates that worsening local economic conditions and visitor density levels to a lesser extent impact both on property and violent crimes, lending some modest support for both the Durkheimian and opportunity perspectives in the general literature on crime and development. 8 tables, 3 figures, and 92 references