Behaviour change specialist Yohance Ayodike says data must be compiled before it can be determined conclusively whether Trinidad and Tobago has become a violent society.
Speaking on CNC3’s The Morning Brew yesterday, Ayodike said a deeper dive needs to be done into the real issue causing the violence the country is experiencing at the moment. However, he said instead of considering punitive responses to crime, including expulsions as punishment for school violence and harsher police action, we should consider building on the broken relationships between some communities and law enforcement.
During Thursday’s post-Cabinet media briefing, Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley reiterated a point he made previously that T&T was a violent society, noting the recent crime surge was evidence that people seemed to be trying to prove him right. He added that there were “serious social difficulties in this country” that require a number of interventions.
“We have interventions but they aren’t enough,” the PM said then.
One intervention Ayodike suggested yesterday is the improved use of community policing. He said if the relationship between the community and the T&T Police Service is broken, healing is needed and that requires direct investment from both sides.
“If there is a sentiment that the public don’t trust the police, if that is the sentiment, and if the police are unable to bridge the gap with the public, so there is a breakdown of trust, there is a breakdown of the relationship.”
Born and raised in Edinburgh, Chaguanas, Ayodike recalled a more involved police force in his youth. He said the officers were known in the community by name and in return, the officers knew the people personally.
“They became more than just officers patrolling,” he said.
“They became officer, I just giving an example, John! Officer Jane, et cetera. Now there was more of a relationship. When something occurs, I wouldn’t feel like I’m going to ‘the police’. I am going to an officer that I know.”
He said the country also needs data to reveal how the recent COVID-19 health lockdown affected our social skills.
Addressing the current violence levels in schools, Ayodike agreed with Roman Catholic priest Father Martin Sirju, who recently said nothing good will come from expelling troubled students.
Ayodike recommended working closely with these children to correct and reform their behaviour.
He said it was also critical to determine the impact of the extended lockdown on our children’s psyche.
“We have no data, we have no experience to understand how exactly these children were affected by being locked down for so long in terms of their energy, in terms of their social interaction, their social competence. So, the asking why, is very important at this time,” Ayodike said.
Ayodike, who studies psychology at Morgan State University and worked within the Baltimore healthcare system, remained optimistic that change was possible with “small effort every day.”
—Soyini Grey