SOCIOLOGIST: TIME FOR NEW APPROACH

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Sociologist Dr.Tyehimba Salandy says efforts to tackle crime fail, because our leaders do not understand crime and the root causes.  He tells Tv6, billions of dollars are spent but the problem continues unabated....  More from Nicole M Romany

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00:00 Dr. Selandi is a sociologist at the University of the Western Days, St. Augustine.

00:07 His research interests include youth development, inequality, crime and sustainable development.

00:14 According to him, there are many inequalities in our society that contribute to the existing problem.

00:21 So you have a legacy based upon colonialism and domination by Europeans that have created a society

00:29 not based upon opportunities for people to experience self-actualization,

00:33 to go into our schools and get a holistic learning environment.

00:37 So there is a lot of hurt and a lot of trauma in communities and across the country,

00:43 especially where young people feel as if the society doesn't care about them.

00:48 And I think that there is validity in that feeling.

00:51 He says it is neither fair to paint an entire community with the same brush

00:56 or to judge others based on the success of some.

01:00 Anywhere you look in the world at places that have high crime rates, there is a lot of deep inequality.

01:07 And the mere fact that some persons may not go down that road

01:13 doesn't speak to the general experience of the majority of our people.

01:19 I think in many communities there is the minority of people who may be going along the criminal path.

01:27 But you have the stereotyping of the entire community.

01:31 Dr. Selandi believes that a quick fix approach will be useless

01:36 and says a long term, invested strategy is required.

01:40 My own estimation is that to deal properly with our situation of crime and violence,

01:46 you need a crime plan that is about 25 years long.

01:51 A long term crime solution program that is multi-pronged,

01:56 that draws upon a number of agencies and areas

02:01 to not just deal with the behavior of individuals,

02:05 but to radically transform the society to redistribute resources.

02:11 Dr. Selandi insists this country cannot continue with the same mechanisms if we truly want change.

02:18 Another major challenge in addressing crime is that

02:23 most of the government led initiatives will turn into some PR type campaign

02:30 where persons may say they want solutions, they may say they want to do something about crime,

02:36 but they don't want any perspectives that may make the government look bad.

02:41 Or saving the youth or solving crime may just be another opportunity for people to raid the treasury.

02:49 Nicole M Romany, TV6 News.

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