Crime is the spin-off product, a mirror view of the lifestyle of the society; hence the society cannot exonerate itself from the clutches of crime. Crime is the outcome of an infestation deliberately/undeliberately bred by the society’s unwitting actions.
Crime is like the flower in the garden, breading when the condition is ripe. Analogically, crime breeds when the society does not apply the virtues of restraint, discipline, self-respect and regard for life: an outcome of multiple adverse social, economic, cultural and family conditions. When the society fails to place values and respect on self-worth and self-respect, the younger members of the society begins to hold in high esteem values that are in reality a vanity. According to French nobleman marquis de Sade (1740-1814), “Crime is the soul of lust. What would pleasure be if it were not accompanied by crime? It is not the object of debauchery that excites us, rather the idea of evil.”
We cannot prevent or deal with the genesis of crime if the foundation of our children’s social upbringing is being abdicated because of our vain pursuit of wealth, selfish pursuit of “personal happiness”; pandering from relationship to relationship without sustained and conscious effort to bring harmony in existing relationships and the family. The implication is that, when men and women abdicate their responsibility towards their children, these children will certainly drift away into crime as they develop. Therefore, the lives and actions of today’s mothers and fathers become the prelude to the breeding of tomorrow’s crime and criminals.
Our society is a unique society which must be built based on our own social and cultural fabric rather than the unnatural and socially-carnivorous culture of other countries within our hemisphere particularly the United States. The unwitting silence to these cultures signals our acceptance, hence influences our youths into adopting them as our norms and values, further exacerbating the level of crime in the society.
The Bahamas’ cultural artifacts, both tangible and intangible (values, norms and beliefs), are unique to our existence and to our level of social, political and economic development. When we become engrossed and fascinated by other external cultures that promote violence, vanity, sexual profanity and sexual liberation, kidnapping, dangerous adventurism, heightened materialism, we become disillusioned and refuse to accept the reality and appropriateness of an ordered and disciplined life. We become transfixed between two worlds. In such circumstances, the lust for evil, profanity and sexual liberty becomes readily accepted as a norm. This unfortunate situation is not helped both as a result of the pervasive exposure of our teenagers to explicit movies, violence and music with drug-related contents daily on cable and satellite television shows.
It becomes a great challenge for parents to stamp their authority to curtail these vices and reinforce the need for chastity, hard work, self-respect, and respect for life and national development, devoid of unnecessary devious adventurism. Unfortunately, most times our parents are not there to fulfill these roles. In some cases, our parents passively condone the gradual erosion of our esteemed values and norm.
Our present society has become too complacent; condoning whatever brings instant happiness without concern of the essence of life.
οΎ
Parents and family members must remember that crime [rape, incest, murder, robbery, kidnapping, arson, intellectual property right infringement, and corruption] is a product and outcome of our way of life and the conscious effort by close family members, loved ones and friends to conceal crime. Concealing crime is as evil and dangerous as committing the crime. In essence, both parties become organized in behavioral patterns posing greater danger to the society.
The society must in response become resilient by fighting back not just through the judicial system, but vigorously taking a hard look and reflection of the life we live, the activities of our “children” we tolerate, the level of emphasis on materialism; the nature and scope of “bread-winner” responsibility we place on our young and innocent children; the values and norms we unwittingly profess to our children through discussion; the kind of language we speak; and above all the dreams we encourage our children to dream.
Dr. Kevin Alcena, The Bahama Journal
