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[concernedyouth]

The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

[concernedyouth]

Preventative Measures

Now that we have suggested the various factors that might influence youth to become involved in organized crime syndicates, we can discuss how these youth can ensure that they are not involved. One problem with organized crime is that the operations are planned out so efficiently and effectively that persons may become involved without even knowing that they are a part of such an operation because the activities that are carried out don’t seem to be of a criminal nature. These would have been mentioned in the categories of organized crime and one such type that makes it hard to distinguish is the penetration of legitimate businesses.

 With reference to the risk factors that would have been highlighted, the preventative methods or solutions that would best tackle or lessen the likelihood of youth involvement in organized crime will be highlighted and briefly explained.

Creating positive social environments – The environment that people are a part of has a lot to do with how they behave and how their personality is shaped, especially as children growing up because they are like sponges during that time. Creating positive social environments mean that the community is engaged positively in ensuring that children stay on the right path by helping the family wherever and whenever possible. Social service delivery agencies should also be included in this process.

Building positive relationships – This is one of the most important factors that could help youth stay on the straight and narrow path; the company that they associate themselves with. Surrounding yourself with positive role models, peers, and other mentors will help persons to be more grounded and follow the crowd so if the crowd is doing only positive activities and trying to better themselves, then that is what they will do as well.

Implementing social and economic policies – The government has a huge role to play in the success of our youth whether we want to admit it or not. To ensure that youth are kept out of crime and violence as best as possible, there needs to be something done in relation to policies that will promote and support youth development and make it easier for them to receive a good education so that they will be less likely to turn to crime to make a living. These policies would help to keep them on the right track as they would not be left on their own after finishing secondary school or if they dropout of school before then, there should be checks to find out why and how the family can be aided in sending them back to school and helping them if they have learning difficulties.

While these measures may not be 100% effective, they will definitely curb the involvement of youth in organized crime.

[concernedyouth]

Youth at Risk!

In the previous posts I would have set the groundwork for this series by defining organized crime and providing categories of organized crime that are in existence today.

The major risks that may lead to youth being involved in organized crime in Jamaica can be contributed to:

Individual factors – Individual factors are important in determining whether persons will be associated or become a part of certain activities. These factors may include prior delinquency, access to weapons and drugs, sexual, physical, or verbal violence in the home, low self-esteem, and anti-social behaviors.

Peer pressure – It is well known that peer pressure may be either negative or positive, negative peer pressure will have youth doing things that they otherwise would not have been doing but they do anyway to be a part of the in-crowd at school.  This pressure may be direct or indirect and come in the form of having delinquents as friends, friends using drugs and drinking alcohol while underage, and hanging out with gang members.

Education – Lack of education is associated with young people and criminality due to poor performance in school.  These include learning difficulties that lead to educational frustration and sometimes dropping out of school, teachers negatively labelling youth as delinquents, inadequate school resources, low aspirations for life, low attachment to school and anti-social behavior at school.

Family structure – Family disorganization is a huge risk that may send children out of their home and into the streets where they find ways to cope with the stress that they are exposed to each day at home.  Violence in the home, alcohol and drug abuse, extreme poverty and hunger, lack of parental supervision, and a history of family members being members in gangs and in and out of prison.

The community – Being members of communities that have a high crime rate are automatically seen as factors that will lead children to delinquency and subsequently criminality as they age.  This may be due to the presence of gangs in the community, the presence and access to drugs and weapons, and the perception that being a part of gangs is a normal way of life.

These factors are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to youth being pulled into a life of organized crime without them even being aware that they are a part of such.  These risk factors evolve over time, they do not happen spontaneously, rather, they take the time to build up.

[concernedyouth]

What is Organized Crime?

Before we delve into what this blog is about, we need to define organized crime:

“Organized crime is the large-scale and complex criminal activity carried out by groups of persons, however loosely or tightly organized, for the enrichment of those participating and at the expense of the community and its members. Such operations are generally carried out with a ruthless disregard of the law, and often involves offences against the person including threats, intimidation, and physical violence.” (United Nations, 1990, 5).

This definition of organized crime highlights organized crime as a widescale set of illegal activities that have been blended into our society so well that we might be unaware of organized crime in our communities.

Organized crime may be in the form of:

Penetration of Legitimate Business – This is where members of organized crime syndicates infiltrate legitimate businesses for their profit, for example, using the cover of a garbage disposal truck to transport illegal goods such as drugs and/or weapons.

Extortion – This is where members of organized crime syndicates use the power they have and the fear people have for them to force people to either give them money to keep themselves safe from these syndicates or to even give up their family members for the pleasure of these people.

Provision of Illicit Services – This form of organized crime is done to satisfy some urges that society deems as inappropriate or illegal in many cases because of their nature, such as gambling, prostitution, and even loansharking.

Provision of Illicit Goods – This trade includes the provision of ‘goods’ that are illegal to be provided or goods that should not even be handled as property, such as human trafficking, drug trade, weapons trafficking, making and distributing counterfeit or fraudulent pieces and even most aspects of cybercrime.

Business and Financial Crimes – These are crimes that are committed in seemingly legitimate businesses and usually has to do with stealing money money and includes check fraud, money laundering, scamming, tax evasion.

Political Crimes and Corruption – These include white collar crimes such as accepting bribes and misusing state funds.

Do you know of a presence of organized crime in your community?

[concernedyouth]

Introduction

Hello there!

My name is Sue-Hanna and this blog will be focused on educating its viewers on the associated risks of being involved in organized crime and suggestions on how to lower the risk.

I hope that you will learn something on this page.

Please be sure to like and leave comments so I can know your thoughts.