Poverty drives teens to crime – Trinidad Tribune

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Clinical therapist and traumatologist Hanif Benjamin – Hanif Benjamin

CLINICAL traumatologist Hanif Benjamin says poverty is the number one reason why teenagers get involved in crime. He calls it the biggest trauma.

In an interview with Newsday on September 7, Benjamin, the former head of the Children’s Authority, responded to comments made by Police Chief Erla Harewood-Christopher, who warned parents that police would hold them accountable for their children’s activities and spoke about the increasing involvement of teenagers in crime.

Harewood-Christopher spoke at a press conference at the Department of National Security on Abercromby Street on September 6, along with Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds and other senior police officials, about the worsening crime situation.

Benjamin said the family plays a crucial role in combating youth involvement in criminal activities, which are closely linked to social problems.

“Children who are dealing with poverty, who are unsupervised, and families who are dealing with financial problems, those are the children you would consider susceptible to the criminal element.”

He stressed that criminal gangs are recruiting day and night and the challenge lies in the lack of resources to counter this.

“Young people already face other challenges: it becomes very easy for them to fall prey to criminal gangs, because society tells them that they have to get rich faster. Their role models drive nice cars, wear gold chains and glorify a fast lifestyle.”

He said tackling crime is not just about weapons and police/military manpower, but also involves a closer look at socio-economic factors.

Benjamin wondered whether the reason young people involved in crime are not reported by their families is because they provide financial help at home.

“We have had children sexually abused in the past and no reports are made because it benefits the family. Is this the same scenario with gangs and crime?”

He believes there are not enough mental health programs in schools. He says, “While we do have support services for schools, they are woefully inadequate in depth and reach.”

He said that mental health and learning disabilities need to be addressed in the school system, but that this is not happening in a coherent way.

“There is a backlog of cases in schools that need to be assessed for medication, which is very expensive. We are not treating mental health well as a country. Therapy and rehabilitation are important. We need to adopt a restorative style, mediation, about how we can rehabilitate young people.”

Benjamin says the country needs to take a different approach if young people are to gain a more positive outlook and regain a sense of stability in society.

He believes that young people who have fallen into crime can be helped and can make a positive contribution to society if systems are put in place to reactivate their minds.

Benjamin advised parents of children who end up in crime to ask themselves what is happening at home and to think holistically.

“Our school system has a role to play in after-school activities, keeping our young people occupied, refocusing their minds, and fostering ingenuity and innovation. Young people are bored: their cognitive palette needs to be positively challenged.”

He called on communities to support parents, believing that positive push and support can pull children away from criminal elements.

“If we don’t help, we’re just abandoning children to their fate. Some parents have to work later to make ends meet, and there’s no real supervision. The community has to intervene. We left the village where we raise the child, criminals know this and have intervened.”

He urged parents to advocate for their children’s interests and help them find healthy interests in situations where they are not.

“Get them off the computer and the phone: get them involved in community activities.”

Benjamin advocated for more community activities in community centers.

“We need to get back to a place where we actively involve our young people.”

He reiterated the importance of a healthy and positive encouraging environment and said that this will determine the direction of young people.

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“What are the factors that push young people towards crime? Who are their role models? What do they learn from them?”

Benjamin also described untreated childhood traumas and said they play a crucial role in the rise of crime.

“Childhood trauma is closely linked to environmental factors. Events that happened in childhood that push young people toward a certain type of life? Poverty, sexual or physical abuse, learning disabilities, lack of learning opportunities? We need to explore those questions.”

He said answering these questions is essential to the conversation and achieving long-term goals.

During the press conference, Hinds said in response to a question that parents can be held responsible for their children’s transgressions under children’s rights laws.

Hinds pointed to a video of three male high school students gambling in a classroom while a teacher was trying to teach a lesson, which went viral on social media.

He said that all government ministries are committed to youth, but that the responsibility of parents for youth is also crucial.

Chief Constable Rishi Singh, who joined the conversation, said that under the Children’s Act, parental responsibility for unruly children is “a national cry”.

Department of National Security Minister Keith Scotland said the Anti-Gang Act requires parents to report such matters.

“The Education Act stipulates that children of a certain age must go to school.”

He also referred to the common law offence of aiding and abetting a crime when parents facilitate their children’s actions.

Scotland said the whole country needs to help address the current situation and that the laws are already in place, it just needs to be acted upon.