EDITORIAL

The Roots Of Today's Crime

Thursday, February 19, 2004

Two recent murders in George Town occurring within 48 hours of each other, one in the middle of the day, and both involving guns, have shocked the Cayman Islands.

The spate of armed robberies last summer shattered the illusion that, despite the outward physical changes, the Cayman Islands were still the "Land that Time Forgot." In the same way, these latest murders have peeled away yet another layer of this country's innocence.

There are undoubtedly many reasons why crime has increased in these Islands. Just the fact that the population has more than doubled in the past quarter of a century is sufficient cause for a correlating rise in unlawful activities. 

Along with the mere physical growth of our community, however, there has also been a corresponding, and somewhat disconcerting, shift in ethos.

One reason for this change in values is simply the substantial influx of different cultures into our society, through television, tourists, and our expatriate population. Because approximately half of the residents of this country were not born here, it is easy to see why the Cayman Islands would have difficulty these days imparting any sort of cohesive identity. 

Beyond the significant societal shift caused by the multi-cultural make-up of our residents, there has also been a subtler change internally, a change that has affected the collective priorities of the country.

Simply put, our traditional core values have changed.

Societies often see a transformation of values from generation to generation, but usually along predictable lines of change. The Cayman Islands' meteoric rise in affluence due to the success of its tourism and financial industries has hastened our social evolution unnaturally, just as some individuals who suddenly become wealthy through lotteries or inheritances often find more trouble than happiness resulting from their newfound assets. 

There was once a time when everyone in the Cayman Islands was pretty much on the same financial footing. Except for the small merchant class, who worked extremely hard to get ahead, no one here had much more materially than the next person. People were defined not by their possessions, but by their character.

With affluence, Cayman has become much more materialistic, and the society has been bitten by the "keeping up with the Jones" bug. Social status is now shown in the cars we drive, the clothes and jewellery we wear, and the homes in which we live. 

While there is nothing wrong with enjoying the fruits of one's labour, the wealth has not been spread evenly throughout our society, resulting in a situation of haves and have-nots. Whenever this occurs within a community, conflict is inevitable. 

During times of prosperity, even the have-nots can usually get by to a degree of comfort, but in times of economic hardship, like recent times in Cayman, resentments and desperation often move the impoverished to actions they would not otherwise contemplate.

There is no way to turn back the clock, and our traditional values are probably gone forever. This country now must find ways to adapt to the new Cayman and all its attending challenges. Among those challenges is the rise in crime. 

Facing the crime problem here is much more complex than just increasing police patrols, mobilising the community, educating the youth, and rehabilitating offenders, although all of those measures are now needed. 

To address crime effectively here now, it is necessary that the community understand and recognise the root social causes of the problem and acknowledge that crime is a concern of every resident of this country, one that will take much time, education, effort and money to solve.

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