The Plight of Delinquents - Cost of Poverty

Details

Rawlston Pompey

Sunday, 28 October 2012 02:30

By Rawlston Pompey

On November 1, 2012, the nation of Antigua and Barbuda, proudly celebrates its 31st year of “…political and economic independence.”

At the crack of dawn, and later as twilight fades and darkness descends upon the nation, few may remember two delinquent (females) juveniles “13 and 16 years” respectively, detained for their personal “…Safety and Protection.” These teens have found themselves in isolation, yet among a densely prison population at Her Majesty’s Prison and in environmental conditions intended for convicted and remanded criminals. Both seemed to have been victims of “…parental and/or societal neglect,” displaying behaviors deemed rebellious, unruly and unmanageable. They had been victims of circumstance.

Zone III Math Quiz Competition 2013 Antigua St. John's - Zone III schools is once again hosting its grade level math quizzes this month. The objectives are geared towards improving stude... read more

PARENTAL/SOCIETAL NEGLECT
Their “…Delinquent transgressions,” seemingly due in part to “…poor parenting and control; …Poverty and truancy,” seemingly influenced by what the moralists may posit “…moral morass;” …religious leaders may deemed rebellion against GOD’s precepts and economists may opine was “…economic stagnation and joblessness.” These may be seen as “destructive elements.”Their detention was due to the lack of a “…Female Correctional Facility.” Thus, not only had these females had been isolated from the “…Independence celebrations,” but also the entire “…Youth Population;” …the celebratory Rallies; …and associated activities marking the occasion, Worst yet, they had been denied freedom and opportunities in interacting with members of their families, friends and the wider society. For them it might just be another day of “…pure misery” [Mighty Sparrow].

SYSTEMS FAILURES
The teen’s parents/guardians appeared to have neglected them; …the Support Systems appeared to have failed them; …the society had failed them. Thus, when “…moral and physical danger” appeared to have been staring them in the face, the nation’s judicial machinery had been activated in isolating them. The underlying reasons, they had become virtually unruly, unmanageable and had sought every opportunity to be on the “…RUN,” slightly faster than national sprinter BRENDAN CHRISTIAN, though not At the sporting facility at YASCO or to the Liberta bakery known as “YA SOSO.”

PERMISSIVE BEHAVIORS
These systems appeared to have militated heavily against discharging parental obligations and their inability in providing for the “…mental, physical and spiritual development; … educational, instructional and recreational needs- generally their welfare and well-being” of their children. Many had been abandoned; …drifted aimlessly into communities and areas full of danger and a society at large, that was pronounced by unchecked and socially accepted “…PERMISSIVE BEHAVIORS.” Likened to many who had faced similar situations, said to have developed “…suicidal tendencies” and eventually succumbed to the pressures of life. These teens were experiencing similar situations and seemed “…inescapably entrapped” in the clutches of societal decadence and social stigmatization. The Court had given acute consideration to these and acted to prevent the inevitable. Citizens may recall the recent gruesome discovery at the Devil’s Bridge, that clearly was not the result of stirring the “…Legend” with Cubana Cigar fumes, thereby provoking his wrath. That case remained unsolved.

THE LONE GUNMAN
Having had some challenges and adversities at both adolescent and adult life; …imprisoned after his encounter with a vicious gang at a corner in Trinidad and Tobago in which Gunshots rang out he, as the “…LONE GUNMAN” did not run, after he later sang “…The crowd start to scatter”[Song: 10 to 1 is Murder]. Despite his troubles, the Mighty Sparrow had somewhat prospered from his social commentaries. He advised “…Children to go to school and learn well.” He felt that if they had not seized the opportunity in educating themselves, “…Later on in life you go catch real hell.” It was not clear what arrangements, if any, may have been made for the female teens- 13 and 16 years to receive instructional educational classes.

PRISON PERSPECTIVE
Her Majesty’ Prison, a facility, was said to have been built just outside the city center of St. John’s by the British Imperial masters, shortly after emancipation from slavery in the eighteenth century- “…1735.” Theorists believed that despite the abolition of slavery in 1734, British plantocrats/slave owners had still maintained a grip on those they had enslaved. Most had feared uprising among the partially emancipated slaves, hence, its construction in confining as many, in case of “…Slave Troubles.” It was reported that it was intended to accommodate approximately 150 “…adult male/female prisoners,” convicted of petty offences and serious felonies. In the 21st century, as the criminal population grew, with almost weekly intakes, the facility, as recently disclosed by former Prison Superintendent Eric Henry, appeared to have outlived its accommodation capacity.



POPULATION/COMPOSITION
As of mid-October, 2012, it was housing 357 (+3 escapees) inmates. Most were said to have been between “…15 and 35 years;” most reportedly came from broken homes and densely populated indigent communities. The composition of which, were “…328 adult males; …8 juvenile males; …20 adult Females and …4 juvenile females – two serving custodial sentences for allegedly “…attacking Law enforcement” resulting from a “…STREET BRAWL” involving four females teens, when an officer “…heroically,” yet unwittingly attempted to quell a “…Bad Girls’ Brawl.” He had fared the worst than those engaged in the brawl. The other two teens were on “…INTERIM DETENTION,” through lack of Correctional Facilities.

BISHOP BROWNE/DAME BRIDGETTE
Consequent upon these revelations, the nation was moved to “…empathy and compassion” when Dame Bridgette Harris, former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and Bishop Charlesworth Browne, Overseer of the Christian Ministry Center and Executive Director of a “…NON-PROFIT” organization “…Health for the Children Foundation,” took their concerns and feelings to the airwaves [Tuesday October 23, 2012] with a desperate plea to do something to “…Save these Children.” The only news Gender Affairs seemed to have heard was the “…Publishing of the names of Sex offenders in Australia.” Seemingly guided by their conscience, convictions with a deep sense of parenthood, the Bishop and the Dame spoke “…passionately and painfully” to the extent of “…awakening a consciousness,” likened to that provoked by the recent brutal slaying of 19 year-old MELISSA LEWIS.” The only difference was that there was no “…Candlelight vigil at the Prison Gates for the delinquent juveniles to be transferred to more “…enabling environment.”
  
SUFFERING AND PAIN
Many listeners to the popular morning radio programme “…YOUR VIEW,” with an accommodating host Peter Gordon, not only allowed empathizers in express deep parental and humanitarian concerns, but also felt and shared their “…PAIN AND SUFFERING,” as a consequence of the teens’ isolation from a relaxed and more conducive communal environment. They had committed no known crime. Thus, their circumstances may have been the result of parental neglect, and the “…social evil-indigence,” of which they had no control. They had been robbed of their “…dignity and worth, to the extent of such isolation reportedly affected their sanity, necessitating “…Suicidal Watch.” Many citizens believed then that their Parents had failed them miserably and so too “…the Social systems; …VILLAGE; …community; …public officials and collectively as a society. Such was the “…PLIGHT OF DELINQUENTS” and the “…COST OF POVERTY.”

LOVE OF HUMANITY
The goodly Bishop Browne and the compassionate Dame Bridgette, not only spoke “…passionately” as concerned parents, but also “…empathetically,” as they expressed their “…LOVE OF HUMANITY.” They knew what was likely to occur in young minds and were keen in seeing the two delinquent juveniles through their “…ordeals, frustration and apparent recurring miseries.” More importantly, however, they appeared deeply concerned over their “…interim detention” at the nation’s over-crowded penitentiary, where frequent media reports had suggested there had been frequent outbreaks of violence and where it was said that certain unsavory acts of promiscuity were rife among inmates. Prison authorities had always dismissed those reports as vexatious. However, that which was vexatious to many citizens was the irrefutable “…forced lockdown” of the two teen-aged delinquent females in a facility and an environment likely to militate against “…behavioral change.”

FEARFUL POSSIBILITIES
The Bishop and the Dame were aware that like “…adult females isolated” within the confines of the penitentiary, there had been activation of their reproductive organs. They had heard babies born to female inmates. This had resulted from conception without procedural references to the socially accepted medical scientific procedure of “…artificial insemination,” or that inspired, and likened to the biblical accounts of the Virgin Mary.” None, however, could have been called JESUS. They were not only mindful of these developments, but “…FEARFUL OF POSSIBILITIES” that the teens may become “…sexual victims,” due to their vulnerabilities to the ravishing exploits of “…confined sexual predators.” Thus, like many other concerned citizens, they were truly worried over their “...physical and mental safety.”

Antigua Culture under Threat - Laudat Antigua, St. John’s - One of the lead figures in the fight to protect the country’s culture has said the Antiguan identity is under direct threat... read more

MISGUIDED YOUTH
The clearly “…misguided youth” had reportedly become “…rebellious; …engaged in truancy; …persistently running away from home; …thereby being exposed to physical abuse and moral danger.” They had reportedly been “…sexually active; …engaging in illicit sex and drug use; … at risk of HIV and Aids and…unwanted teen-pregnancy. These had befallen many juveniles- leading many into committing, “…petty crimes, then on to more serious ones. These were behavioral traits and/or situational factors that had militated against their welfare, well-being and best interest. Consequently, these were known to have landed many teens before the Courts and ultimately saw many being institutionalized, either as “…delinquents; …first time offenders” or “…persistent juvenile offenders.”

PROMISCUOUS LIFESTYLE
The circumstances as reportedly prevailed, had unavoidably, necessitate the Court’s action. The two   youth, said to have come from “…an unhealthy and uncontrolled environment, had been determined to have been exposed to “…moral and physical danger.” Both were said to have been “…showing up skimpily clothed at places of “…ill-repute and others off-limit to teens below the “…age of majority (18), provocatively exposing their tattooed bodies.”  Reports indicated that due to their rebellious behavior, they youth had adopted a “…PROMISCUOUS LIFESTYLE,” thereby placing themselves at great risks.

PROTECTION OF THE COURT
Ironically, while members of the public sought to direct criticisms to the Court, many appeared to have remembered that there were social systems such as the “…Ministry of Gender, Sports and ‘YOUTH AFFAIRS’; …that there were at least two Ministers assigned “…joint or collective responsibility” for such Ministry; …that there was a Director of Gender Affairs; …and a Youth Director.” Then there was a Ministry of “…Social Transformation,” an agency called “…Social Welfare Department, with a Minister and Parliamentary Secretary.” These agencies appeared to have failed them.

LAW ENFORCEMENT DUTY
In situations where “…parental control/supervision” had been ineffective and the “…Social Systems failed,” bringing delinquent juveniles before the Court was a duty imposed upon Law Enforcement under the Juvenile Act, Chapter 229. In support of this “…FACT” one needs to refer to Section ‘8’ that states “…Any Police officer or authorized person may bring before a Juvenile Court a juvenile in ‘NEED OF CARE or PROTECTION.” For the avoidance of doubt as to who may be an authorized person, Subsection “2” defines it as (a) …Probation Officer; and (b) …a person appointed by the Governor General on the recommendation of a Probation Officer.” Commentator to this Blog “…SKYEWILL,” even though farfetched, suggesting that the “…unruly teens” may have been housed at Government House, he seemingly had an inkling that somehow the Governor General had a role to play in their lives, given vested powers of authorization.

POWERS OF THE COURT
Many people appeared not to have been seized with the facts and/or circumstances surrounding the youth’s behavior, detention and clearly not au fait with the law, procedure and processes.  The law was quite clear and precise. Therefore, acting under the powers vested in Section 9 of the Juvenile Act Chapter 229, “…having regard to all the circumstances surrounding the behavior of a juvenile so brought before it; …their safety and protection,” the Court is empowered to employ one of several options; …(a) …Committing him/her to the care of a fit and proper person; …(b) Requiring parent/guardian to enter into recognizance (bond) to exercise proper care and guardianship; or …(c) Placing him/her under a-three year supervision of a Probation Officer.” Parliament anticipated that some juveniles may be “…tough nuts to crack” (some readers know this too well) and that there may be endless problems managing those with these less than stringent conditions, particularly those who may have demonstrated that they were “…INHERENTLY DIFFICULT CHILDREN” to manage, let alone supervise. There was no doubt that the Court had so determined.



INTERIM ORDER
Consequently, looking over the horizon for the “…safety and protection,” of juveniles in dire “…need of care and protection,” Parliament in its wisdom, empowered Courts under Section 9 (3) in considering appropriate measures-“…preventive and/or mitigation” of delinquent behaviors. Thus, the Section states, “…If a Juvenile Court before which any juvenile is brought, is not in a position to decide whether any or what Order ought to be made under this Section, it may make such ‘INTERIM ORDER’ as it thinks fit for the detention or continued detention in a “…PLACE OF SAFETY” or for his committal to the care of a “…fit and proper person,” whether a relative or not and who is “…WILLING” to undertake the care of him/her.”

LACK OF CORRECTIONAL FACILITY
Their confinement to the penitentiary was said to have been due to the “…lack of a female Correctional facility or Detention Center.” They were said to have developed “…suicidal tendencies,” a situation, reportedly professionally assessed and determined by a qualified Child Psychiatrist, necessitating close monitoring for their “…physical safety.” The Court appeared to have given acute considerations to the situation and the available “…PROTECTIVE OPTIONS.”  Therefore, it was obvious to the Court that the teens were risks to themselves, thus, needed protection before becoming a threat to themselves and the society.

UNNERVING/UNPLEASANT SITUATION
This was reported to have been a most “…unnerving and unpleasant situation,” clearly not of the Court’s making, yet one in which Chief Magistrate JOANNE WALSH, a parent of two youth had inescapably found herself. She had privately confided with close relatives the pain she felt and her reluctance in exercising powers of the Court primarily in the interest of both juveniles. Thus, the lack of facilities not only underscored the difficulties and mounting challenges faced by Courts, but also the urgent necessity in providing facilities in “…caring for troubled youth.” The compounding difficulties had been the lack of proper facilities or a “…Female Detention Center;” …the inability of parents in exercising proper control; and/or …releasing them in the care and custody of third parties who may be faced with “…repetitive absconsion,” similar to that experienced by other Caregivers. The Court had clearly found itself “…between a rock and a hard place.”

JUDICIAL PROMPTS
Reportedly, as a last resort and weeks of “…judicial prompts” in securing suitable accommodation, it was the latter that had “…painfully and reluctantly” forced Chief Magistrate JOANNE WALSH into making “…an Interim Order,” after the Social Systems and/or agencies appeared to have failed when they were most needed in providing support to the well-being of the two troubled “YOUTH.” Responsible citizens had seen it as very troubling over the seemingly deafening silence and/or inaction of“…Youth Director CLEONE ATHILL over the provocative issue of the place of detention. Equally as much, they had also seen it as troubling over the apparent non-responsive attitude of both Gender Affairs Minister Honourable DR. JACQUI QUINN-LEANDRO and Gender Affairs Director SHELIA ROSEAU.

SHIRKING RESPONSIBILITIES
According to members of the wider community, Gender Affairs seemed to have “…fallen woefully short of citizen’s expectations, thereby giving the unmistaken impression that it had “…SHIRKED ITS SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITIES,” leaving the “…troubled youth to self-destruct,” thereby foisting them on the Court in providing “…care and protection.”  Not only were there very strong feelings by Bishop Browne and Dame Bridgette, but also among members of the wider society that the Court may have been expediently made the “…scapegoat” for the apparent failures of the social systems and those charged with their administration.

MAKING MOCKERY
If the situations as may have affected these troubled youth, reflect anything, then it may be seen as officials “…MAKING MOCKERY” by “…flowery talks and promises” made at the recent week of activities organized in commemoration of “…YOUTH WEEK.”  Worst yet, it may add insult to injury, for the two female teens, seen in dire “…need of care and protection,” but found themselves under judicially ordered detention at the nation’s lone “…penal institution” to have been ignored and/or left to wallow in misery.

SURVIVAL STRATEGIES
Conversely, when indigent families had no visible means of subsistence, many had been forced into devising “…SURVIVAL STRATEGIES.” Experience has taught that situations like these had forced many into doing the unthinkable. It was experiences like these that had led some adults into criminality and juveniles into “…Delinquency.” Thus, it might now be seen to members of the UN as disturbing, as it had outraged the conscience of “…Bishop Charlesworth Browne and Dame Bridgette Harris.” They had expressed personal concerns that “…CHILDREN” who, for want of “…Care and protection,” were being accommodated in the penal institution, clearly not ideal for their “…holistic development into patriotic, responsible, law abiding and productive citizens.”

Rising Prices Raise Concerns Antigua St. John's - The voice of several residents complaining about the high cost of living in Antigua and Barbuda could be heard during the Big Iss... read more

CONCLUSION
As it affects the “…Custody and Care” of neglected, delinquent and/or abused children, foremost in its consideration were the victim’s “…safety and protection.” Thus, Courts have always considered “…female guardians,” with preferential consideration given to responsible “…interested married couples-” the exemplary, morally upright; …stable and enabling environment and the spiritually inclined parents/guardians. Consequently, it was not necessarily those who had shown “…Willingness in giving or offer care, but those who, after “…due diligence;” …evidence of an enabling environment; …amenities as expected in “…stable homes; …amicable family relations;” …passing appropriate means test; …demonstrating parental control and/or capabilities; …exhibiting good temperament, tolerance and patience; …love; …proven moral and responsible behaviors; generally possessing the necessary “…PARENTING SKILLS.”   In spite of the unsolicited advice from “…DIG IT” to “…DUNCY BAT” [Caribarena 24], he too may very well fail similar test. Likewise “…JUMBEE PICKNEE” with a crazy “…DUNCY BAT” daughter, may not qualify, since one likes to “…strike matches to burn computer,” while the two delinquents may very likely “…RUN AWAY” from “…COMPUTER FIRE.”

• < Prev
• Next >