Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2011 in the subject Sociology - Law and Delinquency, grade: A+, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (Behavioural Sciences-Criminology Unit), course: Youth, Violence and Delinquency, language: English, abstract: This paper seeks to highlight juvenile delinquency in Trinidad and Tobago particularly within the school system which has become at the centre of attention recently. It explores some of the theories that can be used to explain delinquency in the school system. The author places much attention on the programmes that can be used to alleviate if not eliminate juvenile delinquency in schools throughout Trinidad and Tobago. The challenges and recommendations of these programmes were also highlighted in order to maximize its success.
This reader presents fresh insights on the rapidly expanding and changing crime-related problems in the Caribbean as well as provides information on new dimensions of crime and criminology that are occurring with increasing regularity. A path-breaking and comprehensive work, Crime Delinquency and Justice: A Caribbean Reader has come at a time when all societies in the Caribbean region are grappling with crime in all its forms; and when the structure of the justice system on which all these societies are founded is being challenged to adjust to changes in society locally and internationally. The work addresses both theoretical and practical issues indicated by the broad range of areas covered including: Theorizing a Caribbean Criminology; Juvenile Delinquency and Public Policy; Domestic Violence and the Criminal Justice System; Community Policing, Police Styles and Use of Force; Corrections; Crime Statistics; the Jury System; Drug Trafficking; Terrorism, Social Upheaval and Political Violence and Human Trafficking. Much of the contributions are research and data-driven and overall have policy development as their focus. This makes the volume suitable for courses in criminology and criminal justice at both the undergraduate and graduate levels as well as for specialist courses in various aspects of policing and law enforcement.
This compilation of works highlights the historical, economic, and human dynamics behind youth offending in the nations of the West Indies. Youth Crime and Violence in the Caribbean offers insights into the slow rate of system change yet leaves readers with an optimistic picture of possibilities. Recent events in Haiti and neighboring Venezuela demonstrate how quickly dynamics in the Caribbean area can shift if crime is not addressed and people increasingly disengage from systems in a manner that allows despots to rise to power. When this happens, the impacts are not localized.
The issues surrounding the academic under-performance of the government secondary schools in Trinidad and Tobago, compared with the denominational assisted schools have been debated for many years. An equally persistent issue surrounds the placement in the secondary schools and the inequalities which many persons perceive to be inherent in the process. In this masterly study, Professor Ramesh Deosaran examines the nature and dimensions of inequality in opportunities for education, and their relationship to gender, race, family background and socio-economic status. He effectively demonstrates that unequal opportunity and unequal outcomes are embedded in the country's education system - a legacy from the colonial past that institutionalized a system of schools run by the government and those run by religious denominations but supported by the state. Deosaran points to the 1960 Concordat which enshrined the rights of these denominational assisted schools and argues the case for revisiting the status quo to debate whether to revise, scrap or enshrine the Concordat in the constitution. Deosaran argues that the structural inequity in the education system and its outcomes amount to discrimination against the most disadvantaged groups with serious debilitating implications for the country's social and economic progress and its status as a modern democracy. He calls for a removal of the masks of inequality and discrimination and appeals for sustained, carefully planned and data-driven reforms in Trinidad and Tobago's education system. The study is multi-disciplinary in nature drawing from various disciplines, including politics of education, the sociology of education, the economics of education and educational psychology, backed up by data from his own research and from a variety of reports dating back to the 1960s.
Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2010 in the subject Sociology - Children and Youth, grade: A, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (-), language: English, abstract: The aims of the study is to understand the real life conditions and experiences of children together with the extent and forms of school violence in the Secondary Schools in Trinidad among whom the highest incidences of violence have been reported, and if possible to construct an adequate theory about the upsurge in crime in this youthful section of the population using the dynamics of race, gender, social class, limited opportunity for employment, poverty and family background. The objective of the research is to investigate the experiences of students in the Secondary School system in the high risk schools in Trinidad, and to enquire into their perceptions/experiences of the root causes, consequences and outcomes of youth engagement in violence. A further objective is to propose policies and recommendations to address the root problems of school violence and delinquency exposed by the research to reduce the levels of crime and violence in the high risk schools. In addition to recommend polices/ strategies to strengthening student protection, school staff, families and the community as a whole. The increase in criminal behavior among the Secondary School population in Trinidad and Tobago has been of national concern for some time. Reports of serious crime - murder, attack with a weapon, rape, larceny, kidnapping - allegedly committed by school students and reported in the press, have given rise to great concern and stimulated resultant explanations from lay persons and policy makers alike. The reasons for and the appropriate methods of dealing with this relatively new phenomenon in the Trinidad context, have abounded and are discussed in various public fora.
As the demand for education at all levels has increased, so have the models of meeting these increased demands for education. As in many other parts of the world, public education has expanded to serve large populations across the regions of Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Many nations in these regions have instituted mandates, policies, and frameworks intended to simultaneously increase access to public education opportunities as well as improve the quality of education provided and to address a wide populace. Because the increase in educational demand has occurred at all levels, these efforts often address various levels of education from early childhood through primary schooling, junior secondary and secondary schooling and into tertiary education. Efforts also have been made to increase participation in education by marginalized and/or special populations. The range of efforts is large with some focusing on involving migrants/immigrants/refugees in primary education while others aim at opening up choices at the university level. Recently, nations in the region have recognized the possibilities of digital learning (online learning) as cell phones and other widely used portable wireless devices have made it possible to sell the idea that one can learn from anywhere at any time. This widespread access to technology has made it possible for governments as well as private entities to expand learning opportunities even to populations previously unreached or to address difficult to reach sectors of the population. At the same time, the population itself has not only increased in numbers but in diversity. Maintaining quality through digital and other means of quick expansion of educational opportunities continues to be challenging if not problematic. Effects of Government Mandates and Policies on Public Education in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East is Book IX of the series, Research on Education in Africa, the Caribbean, and the Middle East. Chapters document, describe and/or raise critical issues and/or questions resulting from government policies, mandates and frameworks intended to make available public education to an ever-growing populace while at the same time being mindful of improving quality of education being availed to an increasingly diverse populace.
Endless Education is the first comprehensive study of education in Trinidad and Tobago during the long thirty-year regime of the People's National Movement (PNM), from 1956 to 1986. Carl Campbell focuses on the efforts by Williams and the PNM to use education as an instrument of postcolonial nation building, and the consequent tensions and conflicts between him and the churches, between 'creoles' and Indians, and between Tobago and Trinidad. His study concludes that the goal of national integration through education eluded the planners, and that diversity, not unity, characterized the education system. Significantly, Campbell finds that as in many other facets of national life, only partial and incomplete decolonization was attained in education. This study is useful as a source book in schools, colleges and at the University of the West Indies. Readers who reside outside of the Caribbean and who want to know more about the social history of one of the most important English-speaking Caribbean islands should find this book of more than passing interest. This is the companion volume to Campbell's The Young Colonials: A Social History of Education in Trinidad and Tobago 1834-1939 (The University of the West Indies Press, 1996).
