crime in guyana some problems of comparative study in the caribbean

CRIME IN GUYANA SOME PROBLEMS OF COMPARATIVE STUDY IN THE CARIBBEANAuthor(s): Howard JonesSource: Social and Economic Studies, Vol. 29, No. 1 (MARCH 1980), pp. 60-68Published by: Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies, University of the WestIndiesStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27861866 .

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60 SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC STUDIES

CRIME IN GUYANA SOME PROBLEMS OF COMPARATIVE/

STUDY IN THE CARIBBEAN

By Howard Jones

INTRODUCTION

The widespread belief, not only in Guyana, but throughout the West Indies, that Guyana is a lawless place, with so much crime and violence that both life and property are at hazard, has never been

subjected to critical examination. It is well-known that an underserved reputation, either of a laudable or pejorative kind can often depend upon an image established by a few highly publicised and dramatic incidents. The political violence which took place in

Guyana, in 1961, 1962 and 1964 was both dramatic and widely publicised. In a week of rioting in 1962 the centre of Georgetown was destroyed, a number of people were killed, and in the end the British army had to be brought in to maintain order. Later in 1964, many people were killed in the canefields. To what extent did these events focus attention on violent crime in Guyana, giving it a signi ficance out of proportion to its real magnitude

? giving the dog as it

were, a bad name? It was, of course, a reprehensible, and indeed tragic course of

events. Although it was not engineered by Britain, it was, when it occurred, manipulated by that country to bring about a change in the constitution and thus in the government, with widespread unforeseen consequences for the future of Guyana. But in the end its value as an indicator of trends in even violent crime in Guyana, much less Guyanese criminality in general, may have been slight. This has not prevented it from playing an important part in building up a

misleading stereotype of Guyana as a country in which attacks on

people and property are commonplace. But the political disturbances could have criminological significance in another sense. Most observers accept that the leaders who fomented the riots, Forbes Burnham (the present Prime Minister who gained power through them) and his then ally, D'Aguiar (leader of the conservative United

Force) could not have succeeded if they had not been able to exploit long-standing racial animosity between Afro- and East Indian

Guyanese. The riots might, in other words, have been an out-crop of

words, an out-crop of something more basic: crimogenic forces, aris

ing out of ethnic differences.



CRIME IN GUYANA 61

CRIME STATISTICS

Some comparison of the number of crimes known to the police in Guyana, with that in some other countries would seem to be the first step towards finding an answer to such questions as these. A

comparison with the figures for England and Wales does suggest that the anxiety about the Guyanese crime problem may have been exag gerated.

TABLE 1 INDICTABLE CRIMES KNOWN TO THE POLICE GUYANA & ENGLAND & WALES

No.

1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975

3147 3221 3340 3380 3848 4482 4557 4400 3871 4071 4984

Guyana Rate (per 10,000 of estimated population at risk), in the year

stated

74.8

74.8

75.8

75.0

83.5

95.2

94.8

89.7

77.3 79.8

95.8

No.

England & Wales Rate (per 10,000

of estimated

population at risk), in the year stated

1,133,882

1,199,859

1,207,354

1,289,090

1,488,638

1,555,995

1,646,081

1,690,219

1,657,669 1,963,360

2,105,631

282.6

297.9

298.3 317.7

365.3

380.3

403.3

411.2

406.0 470.8

502.0

The population at risk is that at or above the minimum age of criminal

responsibility i.e. ten years. The number of crimes reported for 1970-2, as

given in this Table, 2 and 4 differ slightly from numbers given in other tables in this article. This is because the latter are based on our own more

refined analysis of police data for these three years. As we have to rely on

the police for other years, it seemed better also to use their figures for

1970-2, where comparisons over a period are involved.

Table 1 shows a British rate per 10,000 for crimes reported to the police, almost four times as large as that in Guyana, rising to five or six times as large at the end of the period. The average annual rate for the eleven-year period is 375.8 for England & Wales as contrasted with only 84.6 for Guyana.

There remains however a question about the completeness of the figures for Guyana. In addition to the factors leading to the

underreporting of crime in developed societies there are special factors at work in the developing world which tend to make the so

called dark figures even larger. As far as Guyana is concerned some crimes are dealt with by traditional means (through, for example, the institution of the Panchyat) while there are also informal pressures against prosecution, as well as the rather ill-defined cautioning




practices of the police to be taken into account. Could the

apparently favourable crime position of Guyana as compared with

England and Wales, be illusory being simply due to the fact that a smaller proportion of the crimes actually committed are reported to the police?

To test out this possibility a comparison has been made between Guyana and Barbados. Although both are West Indian

territories, their social climates are quite different, that of Barbados

being tranquil, with great emphasis on conformity and respectability. Close contact by the writer with both countries over a period of years gives a clear impression that crime is much less of a problem in Barbados. There is no sense of menace in the streets, even at night; no watchmen with sticks posted ostentatiously at the gates of business premises or the houses of the more affluent citizens; and few of the sensational press stories of robbery and physical attack which enliven the pages of the Georgetown newspapers. The prison is

half-empty, and penal trends generally are in the direction of a liberalism which is not usually found in a country with high and

rising levels of criminality. How then does one account for the

following? Rates in Table 2 and in Tables 3 and 4 are calculated in relation to total population not population at risk, because minimum ages of criminal responsibility vary.

TABLE 2: INDICTABLE CRIMES KNOWN TO THE POLICE GUYANA AND BARBADOS, 1965-75.

1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975

No.

3147 3221 3340 3380 3348 4482 4557 4400 3871 4071 4984

Rate (per 10,000 No of total population)

49.9 4761 50.0 4492 50.8 4909 50.3 5212 56.1 5826 64.0 5959 63.8 6851 60.5 6703 52.19 6165 53.9 6182 64.8 7001

Rate (per 10,000 of total population)

203.6

191.9

209.5

222.1

248.0

253.3

290.9

284.3

261.1

261.5

295.8

It is inconceivable to anybody who knows Barbados and Guyana that the real crime rates of the former should be as great, much less four and five times the size of that of the latter. At the same time the figures for Barbados, though lower than those for England and Wales, are of a similar order of magnitude, and derive a degree of credibility from that fact.

It is easy to understand why the dark figure for Barbados might be smaller than that for Guyana: There are in Barbados fewer of the traditional and informal pressures referred to above ? no large group



CRIME IN GUYANA 63

of culture-conscious Indians for example; and Bajan society has been British for about three hundred and fifty years, and is strongly anglo phile in customs and sentiment. In addition it is a small country, without the vast unpopulated interior of a country like Guyana; in Barbados there are 568 people per square kilimetre, as compared with only 4 in Guyana (census of 1970). This makes for ease both in

policing and in the reporting of crime to readily accessible local

police stations.

Jamaica, which common observation would suggest to have a similar crime pattern to that of Guyana, (and which also has experi enced serious political violence) is much more densely populated, 185 per square kilometre. And in spite of Rastafarians and Maroons, its population is ethnically more homogeneous than that of Guyana. It occupies an appropriately intermediate position as far as reported crime is concerned.

TABLE 3: INDICTABLE CRIMES KNOWN TO THE POLICE JAMAICA, 1965-75

UNREAL STATISTICS The escalation of crime in the last three years is worthy of note.

The level of violence, always high in recent years, escalated steeply during the period after 1973 leading to the summary justice of the Gun Court. This increased violence may account for much of the in crease of crime during the later period.

It must be assumed that levels of unreported crimes are high in Jamaica also. Trinidad and Tobago with a population density of 311

per square kilometre is even more different from Guyana, but it is more similar in being also a plural society. Like Guyana it has sub stantial populations of both East Indian and African descent. There is more likelihood than in either Barbados or Jamaica therefore of a contribution to the dark figure as a result of the operation of subcul tural solutions

? especially among East Indians: The crime situation

is shown in Table 4.

Nos. 28420 30542 30907 30365 30800 32274 32669 33215 38608 39442 42392

Rate (per 10,000 of total population

1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975

166.8

177.3

177.5

172.5 173.2

179.6

179.8

181.0

208.3

210.6

224.2




TABLE 4: INDICTABLE CRIMES KNOWN TO THE POLICE GUYANA, & TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Guyana Trinidad & Tobago

1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975

No Rate per 10,000 Nq

of total population

3147 49.9 16024 3221 50.0 16039 3340 50.8 16638 3380 50.3 17617 3848 48.8 17237 4482 64.0 14639 4557 63.8 15318 4400 60.4 17457 3871 52.2 18037 4071 53.7 21230 4984 64.2 19599

Rate per 10,000 of total population

182.2

180.2

184.8

193.5

187.2

157.2

162.7

183.4

170.5

199.0

181.2

The unreality of Guyana's crime statistics is borne out once more. It is noteworthy, however, that the peaceful, almost crime-free island of Barbados stands in terms of recorded crime, at the very head of the crime league for these four West Indian territories. This is no more likely than that Guyana should stand at the bottom of that league. The crime-recording procedures of the region clearly vary a good deal, making straight comparisons of crime rates between them very difficult. These differences in recording methods may arise moreover, out of deeper differences between the countries con cerned

? the kind of informal pressures and mechanisms which

operate, their degree of ethnic complexity and density of population, etc. Uniform rules about recording, designed to make the statistics

more comparable would have to contend with these very varied

patterns of customary behaviour. Yet intra-regional comparisons of this kind are important. They

could be much more realistic than comparisons with developed coun tries like Britain, which in any case would be no more valid. Without

them, the figures for any particular country, are very difficult to

interpret. Much more might be said for instance about the crime situation of Guyana, given the framework of comparability provided by the crime statistics of similarly situated West Indian countries like Barbados, Jamaica and Trinidad and Tobago. Is there reason for

special concern about it, or can the differences between Guyana and its neighbours be explained away by understandable differences between them? It is at present impossible to say. Even rising and fall

ing trends over time, within a particular country, gain new signifi cance from such comparisons. It is no answer to say that compari sons even between the developed countries of the West, with efficient and modern policing and recording methods, are treated



CRIME IN GUYANA 65

with critical reserve. The former British West Indies consists of coun tries with the same language and system of law, a common history and remarkably similar cultures. At one time, during the brief life of the Federation of the West Indies, it looked as if they might even come to constitute a single state and a single nation. If there is no

possibility of achieving valid international comparisons between

them, there is surely no such possibility anywhere. Comparisons of the types of crime committed in the various

territories may be less seriously affected than comparisons of the incidence of crime as a whole. This is partly because their common historical and legal traditions cause their legal definitions of crime to be very similar so that one is in this respect at least comparing like with like. And although the size of the dark figure varies between

them, affecting the totals in the way described above, a comparison of types of crime in terms of the percentage of each in each country would not be affected by this. It would not, of course, be valid, if a

larger proportion of a particular kind of crime was either not

reported or not prosecuted in one country than in another. This is

likely, but there is a degree of consistency about the results to be cited which increases confidence in them.

Comparisons of types of crimes committed in Guyana with those in England and Wales are presented first in Table 5.

TABLE 5: TYPES OF CRIME REPORTED TO THE POLICE IN GUYANA, AND ENGLAND & WALES, 1970 and 1971

Guyana

1970 1971

England & Wales

1970 1971

Types of Offence No. % No. % No. % No.

Homicide 55 1.2 77 1.7 393 0.03 459 Personal Violence 492 10.8 480 10.4 40695 2.6 46577

Sex 161 3.5 135 2.9 24163 1.6 23621

Robbery 510 11.1 686 14.9 6273 0.4 7465 Against Property with violence * 2088 45.6 2059 44.6 431475 27.7 Larceny

** 772 16.9 762 16.5 952666 61.2

White Collar 220 4.8 196 4.2 89460 5.7 Damage to property 121 2.6 95 2.1 5496 0.4 Other 157 3.4 124 2.7 5374 0.3

451537 1003645

99789 7413 5575

0.03

2.8

1.4

0.5

27.4

61.0

6.1

0.5

0.3

45.6 99.9 4614 100.0 1,555,995 99.93 1646081 100.03

* Mainly burglary

** Includes fraud, forgery, etc.




It can be seen that variations between the two years in the pro portion of the various crimes reported was very slight as far as either

Guyana, or England and Wales is concerned. When one country is

compared with the other however, consistent differences do emerge. Larceny (simple stealing) has not much more than a quarter of the relative importance in Guyana that it has in England and Wales, while

homicide, personal violence, robbery, sex offences, damage to pro perty, are all relatively much more important in Guyana, ranging from almost three times as important in the case of sex offences, to

twenty-seven or twenty-nine times as important in the case of

robbery. The latter is particularly interesting in view of the promi nence in the crime problem attributed locally to choke and rob.

Relatively, it seems, robbery (choke and rob) is much more

significant in Guyana than in Britain, and is growing ?

it increased

by almost 30 per cent between 1970 and 1971. In absolute terms on the other hand it is much less important than burglary (crimes against property with violence) in both countries. It is of course absolute magnitude which determines the nuisance value of a type of crime. The greater prominence given to choke and rob may be due to its audacious character, and to the direct physical confrontation and even danger, which it offers to its victims. Nevertheless crimes

against property with violence, have not increased between 1970 and

1971, and if this reflects a long-term trend, the statistical superiority of this type of crime is going to be eroded. To that extent the move ment of the figures for robbery may represent the more ominous trend.

VIOLENT CRIMES

Overall, however, the greater importance in Guyana of crimes

involving an element of violence appears to be established by these

figures. This seems to be a common feature of the crime picture in

developing countries. Thus a comparison of a Cairo with a Boston suburb showed over four times the proportion of crimes against the person in the former as compared with the latter.2 Homicide rates in some Third World countries are as high as 20 or 30 per 100,000 as

compared with little more than one per 100,000 in Western countries.3

The West Indies is no exception, the emphasis on violent offences being by no means confined to Guyana. In Table 6 violent crime includes homicide, assaults and attacks, sex offences, damage to property and robbery, while burglary is treated as an intermediate

category, between violent and non-violent offences.



CRIME IN GUYANA 67

TABLE 6: PERCENTAGES OF VIOLENT AND NON-VIOLENT CRIME REPORTED TO THE POLICE

IN ENGLAND & WALES, GUYANA & TRINIDAD OVER COMPARABLE THREE YEAR PERIODS.

England & Wales Guyana Trinidad

Annual Avrg % 1969/71

Violent Crime 78,195 5.0 Burglary 434,594 27.8 Non-violent

property crime 1,030,356 65.9 Others 20,426 1.3

Total

Annual Avrg 1970/72 1,397 2,025

966 134

30.9

44.8

21.4

3.0

Annual Avrg 1970/72

1,858 2.942

10,552 452

11.8

18.6

66.8

2.9

1,563,571 100.0 4,522 100.1 15,804 100.1

Strictly comparable figures are not available for Jamaica and

Barbados, but the proportion of crimes of violence against the person for the former over the period 1970/2 was 42.6 per cent, and this is without damage to property, which is included under the heading of violent crime in the Table above. This particularly high level of violence is probably due to the intensification of political conflict in Jamaica in recent years. A further feature of the Jamaican data is the

high proportion of other offences (21.2 percent) due to a high figure for drug offences and also the inclusion under this heading of damage to property.

Excluding robbery, the proportion of violent crime in Barbados for 1970/2 was only 9 percent but this, even excluding robbery, was

nearly twice as high a proportion as in England and Wales. Oil-rich Trinidad also has a larger proportion of violent crime than has

England and Wales ?

though both Trinidad and Barbados have lower

proportions than Guyana or Jamaica. As a general distinguishing feature of crime in developing countries, a high proportion of violent crime obviously calls for explanation. However, there is in the

Guyanese context, also some variation in the proportions of violent and non-violent crime, according to ethnic background.

It has become clear that progress in the scientific study and

understanding of crime in the English-speaking Caribbean calls for

comparative research, and that this is greatly hampered at present by inefficient methods of crime recording, and lack of uniformity in

this between the different countries of the region. The disadvantages of such a situation are not confined to criminological research. An accurate assessment of the seriousness of any particular territory's crime problem depends of course upon better recording methods, but also on being able to place that problem in its proper Caribbean context. The same applies also to any crime prevention measures




adopted. They need to be directed against the correct targets. For

example, is it burglary or choke and rob which Guyana ought to be most concerned about at the present time?

An intergovernment conference on crime recording in the Carib bean would seem to be called for as a matter of urgency. The crime

problem, especially that of violent crime, is serious enough to be

damaging to the economic future of the region, and therefore to

justify urgent action.

FOOTNOTES

1See the various annual volumes of Criminal Statistics, England & Wales, published by Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London.

2Marshall B. Clinard, and Daniel J. Abbott, Crime in Developing Coun tries: a Comparative Perspective, New York: Wiley, 1973, p. 62

3Ibid. p. 58



crime in guyana some problems of comparative study in the caribbean

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