Searchlight Logo
special_image

    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • From the Courts
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Prof. J Robinson – Eye of the Needle
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • logo
      • logo
      • logo
    • About Us
      • logo
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
    • News
      • Front Page
      • News
      • Breaking News
      • Press Release
      • From the Courts
      • Features
      • Special Features
      • Sports
      • Regional / World
      • Regional / World
    • Opinions
      • Editorial
      • Our Readers’ Opinions
      • Bassy – Love Vine
      • Prof. J Robinson – Eye of the Needle
      • Dr. Fraser- Point of View
      • R. Rose – Eye of the Needle
      • On Target
      • Dr Jozelle Miller
      • The World Around Us
      • Random Thoughts
    • Advice
      • Kitchen Corner
      • What’s on Fleek this week
      • Health Wise
      • Physician’s Weekly
      • Business Buzz
      • Hey Rosie!
      • Prime the pump
    • ePaper
    • Obituaries
      • In Memoriam / Acknowledgement
      • Tribute
    • Contact Us
      • Advertise With Us
      • logo
      • logo
      • logo
    • About Us
      • logo
      • St. Vincent & the Grenadines
    • Subscribe
Our Readers' Opinions
July 30, 2004

The root causes of crime in society

Please permit me a space in your paper to deal with crime.
I remember as a boy growing up that what our parents gave us, we had to be satisfied with. Now over the last 50 years almost every country in Western Europe and North America has experienced an enormous increase in crime rates. {{more}}Neighbourhoods that once were safe at night have become dangerous during the day; random acts of violence, once almost unknown have become common. The good news is that rates seem to have stabilized in the 1990s; the bad news is that it appears to be largely a demographic issue.
Most perpetrators of crime are young men. In fact you can pick a social ill at random and you will find that the correlation with having no father is clear and direct: depression, suicide, dropping out of school, teenage pregnancy, drug use… To summarize, fatherless children are five times more likely to commit suicide, 32 times more likely to run away, 14 times more likely to commit rape and 20 times more likely to end up in prison. Fatherless children are also, according to one British study, about 33 times more likely to be abused. In 1983, the United States Department of Health and Human Services found that 60 per cent of children are abused by mothers with sole custody of their children. Almost all of the rest come from other members of her entourage, especially boyfriends and second husbands. Under these circumstances you would think that there would be an enormous amount of research under way by the police to understand what is happening. The media should be demanding answers.

Wilbert Scipio

  • FacebookComments
  • ALSO IN THE NEWS
    Rehabilitation Works continuing on Fort Charlotte
    News
    Rehabilitation Works continuing on Fort Charlotte
    Jada 
    August 12, 2026
    The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, through the World Bank-funded Unleashing the Blue Economy of the Caribbean (UBEC) Project, has reaff...
    Fresh information released in Garifuna prisoners of war exhibition
    News
    Fresh information released in Garifuna prisoners of war exhibition
    Jada 
    August 12, 2026
    While most Vincentians know that approximately 5000 Garifuna and Kalinago people were rounded up and forcibly exiled by the British to Balliceaux in 1...
    NASCAR’s Rajah Caruth on historic homecoming to SVG
    Front Page
    NASCAR’s Rajah Caruth on historic homecoming to SVG
    Webmaster 
    August 11, 2026
    THE St.Vincent and the Grenadines Tourism Authority (SVGTA) is waiting proudly to welcome home Rajah Caruth, professional NASCAR driver and Sporting A...
    Prime Minister Friday heads SVG delegation to Taiwan
    Front Page
    Prime Minister Friday heads SVG delegation to Taiwan
    Webmaster 
    August 11, 2026
    PRIME MINISTER Godwin Friday is leading a delegation on an official visit to the Republic of China (Taiwan) as the two countries mark 45 years of dipl...
    Cane Garden lass is new Miss SVG Teen
    Front Page
    Cane Garden lass is new Miss SVG Teen
    Webmaster 
    August 11, 2026
    MISS CANE GARDEN Hannah Archibald, is Miss St Vincent and the Grenadines Teen 2026. Archibald took the crown from among seven young ladies who compete...
    Trinbago Knight Riders clinical as they begin defense of their CPL Title
    Front Page
    Trinbago Knight Riders clinical as they begin defense of their CPL Title
    Webmaster 
    August 11, 2026
    DEFENDING REPUBLIC BANK Caribbean Premier League (CPL) champions Trinbago Knight Riders, were clinical in all departments, as they overcame the St Kit...
    News
    Rehabilitation Works continuing on Fort Charlotte
    News
    Rehabilitation Works continuing on Fort Charlotte
    Jada 
    August 12, 2026
    The Government of St. Vincent and the Grenadines, through the World Bank-funded Unleashing the Blue Economy of the Caribbean (UBEC) Project, has reaff...
    Fresh information released in Garifuna prisoners of war exhibition
    News
    Fresh information released in Garifuna prisoners of war exhibition
    Jada 
    August 12, 2026
    While most Vincentians know that approximately 5000 Garifuna and Kalinago people were rounded up and forcibly exiled by the British to Balliceaux in 1...
    Prince gets suspended sentence over money brawl
    News
    Prince gets suspended sentence over money brawl
    Webmaster 
    August 11, 2026
    A GREIGGS MAN who struck another man about his body with a cutlass before forcing the weapon into his mouth, has been given a suspended prison sentenc...
    Gunman killed in Rockies
    News
    Gunman killed in Rockies
    Webmaster 
    August 11, 2026
    LESS THAN A week after being released from His Majesty’s Prison (HMP) Ackeem Ferdinand was shot and killed inside his home at Rockies giving real life...
    Men 40 to 49 years make up the bulk of the prison population
    From the Courts, News
    Men 40 to 49 years make up the bulk of the prison population
    Webmaster 
    August 11, 2026
    Middle-aged men continue to constitute the largest bloc of the prison population in St.Vincent and the Grenadines (SVG). Superintendent of Prisons Dwa...

    E-EDITION
    ePaper
    google_play
    app_store
    Subscribe Now
    • Interactive Media Ltd. • P.O. Box 152 • Kingstown • St. Vincent and the Grenadines • Phone: 784-456-1558 © Copyright Interactive Media Ltd.. All rights reserved.
    We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.Ok