The Caribbean’s justice system is at a tipping point. Amid an unprecedented surge in violent crime and youth deviancy, an award-winning psychologist says psychology-based policy could be the system’s best fix.
Drawing on her own research on adolescents and the factors that shape their behaviours and attitudes, Professor Donna-Maria Maynard has suggested that understanding why people break the law may hold the key to keeping them from doing it and would be far more effective than simply applying punitive measures.
Her rationale is that violence is often learned through observation and reinforced by social groups. Research also indicates that some young people turn to crime and violence as a survival response to socioeconomic disparities.
“Negative environments that reinforce aggression, coupled with a lack of effective coping strategies, can exacerbate tendencies towards violence. In such situations, individuals may feel disempowered and resort to aggression as a means of asserting control.”
Trauma Triggers
It is on this basis that she posited, “When examining youth violence in the Caribbean through a psychological lens, we must recognise trauma’s profound impact. Whether acute from a single event, chronic from repeated exposure, or complex from multiple adverse experiences, trauma shapes emotional and behavioural responses. If left unaddressed, it can fuel aggression, impulsivity, and cycles of violence.”
Professor Maynard’s research on the issue spans decades and has been widely published in scholarly publications and elsewhere.
She shared her perspectives in her lecture entitled, ‘Rethinking Youth Violence in the Caribbean: A Psychological Perspective’, which was held on March 17, 2025. The activity was organised by the Faculty of Humanities and Education as part of its annual Open Week.
Pointing to recent figures from the Office of the Attorney General in Barbados, which revealed that children as young as 11 years old were being charged with serious crimes, Maynard warned that the Caribbean is experiencing an unprecedented surge in violent crime. She noted the influence of social media and the constant access to unfiltered information as another factor affecting the behaviour of Caribbean youth.
“Just as incarceration has been observed to reinforce criminal behaviours by immersing individuals in an environment that socialises them into deviant norms, social media can function as a conduit for learning maladaptive behaviours.”
To effectively address the problem, Maynard suggested a closer examination of the role of social structures such as family, school, church and community programmes in shaping young lives. She also called for early interventions in schools to identify and address at-risk behaviours before they escalate.
