Applying the Problem-Solving Model to a Developing World Context: The Case of Murder in Trinidad and Tobago
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AP P LY I N G T HE PROB LE M S O LV I N G M O D E L TO A D EV E L O PI N G WO RLD CO NT E X T: T H E C A S E O F M URDE R I N T R I N I DA D A N D TOB AGO Joel Mi l ler a a nd N i c o le J . Hen d ri c k s b a
Instituto Interuniversitario de Criminología, Universidad de Málaga, Spain Department of Criminal Justice, Holyoke Community College, USA
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Correspondence: Joel Miller, Instituto Interuniversitario de Criminología, Universidad de Málaga, Edificio de Investigacíon, Campus de Teatinos, 29071 Málaga, Spain. E-mail: [email protected]
A b stra ct This article reflects upon the applicability of the problem-solving model of crime prevention, developed within Britain and the US, to murder in Trinidad and Tobago. Murder, along with other serious violence, has experienced a significant upswing in recent years, apparently related to the increasing integration of Trinidad and Tobago into the global drug economy. The article shows that, while the conventional problem-solving approach provides logical strategies for prevention, it would likely face significant challenges because of problems of corruption and capacity within state institutions. Solving these institutional problems would require, among other things, a stronger role for civil society in crime prevention.
Key wo rds crime prevention; problem-solving; corruption; civil society; murder Crime Prevention and Community Safety (2007) 9, 275–290. doi:10.1057/palgrave.cpcs.8150052
Crime Prevention and Community Safety 2007, 9, (275–290) © 2007 Palgrave Macmillan Ltd 1460-3780/07 $30.00 www.palgrave-journals.com/cpcs
Crime Prevention and Community Safety 276
In tro duction
T
he conventional Anglo-American model of “problem-solving” for crime prevention has become a dominant paradigm in crime prevention in parts of the developed world, and is increasingly influential within the anti-crime policies of developing nations (e.g. Liebermann et al., 2000; Concha-Eastman et al., 2002; Dinzey Flores, 2005). The article makes a contribution to the emerging body of literature that has begun to consider the challenges of importing developed world models of crime control to those of the developing world (e.g. Pelser, 2002; Davis et al., 2003; Bowles et al., 2005), specifically by reflecting on the case of Trinidad and Tobago. In light of the spiralling murder rate within the country, this article draws on problem-solving techniques to describe the murder problem and to critically consider strategies that might be effective in targeting it. It draws on research commissioned by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) in 2004 intended to provide an analysis of crime and violence problems to inform possible future crime prevention initiatives.
P roblem-s olving for crime prevention The problem-solving tradition of crime prevention has emerged in the last quarter of a century, notably within Britain and the US, and involves the scanning and analysis of data to identify and describe the specific characteristics of crime problems, the development of solutions that are at
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