The information that was assembled through these findings was very useful, since it would have able myself as an individual, to have a better key understanding of the research objective.
This research was mainly quantitative. Questionnaires were handed out to randomly selected people over 15 years of age, in Freeport. Random sampling was chosen in order to get a wider scope of responses.
My community comprises of approximately fifty households with people over 15 years and because of this I opted to evaluate all fifty. Prior to the distribution of the questionnaires, I randomly selected five students of my class and asked them to assist me in the pre – testing of my questionnaires. This was done to ensure that the questions were easy to comprehend. When the questionnaires were returned, they were found to be a success.
After, fifty questionnaires were printed and were ready to be distributed. The questionnaire comprised of ten questions of which two were open – ended and eight were close ended. On March 5th 2007, at 4pm, I commenced the distribution of the questionnaires. When I arrived at the various households, I explained what was required of them, the nature of the assignment and the date and time that I would return to collect the questionnaires. In instances where members were not at home, the questionnaires were left in their mail box with a note informing them of what they needed to know.
On March 9th 2007, at 4pm, I returned to collect the questionnaires. Only forty two questionnaires were completed and returned to me, four were mis – placed and the remaining four were not answered nor returned. Therefore, forty two questionnaires represented my hundred percent sample. After collecting the questionnaires, I thanked the participants who assisted me, in my project.
QUESTIONNAIRE
1. Gender: Male Female
2. Age: __________
3. How would you define crime?
_____________________________________________________________
_____________________________________________________________
4. Have you ever been a victim of crime or know someone who has?
Yes No
5. Are you acquainted with anyone who is involved in crime?
Yes No
6. Which of the following do you think are factors responsible for
crime?
poverty alcohol or drug abuse
insanity lack of education
racial hatred political issues
media history of abuse
other (please state) _____________________________________
7. Do you think that enough is being done to eradicate crime?
Yes No
8. How do you think crime has economically impacted on the
Caribbean?
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
__________________________________________________________________
9. Do you think by the year 2020, crime will be at a low or high level?
low level high level
10. Which of the following do you think are solutions to crime?
more prisons stiffer criminal laws
there is no solution new police force
educational and vocational programmes
military service for young teenage boys
other (please state) ________________________________________
LIMITATIONS AND DELIMITATIONS
Limitations
When conducting this research some problems were encountered.
- In order for the results to be more meaningful, a larger number of people should have been given questionnaires.
- Some people were reluctant to participate, therefore I had to persuade people and assure them that I was conducting a study for a school – based assessment.
- Some questionnaires were not returned.
- A sample was done in only my community, in Trinidad, when the study relates to the Caribbean, so therefore it does not represent the views of the majority of individuals.
Delimitations
- The study was delimited to the conceptualization of the causes, solutions and economic impact of crime.
- The study was completed in the time frame of March 5th –
March 9th 2007.
- The research area was limited to 50 respondents in Freeport
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The successful completion of this study would not have been possible without the assistance and cooperation of a number of people. Consequently, I would like to thank the individuals of my community, Freeport, for their support and valuable time spent on answering the questionnaires given.
I thank my mother, who assisted me in locating some of the material used as background for this research and my friends, who aided in the pre – testing of my questionnaires.
Finally, special thanks go to my teacher, Mr. Forbes, who guided me every step of the way through this project.
LITERATURE REVIEW
To gain comprehensive background knowledge on this topic, a number of research articles, as well as research that was done on the internet were utilized. Crime is a problem that plagues many, if not most Caribbean countries. In some instances this situation is increasing, whereas in other situations measures are being implemented to eradicate this problem.
Crime is a term that refers to many types of misconduct forbidden by law. Crime can be grouped into two: substantive offenses, which involves severe punishment and regulatory offenses, which is generally punished by fines. Substantive offenses include major crimes such as arson, assault, burglary, kidnapping, murder, rape, larceny and robbery. Regulatory offenses include violation of income tax laws, liquor- control regulations, drug laws and traffic laws.