Investigación original / Original research
Crime in Trinidad and Tobago:
the effect of alcohol use and unemployment
Hari D. Maharajh1 and Akleema Ali 2
Suggested citation
Maharajh HD, Ali A. Crime in Trinidad and Tobago: the effect of alcohol use and unemployment. Rev
Panam Salud Publica. 2004;15(6):417–23
ABSTRACT
Objective. The purpose of this study was to determine whether unemployment and alcohol
consumption were associated with different types of crime in Trinidad and Tobago.
Methods. This study made use of secondary data from the Central Statistical Office of Trinidad and Tobago for the period 1990–1997. Pearson product moment correlations and stepwise
multiple regression analysis were used to identify significant predictors of crime.
Results. Unemployment accounted for 69.2% of the variance for serious crimes. Beer available for home consumption explained 64% of the variance for minor offenses, and both unemployment and beer available for home consumption accounted for 92.2% of the variance for
minor crimes.
Conclusions. This study provides information that is potentially useful for developing public policies for unemployment and for the sale of beer for home consumption, both of which
are associated with crime in Trinidad and Tobago. Reductions in beer available for home
consumption—a major public health concern—would significantly reduce the occurrence of
minor offenses in this country. Further research is needed on the relationship between unemployment and crime.
Key words
Alcohol, crime, public health, Trinidad and Tobago, unemployment.
Criminal activity is a major social
problem that governments face. Recently, there has been increased interest in identifying specific predictors
of crime that can be used in formulating public policy. Many research designs have been used to examine crime
and its predictors. For example, most re1
2
Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of the West Indies, Mount
Hope, Trinidad, West Indies. Send correspondence
to: Hari D. Maharajh, Department of Psychiatry,
Faculty of Medical Sciences, The University of
the West Indies, Mount Hope, Trinidad, West Indies; telephone: (1 868) 665 3119; e-mail: drharim@
carib-link.net
Department of Behavioural Sciences, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad,
West Indies.
search that identifies alcohol use as a
predictor of crime have been based on
two approaches: individual-level analysis and analysis of aggregate-level data.
In individual-level studies, the occurrence of crimes is related to individual
intoxication, whereas aggregate-level
studies demonstrate that an increase
in one predictor (e.g., drinking) is followed by an increased rate of violence
within that population (1). Aggregatelevel data have been shown useful for
cross-cultural comparisons.
The possible existence of a relationship between unemployment and crime
(U-C) has been examined extensively
in econometric analyses, based on both
Rev Panam Salud Publica/Pan Am J Public Health 15(6), 2004
time series and cross-sectional analysis (2–5). In a review of the empirical evidence, Chiricos (6) argued that
the direction of the U-C relationship
depends on factors such as type of
crime, how employment is measured,
and the time period studied.
Major predictors of crime identified
to date are alcohol consumption (1, 7),
unemployment (8, 9), spatial dynamics
of neighborhood structure (10), handgun sales (11), and the economy (12).
Despite attempts to identify predictors
of crime, there is general agreement
that crimes differ from country to country and that different types of crime
have different causes (13).
417
Original research
Maharajh and Ali • Crime in Trinidad and Tobago
FIGURE 1. Crime rates in Trinidad and Tobago for the period 1990–1997
500
Serious crimes
450
Minor crimes
400
Rate per 100,000
Design
Minor offenses
350
300
250
200
150
100
50
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
Within the Caribbean setting, previous studies have examined the region
as a whole and have focused on suicide and homicide (14), and also on
unemployment and crime (8). However, no studies have yet examined
aggregate-level data for Trinidad and
Tobago. Such studies are needed to
identify specific predictors of crime,
so that the results can be directed towards the formulation of public health
policies with respect to crime within
Trinidad and Tobago.
General trends in crime rates have
been identified for the period from
1990 to 1997 (Figure 1). Minor offenses
(misdemeanors) have decreased sharply
from 440.5 per 100 000 inhabitants in
1990 to 59.3 per 100 000 inhabitants in
1997, with the sharpest decrease occurring between 1990 and 1991. The trend
lines for serious crimes and minor
crimes showed similar and almost parallel trends. Rates began to decrease
from 1991 to 1994 for minor crimes
(from 232.5 to 169.5), and from 1992 to
1995 for serious crimes (from 80.1 to
62.4). However, the rates began to increase steadily thereafter, and by 1997
had reached 296.5 for minor crimes
and 150 for serious crimes. Of all three
types of crime, minor crimes were the
most prevalent, with the highest rates
throughout the period from 1991 to
1997. The purpose of this study was to
investigate the association between
these trends for different types of
418
1994
Year
1995
1996
1997
crime in Trinidad and Tobago and two
major predictors: alcohol use and
unemployment.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
Description of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago is the most
southerly of all Caribbean islands and
has a population of approximately 1.3
million, with 40.3% of the population
being of East Indian descent, 39.6% of
African descent, 18.4% of mixed descent and 1.7% belonging to other ethnic groups. Trinidad has five major
towns: Port-of-Spain, San Fernando,
Arima, Chaguanas and Pt. Fortin, while
Tobago has one major town, its capital
Scarborough (15). The per-capita gross
domestic product (GDP) is US$ 8 948
(16), with the energy sector (oil, asphalt,
mining, and refining) being the major
contributor to the GDP (15).
The court system in Trinidad is inherited from the English legal system.
Magistrates’ Courts are lower criminal
courts responsible for preliminary proceedings for offenses. These courts are
also involved in civil cases, indictable
offenses and summary offenses. The
High Court is a court of unlimited jurisdiction in both civil and criminal
matters; members of the judiciary sit in
the High Court and justice may be imparted through a jury system.
This study used secondary data
from the Central Statistical Office
(CSO). The CSO is the sole institution
in Trinidad and Tobago responsible
for the collection and dissemination
of data related to social and economic
activities in this country. Data are
available for the period from 1990
to 1997. At the time of this study no
data were available for the period after 1997.
The following statistics were gathered for the period 1990–1997 to examine the relationship between alcohol
use, unemployment, and crime: serious crime, minor crime, minor offenses, liters of alcohol available for
home consumption (beer, rum, and
stout), and unemployment rates. Serious crimes included all crimes carrying a penalty of imprisonment for five
years or longer, and for which prosecution had been instituted in the High
Court. Minor crimes included all
crimes carrying a penalty of imprisonment for less than five years, and for
which prosecutions had been instituted in the High Court. Minor offenses included all offenses for which
prosecution had been summarily instituted in the Magistrates’ Court. Detailed descriptions of these categories
of crime are given in Table 1, which
lists the concepts and definitions of
crime used by the CSO (17).
Liters of alcohol available for home
consumption was used as a surrogate
measure for alcohol consumption, as
figures for actual alcohol consumption
are not tabulated by the CSO. The CSO
calculates alcohol available for home
consumption based on total production of alcoholic beverages plus imports minus exports. Because the figures for availability of alcohol for
home consumption for each year represent new inventory, it follows that
production for a given year reflects the
population’s demand for each product. Therefore, if consumption of a
given beverage increases over time, it
is likely that production of the item
will increase, thus making it more
available to consumers in this supplyand-demand system (18).
Rev Panam Salud Publica/Pan Am J Public Health 15(6), 2004
Maharajh and Ali • Crime in Trinidad and Tobago
TABLE 1. Concepts and definitions of crime, according to the Central Statistical Office report Social Indicators 1985–1992
Serious crimes
All crimes carrying a penalty of five or more years’ imprisonment for which proceedings
have been instituted in the High Court. Six classes of serious crime are defined:
Class I. Serious crimes against persons. They include murder, conspiracy to commit murder, manslaughter, infanticide, attempted murder, suicide and attempted suicide, written
threat to commit murder, felonious wounding, acts causing or tending to cause danger
to life, rape and unlawful carnal knowledge, abduction, defilement and procurement of
women; child-stealing; burglary, abortion and concealment of birth, and unnatural offenses.
Class II. Serious crimes against property with violence. They include blackmail and extortion, breaking and burglary, robbery, possession of housebreaking implements by night.
Class III. Serious crimes against property (valued at US$ 2 000.00 or more) without violence. They include embezzlement and larcenya by a servant, falsification of account, false
pretense, fraud and fraudulent conversion, post office felonies, and larceny in dwelling
houses.
Class IV. Serious crimes against property resulting from injury with malicious intent.b They
include arson, other malicious damage valued at more than US$ 1 000.00 (excluding private disputes) and cattle maiming.
Class V. Serious crimes defined as forgery and crimes against currency. This class includes forgery (other than currency notes), coinage offenses, and forgery of currency
notes.
Class VI. Serious crimes against the state. They include treason, sedition, perjury, riot,
criminal libel, [im]personation,c corruption, fire and other inchoate offenses such as incitement and conspiracy.
Minor crimes
These are all crimes carrying a penalty of less than five years’ imprisonment for which proceedings have been instituted in the Magistrates’ Court or the High Court. These crimes
are defined as commission or attempted commission of the following:
Indecent assault, assault with intent to commit a felony on officers of the peace (including police), possession of housebreaking implements by day, embezzlement (under
US$ 2 000.00), fraudulent conversion (under $2 000.00), false pretense (under $2 000.00),
larceny (under $2 000.00), praedial larceny (under $2 000.00), unlawful possession of property belonging to another (theft), violation of post office ordinance, operation of a brothel,
being in enclosed and other premises for an unlawful purpose, assault occasioning actual
bodily harm, causing bodily harm, causing bodily harm by reckless driving, escaping lawful
custody, and violations of Firearm Act 44/1970.
Original research
Analysis
The Statistical Package for the Social
Sciences (SPSS, version 11) was used
to conduct all statistical analyses. Differences were considered significant at
P < 0.05. For the analyses, rates for
each type of crime (Figure 1) were calculated per 100 000 inhabitants by dividing the total number of each type of
crime by the total population for that
year. Alcohol available for home consumption was calculated as liters of
each beverage released for consumption and placed on store shelves per
100 000 inhabitants, and the unemployment rate was calculated as a percentage of the available workforce not
gainfully employed.
Pearson product-moment correlations were used to examine the overall
direction and strength of the relationships between the variables. This was
followed by multiple stepwise regression, performed with type of crime (serious crime, minor crime, and minor
offenses) as the dependent variable,
and with unemployment, liters of beer
placed on store shelves, liters of rum
placed on store shelves and liters of
stout placed on store shelves as the
predictor variables. Figures for the
predictor variables were lagged one
year with respect to the figures for
crime rates to account for variations in
the latter. These statistical procedures
have been used in similar types of research (11, 19).
Minor offenses
These are offenses for which prosecutions has been summarily instituted in the Magistrates’ Court. They involve the following:
Loitering, assault and battery; assault upon a police officer in the execution of his duty, willful obstruction of a police officer in the execution of his duty, offenses against the Persons
Act OAPA 1861 s47; cruelty to animals; breach of the peace, unlawful bearing of a dangerous weapon, malicious damage (under US$ 1 000.00) except in private disputes, gambling, violation of laws or ordinances regarding liquor licenses and clubs; wild animals and
birds; cinemas, theaters and dance halls; agricultural fires; sale of produce; the Children
Ordinance; food & drugs; public mischief; narcotics offenses; violation of the Dangerous
Animals Act of 2000 obligating owners to possess a license and insurance to keep a ferocious dog; violation of laws regarding shop opening hours; violation of laws regarding
weights and measures; violation of price-of-goods regulations, violation of rationing regulations, and offenses under ordinance such as robbery, blackmail, burglary and deception.
a Larceny:
For the purposes of this report, this comprises larceny and larceny of postal packages. Note, however, that larceny is considered to exist only when goods worth US$ 2 000.00 or more are involved.
is based on English Law governing criminal liability and is in keeping with the Criminal Damage Act of
1971 which replaced the Malicious Damage Act of 1861. s1(2) of the 1971 act created the aggravated offense of damaging or destroying property with either intention to endanger life or recklessness as to whether
life is endangered.
c The original document contains what appears to be a typographical error; we assume “impersonation” is intended here.
b This
Rev Panam Salud Publica/Pan Am J Public Health 15(6), 2004
RESULTS
Between 1990 and 1993, the mean
unemployment rate was 19.48%. This
rate decreased steadily from 1993 to
1997. For the whole eight-year period,
unemployment decreased by 29.0%,
from 20% in 1990 to 14.2% in 1997 (Figure 2). The trend lines for alcohol consumption (Figure 3) showed that total
liters of alcohol available for home consumption were highly dependent on
beer availability (r = 0.960, P < 0.001).
Stout was the second most popular alcoholic beverage, with rum available
for home consumption ranking third.
For rum and stout, availability for
419
Original research
Maharajh and Ali • Crime in Trinidad and Tobago
FIGURE 2. Unemployment trend line in Trinidad and Tobago for the period 1990–1997
for 92.2% (R = 0.960, R2 = 0.922) of the
variance. In this model unemployment
alone accounted for 69.4% of the variance, while beer availability contributed an additional 22.8% of the variance. Other predictors were excluded
from the model.
25.0
Percentage
20.0
15.0
10.0
DISCUSSION
5.0
0.0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
Year
FIGURE 3. Liters of different types of alcoholic beverages consumed in Trinidad and
Tobago for the period 1990–1997
4 000
3 500
3 000
Liters
2 500
2 000
Beer
1 500
Rum
Stout
1 000
Total
50
0
1990
1991
1992
1993
1994
1995
1996
1997
Year
home consumption per 100 000 inhabitants was less than 500 liters throughout the period from 1990 to 1997.
The correlation coefficients revealed
that unemployment was significantly
and inversely correlated with serious
crimes (r = 0.832, P < 0.05) and minor
crimes (r = 0.833, P < 0.05). Minor offenses were directly correlated with
unemployment (r = 0.693, P < 0.05) and
beer availability (r = 0.800, P < 0.05).
The correlations are summarized in
Table 2.
Stepwise regression analysis revealed three models that accounted for
substantial proportions of crime. Table
3 summarizes the results for all regres420
sion models. In the first model (serious
crime) unemployment was the only
predictor, accounting for 69.2% (R =
0.832, R2 = 0.692) of the variance. All
other variables were excluded from the
model.
In the second model (minor offenses) the amount of beer available
for home consumption was the only
predictor, accounting for 64% (R =
0.800, R2 = 0.640) of the variance. Other
predictor variables were excluded from
this model.
The third model (minor crimes) revealed two predictors: unemployment
and amount of beer available for home
consumption. Together they accounted
This study attempted to identify predictors of various types of crime in
Trinidad and Tobago. Overall, it was
found that both unemployment and
beer available for home consumption
were associated with criminal activities in this country. Unemployment accounted for 69.2% of the variance in
serious crime rates and 69.4% of the
variance in minor crime rates. The present analysis identified beer available
for home consumption as the sole predictor of minor offenses, accounting for
64% of the variance. Beer consumption
also contributed to minor crimes, accounting for 22.8% of the variance in
the rates of this type of crime.
The beta values in the stepwise
multiple regression models (Table 3)
confirmed that unemployment was a
potentially useful predictor of both serious and minor crimes, but that the direction of the effect was negative, i.e.,
falling unemployment rates result in
higher crime rates. Previous research
(2) and economic theory (20) have supported an inverse U-C relationship by
suggesting that as unemployment decreases, more economic goods and potential crime targets become available.
Thus, as unemployment falls, opportunities increase for attempted and successful criminal activities.
Of the three alcoholic beverages
compared here, beer was the only one
that contributed significantly to crime.
This association can be attributed to
two factors: the beverage-specific effects of alcohol and the drinking culture or pattern in Trinidad and Tobago. Earlier research has noted the
possible differential beverage-specific
effects of alcohol on various behavioral
outcomes (21). Studies of trends identified in Europe have focused on the
“Mellanby effect,” which occurs when
Rev Panam Salud Publica/Pan Am J Public Health 15(6), 2004
Maharajh and Ali • Crime in Trinidad and Tobago
Original research
TABLE 2. Correlations between types of crime, unemployment and alcohol availability, by type of beverage, in Trinidad and Tobago, 1990–1997
Type of beverage
Type of crime
Unemployment
Beer
Rum
Stout
Serious crimes
Minor crimes
Minor offenses
–0.832a
–0.833b
0.693
–0.622
–0.548
0.800a
–0.308
–0.431
0.439
–0.82
0.284
0.448
aP
bP
< 0.05.
< 0.01.
the blood alcohol concentration rises
more rapidly and to higher levels
when spirits are consumed compared
to when beer is consumed. In addition,
the differential effects of alcoholic beverages are likely to be directly linked to
the drinking culture of the country.
Stronger associations have been established between violent behavior and
the “explosive” drinking patterns seen
in Finland, Sweden and Norway when
compared to the “moderate” drinking
patterns of France (7). In Sweden, spirit
consumption was strongly associated
with crime but no association was
found for beer or wine consumption.
Parker and Cartmill (22), in an analysis
of U.S. data, found that the consumption of spirits was directly related to
the commission of homicidal acts by
white persons, whereas beer consump-
tion was linked to the commission of
homicidal acts by nonwhite persons.
The drinking culture of Trinidad
and Tobago includes the consumption
of beer, stout, and rum. However, beer
was the most popular of all three beverages from 1990 to 1997, and the
amount of this beverage available for
consumption in 1997 was 28.32 times
as great as the amount of rum and 5.68
times as great as that of stout (Figure
3). Because beer is dominant in the
drinking context of Trinidad and Tobago, it is more likely than other alcoholic beverages to be a predictor of
crime, more specifically minor crimes
and minor offenses. In clinical observations we have noted an increase in
the numbers of adolescents and young
adults seeking treatment for alcoholrelated problems.
Our findings are consistent with
those of the Forst and Bennett Caribbean study (8), which found no evidence to support the hypothesis that
increases in unemployment are related
to increases in crimes. The multiple
stepwise regression analyses in Table 3
indicate that although unemployment
plays a role in the occurrence of serious and minor crimes (accounting for
69.2% and 69.4% of the variance respectively), its predictive effect is negative, as shown by the beta values (β =
–0.832 and β = –0.833). However, our
study is limited by the fact that the
measure of unemployment we used
represents global rates at the national
level, and thus does not take into account the influence of age or gender.
Unemployment rates should differentiate between young men and older
men, and between male and female
unemployment. Research has shown
that the direction of the U-C relationship varies when these differences are
taken into account (5, 6). The present
study is also limited by the fact that alcohol consumption was not measured
directly; instead we used availability
of alcohol for home consumption as a
surrogate measure of consumption.
However, we feel the indirect nature of
this variable does not undermine the
significance of the relationships found
in our multiple regression analysis.
TABLE 3. Variables identified by stepwise regression analysis as predicting different types of crime in Trinidad and Tobago, 1990–1997
Unstandardized
coefficient
(Standard error)
Standardized
coefficient (β)
t
P
Model
Variable
R
R2
Unstandardized
coefficient (β)
Serious crimes
Constant
Unemployment
—
.832
—
.692
436.435
–.832
101.543
–.832
—
–.832
4.298
–3.352
.008
.020a
Minor offenses
Constant
Beer
—
.800
—
.640
–84.540
8.758–02
68.759
.029
.800
–1.230
2.982
.274
.031a
Constant
Unemployment
—
.833
—
.694
654.958
–23.091
127.347
6.856
—
–.833
5.143
–3.368
.004
.020a
Constant
Unemployment
and beer
—
—
.960
.922
884.784
–50.939
.123
98.657
9.042
.036
—
–1.838
1.112
8.968
–5.634
3.410
.001
.005a
.027a
Minor crimes
Minor crimes
a
Significant at P < 0.05.
Rev Panam Salud Publica/Pan Am J Public Health 15(6), 2004
421
Original research
For many decades researchers from
different disciplines (e.g., sociology,
psychology, and economics) have tried
to identify the combination of factors
that might account for criminal activities in different countries. Although
the 92.2% variance in minor crimes attributed to unemployment (69.4%) and
beer available for home consumption
(22.8%) may seem a high figure, the
implications of this association merit
further consideration as the results of
future research in Trinidad and Tobago and other countries come to light.
The role of other factors should be
investigated with the same methods
to see whether similar correlations and
variances are found between these variables in other countries.
Despite the finding that both unemployment and beer available for home
consumption are associated with criminal activities in Trinidad and Tobago,
crime may also be the result of other
phenomena. Other factors that merit
study and that may contribute to the
variance in rates of serious crime are
poverty (e.g., malnutrition, unsanitary
Maharajh and Ali • Crime in Trinidad and Tobago
dwellings, crowded living conditions)
and inequality (uneven distribution of
wealth), low educational level, poor
moral development, low wages, and
mental illnesses. Previous researchers
have noted that poverty and inequality should not be neglected in attempting to explain crime (23, 24).
This study, an initial attempt to
identify predictors of crime, has demonstrated that beer available for home
consumption and unemployment are
significantly associated with crime in
Trinidad and Tobago. Further examination of the U-C relationship is advisable in which the measure of unemployment used takes differences in
age, gender, and county into account.
The U-C relationship should also be
examined across counties and administrative areas in Trinidad and Tobago
to establish whether the direction of
this relationship remains the same,
so that policies implemented to deal
with various types of crime can be addressed specifically to the needs of
each county or area. We also recommend that future studies use an econ-
ometric method so that changes over
time can be followed. In addition,
measures should be taken to reduce
the amount of beer made available for
home consumption, as this was the
only significant predictor of minor offenses (64%) and one of the two predictors of minor crimes (22.8%). Reductions in beer available for home
consumption may significantly reduce
the occurrence of minor offenses in
Trinidad and Tobago. This hypothesis,
however, has not yet been tested.
The findings of this study have potentially important public health implications for all Caribbean countries
now faced with escalating crime, increasing rates of substance abuse, and
rising rates of unemployment. Trinidad and Tobago is one of the more
developed Caribbean countries, and as
other Caribbean islands become more
industrialized, it is likely that social
and behavioral changes seen in Trinidad and Tobago may be mirrored
elsewhere. This study provides an important baseline for further research in
the region.
REFERENCES
1. Rossow I. Alcohol and homicide: a crosscultural comparison of the relationship in
14 European countries. Addiction. 2001;96:
S77–92.
2. Elliott C, Ellingworth D. Exploring the relationship between unemployment and property crime. App Econ Lett. 1998;5:527–30.
3. Gould ED, Weinburg BA, David B. Crime
rates and local labour market opportunities in
the United States: 1970–1997. Rev Econ Stat.
2002;84:45.
4. Kleck G, Chiricos T. Unemployment and
property crime: a target-specific assessment of
opportunity and motivation as mediating factors. Criminology. 2002;40:649–79.
5. Carmichael F, Ward R. Youth unemployment
and crime in the English regions and Wales.
Appl Econ. 2000;32:559–71.
6. Chiricos TG. Rates of crime and unemployment: an analysis of aggregate research evidence. Soc Probl. 1987;32:189–212.
7. Lenke L. Alcohol and criminal violence: time
series analyses in a comparative perspective.
Stockholm: Almquist & Wiksell; 1990.
8. Forst B, Bennett RR. Unemployment and
crime: implications for the Caribbean. Caribbean J Criminol Soc Psychol. 1999;3:1–29.
422
9. Britt CL. Reconsidering the unemployment
and crime relationship: variation by age group
and historical period. J Quant Criminol. 1997;
13:405–28.
10. Gorman DM, Speer PW, Gruenewald PJ,
Labouvie EW. Spatial dynamics of alcohol
availability, neighbourhood structure and violent crime. J Stud Alcohol. 2001;62:628–36.
11. Sorenson SB, Berk RA. Handgun sales, beer
sales and youth homicide, California, 1972–
1993. J Public Health Policy. 2001;22:182–97.
12. Lester D, Motohashi Y, Yang B. The impact of
the economy on suicide and homicide rates in
Japan and the United States. Int J Soc Psychiatry. 1992;38:314–7.
13. Marselli R, Vannini M. Estimating a crime
equation in the presence of organised crime:
evidence from Italy. Int Rev Law Econ. 1997;
17:89–113.
14. Lester D. Suicide and homicide in Caribbean
nations. Percept Mot Skills. 1999;88(3 Pt. 2):
1350.
15. Trinidad and Tobago, Central Statistical Office. Statistics at a glance, 2001. Port-of-Spain
(Trinidad and Tobago): Ministry of Planning
and Development, Central Statistical Office;
2001.
16. World Health Organization. Countries—
Trinidad and Tobago [Internet Site]. Available
from: http://www.who.int/country/tto/en/.
Accessed 1 February 2004.
17. Trinidad and Tobago, Central Statistical Office. Social Indicators 1985–1992. Port-ofSpain (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago); 1996.
p. 182–4.
18. Dass J. Measurement of alcohol consumption
in Trinidad and Tobago. Port-of-Spain (Trinidad and Tobago): Ministry of Finance, Custom and Excise Division; Government of Trinidad and Tobago; 2004.
19. Preti A, Miotto P. Some social correlates of
homicide rates in Italy. Psychol Rep. 1999;85
(3 Pt 1):770.
20. Cantor D, Land KC. Unemployment and
crime rates in post-world War II United States;
a theoretical and empirical analysis. Am Soc
Rev. 1985;50:317–32.
21. Smart RG. Behavioural and social consequences related to the consumption of different beverage types. J Stud Alcohol. 1996;57:
77–84.
22. Parker RN, Cartmill RS. Alcohol and homicide in the United States 1934–1995—or one
reason why U.S. rates of violence may be
Rev Panam Salud Publica/Pan Am J Public Health 15(6), 2004
Maharajh and Ali • Crime in Trinidad and Tobago
going down. J Crim Law Criminol. 1998;88:
1369–98.
23. Tsushima M. Economic structure and crime:
the case of Japan. J Socio-Economics. 1996;25:
497–515.
RESUMEN
La delincuencia
en Trinidad y Tabago:
el efecto del consumo
de alcohol y del desempleo
Original research
24. Hojman DE. Explaining crime in Buenos
Aires: the roles of inequality, unemployment
and structural change. Bull Latin Am Res.
2002;21:121–8.
Manuscript received on 7 April 2003. Revised version accepted for publication on 12 March 2004.
Objetivo. Determinar si el desempleo y el consumo de alcohol se asociaban con distintos tipos de delincuencia en Trinidad y Tabago.
Métodos. El estudio se realizó con datos secundarios obtenidos de la Oficina Central de Estadísticas de Trinidad y Tabago para el período de 1990–1997. Se aplicaron
correlaciones de Pearson del tipo producto-momento y análisis de regresión múltiple
por eliminación progresiva (stepwise regression) para identificar los principales factores pronósticos relacionados con la delincuencia.
Resultados. El desempleo explicó 69,2% de la varianza en la frecuencia de delitos
graves. La disponibilidad de cerveza para consumo en el hogar explicó 64% de la varianza en la frecuencia de infracciones menores, y el desempleo junto con la disponibilidad de cerveza para consumo en el hogar explicaron 92,2% de la varianza en la frecuencia de delitos menores.
Conclusiones. Este estudio proporciona información que puede ser útil para idear
políticas contra el desempleo y la venta de cerveza destinada al consumo doméstico,
factores que se asocian con la delincuencia en Trinidad y Tabago. Si se redujera la
disponibilidad de cerveza para consumo en el hogar —problema de salud pública
importante—, la frecuencia de infracciones menores se reduciría notablemente en este
país. Hacen falta más investigaciones que exploren la relación entre el desempleo y la
delincuencia.
Conference on Overcoming Health Disparities
Dates:
Location:
6–10 October 2004
Sheraton Hotel Atlanta
Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America
Two organizations, the Community-Campus Partnerships for Health (CCPH) and The Network: Towards Unity for Health (The
Network: TUFH), are cosponsoring an international conference entitled “Overcoming Health Disparities: Global Experiences from
Partnerships Between Communities, Health Services, and Health Professional Schools.” The conference will focus on the persistent
problem of health disparities within nations and between nations around the world, highlight promising strategies for overcoming
the disparities, and stimulate constructive actions that can be taken at multiple levels, including cross-sector cooperation and coordination that bring communities, health services, and health professional schools together as partners for change.
The conference will include keynote addresses, mini-workshops, poster presentations, community site visits, and other activities. The conference’s thematic tracks will focus on promising practices in such areas as advocacy and policy change, health promotion and disease prevention, creating healthy settings, translating research into practice, building regional and international networks for change, addressing the social determinants of health, and innovation in health professions education. The event is intended
for participants from around the world, including representatives of community agencies, government organizations, foundations,
health care delivery organizations, health care providers, and faculty, administrators, and students of educational institutions for
health and social care professions.
The registration fee for the conference for members of the cosponsoring groups is US$ 550, and the fee for nonmembers is
US$ 600. The charge for students is US$ 200.
Information:
Overcoming Health Disparities Secretariat
P.O. Box 616,
6200 MD Maastricht, the Netherlands
Telephone: 31-43-3881524/1522 • Fax: 31-43-3884142
E-mail: secretariat@network.unimaas.nl
Web site: http://www.the-networktufh.org/conference
Rev Panam Salud Publica/Pan Am J Public Health 15(6), 2004
423