Caribbean

Trinidad & Tobago Violence Prevention Academy Presentation

Publication Date: 
March 25, 2009
Author(s): 
Charles M. Katz

Characteristics of Traditional Responses to School Violence
Schools are reactive to incidents
– Driven by teacher referrals
– Driven by public demands for change
Limited information from community

A Comparative Study of Adolescent Gangs in the U.S. and Trinidad & Tobago

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Publication Date: 
January 1, 2011
Author(s): 
Charles M. Katz, Andrew Fox

Gangs and violence in the Caribbean
• Little research has examined gangs and/or violence in the Caribbean.
• Anecdotal evidence suggests that these problems have grown significantly.
• No research has examined the relationship between community coviates and their relationship with gangs and/or violence.

Firearm Possession Among Arrestees in Trinidad and Tobago

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Publication Date: 
July 19, 2010
Author(s): 
William Wells, Charles M. Katz, Jeonglim Kim

Objectives To describe the sources that active offenders in Trinidad and Tobago use to obtain firearms and report their motivations for obtaining them. To estimate relationships between gang involvement, drug selling, and firearm ownership (or possession).

Setting Port of Spain (Republic of Trinidad and Tobago).

Measuring Community Risk and Protective Factors for Adolescent Problem Behaviors: Evidence from a Developing Nation

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Publication Date: 
April 7, 2011
Author(s): 
Edward R. Maguire, William Wells, Charles M. Katz

Most published research on community risk and protective factors for adolescent problem behaviors has been carried out in developed nations. This article examines community risk and protective factors in a sample of more than 2,500 adolescents in Trinidad and Tobago, a developing Caribbean nation. The authors examine the construct and concurrent validity of five community risk factors and two community protective factors.

Why Homicide Clearance Rates Decrease: Evidence from the Caribbean

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Publication Date: 
April 12, 2010
Author(s): 
Edward R. Maguirea, William R. King, Devon Johnson, Charles M. Katz

Police agencies and researchers have devoted significant attention to understanding and improving homicide clearance rates, which often serve as an overall barometer of police performance. Using quantitative and qualitative data, this study examines the factors that contributed to a rapid decline in homicide clearances in the developing island nation of Trinidad and Tobago. A variety of explanations are explored, including characteristics of homicide incidents, the communities where they occur, and the agencies that process these cases.

A Cross-National Comparison of Gangs in the United States and Trinidad and Tobago

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Publication Date: 
July 29, 2011
Author(s): 
Charles M. Katz, Edward R. Maguire, David Choate

This study compares the scope and nature of the gang problem in two communities: one in the United States and one in Trinidad and Tobago, a small-island developing state in the eastern Caribbean that has experienced a serious outbreak of violence over the past decade. Data drawn from surveys of adult arrestees reveal that among respondents, 3.2% of those in the U.S. sample and 5.1% of those in the Trinidad sample reported being a member of a gang. While there were a number of similarities between the two samples, significant differences were found between gang members in both countries.

Risk and Protective Factors Associated with Gang-Involved Youth in Trinidad and Tobago

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Publication Date: 
January 1, 2010
Author(s): 
Charles M. Katz, Andrew M. Fox

Objectives. To examine the prevalence of gang involvement, the risk and protective factors associated with gang involvement, and the association between gang involvement and expo- sure to multiple risk and protective factors among school-aged youth in Trinidad and Tobago. Methods. A survey instrument was administered to 2 206 students enrolled in 22 high- risk, urban public schools, from March–June 2006. It measured 30 risk factors and 13 protec- tive factors within four domains: community, school, family, and peer-individual, plus levels of alcohol/drug use and delinquency.

Structural Disadvantage, Gang Presence and Homicide in a Caribbean Nation

Publication Date: 
January 1, 2010
Author(s): 
Charles M. Katz, Andrew Fox

Gangs and violence in the Caribbean
• Little research has examined gangs and/or violence in the Caribbean.
• Anecdotal evidence suggests that these problems have grown significantly.
• No research has examined the relationship between community coviates and their relationship with gangs and/or violence.

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