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Youth and crime in Papua New Guinea: Some emerging trends

by William Liebert

CRIME never stagnates. From the story of the murder of Abel by his brother Cain, in the first pages of Genesis and throughout history, mankind's deviant actions ebb and flow in different patterns. They repeat themselves from time to time with new twists and developments. What is true in one year may be out of date a few years later, only to resurface again.

Crime is not new to PNG, or in fact, to any country in the world. But the criminal scene today in our country is not what it was 20 years ago, or indeed what it was even three or four years ago.

The law and order problem is still heavily identified with our youth. This, of course, is unfortunate, for people tend to classify all youth, even those unemployed, who walk aimlessly around the town as 'rascals'. This is an injustice to the vast majority, who do keep the law and are not part of the problem. Nevertheless, we all know that we have a problem on our hands, and we know that it involves youth to a great extent. But in discussing the law and order problem in PNG we must remember that this is by no means exclusively a 'youth problem', for we all too often forget about the troublesome tribal conflicts that destroy the economy and cause the innocent to suffer, or the corruption that is found in high places. These too are criminal, and are by no means 'youthful'.

This paper limits itself to youth and crime and some of the emerging trends found in the law and order problem today. There are distinct patterns that can be found and are all too clear to those involved in working with these youth. It brings a fresh challenge to what is a social-pastoral problem, more so in fact then just a problem of enforcing the law.

Background to the present problem
The development of a juvenile and youth criminal element as a subculture took place in the late 1960s, and gained considerable momentum throughout the 70s. The trend was towards the establishment of the 'rascal gang' concept. This was more noticeable in Port Moresby, but quickly spread to the coastal towns of Lae, Rabaul, Wewak and later to Madang.  Kieta had its own unique development of the gangs. To carry all this out required organisational ability and this was, often enough, provided by expatriates and even public servants. At the same time there were still many youths who operated in the criminal fringe as individuals or as small groups not affiliated with the larger well established gangs.

Pickpocketing, shoplifting and petty  theft were the original offences, but the patterns of break and enter and theft soon emerged in the '70s.

Slowly there developed a growing frustration among these youth who were able to look far enough ahead to see that there was little future for them. The school leaver program was beginning to come into force around this time as well. Many of these youths were second and even third generation city-born children often of parents who had come to the administrative centres, found work and never returned to their villages. The type of employment offered during this period began to require a  more educated person. The illiterate and the school leaver were quick to see the handwriting on the wall.

It was around this time, that is in the 1970s, that more and more cracks began to appear in social structures, especially the family, and this certainly added to the problem.

By the end of the 1970s these youths were becoming more and more belligerent in their attitude. They had not yet taken up the use of guns as weapons but restricted themselves to clubs and knives.

In the early 1980s there was a change in the pattern. They began to tapper off in their belligerent attitude and became more cunning in planning. A sort of 'refined' person began to enter their ranks as well. Organisation became consolidated and as the decade went on they began to shun outward marks such as tattoos which were a badge of honour in the 70s. They began to realise that these outward signs were a clear identification, a give-away to everyone especially the police.

By the mid-1980s the pattern had altered to the use of armed weapons. It has been a mystery to many as to how they were able to equip themselves with weapons that were more sophisticated than those found in the Police and Defence armouries. With the right connections, however, almost anything was possible.

By this time the organisation had spread from the urban areas and became entrenched in the rural sections as well, both coastal and highlands. The organisation was so well developed that goods and persons could be shunted from province to province literally almost overnight.

Interestingly enough, the tide could still have been turned by the mid-80s. Had the signs of the times been read properly it could have been seen that most of these youths involved in criminal activities would have given up crime if somebody would have been on hand to help them and to provide them with work.

The media played into their hands. Crime became a front page sensational advertisement for them. This inflated their egos. Suddenly they came into the limelight and began to realise just how vulnerable the nation was. They could and they would control the economy until someone listened to them. With free and sensational publicity they could control overseas investment by frightening the investor, diminish tourism and cause businesses to fold up and go home.

It was at this time that the task force on law and order, headed by Pious Kerepia, realised the seriousness of the situation and tried to stem the tide. The task force organised a massive retreat held at Goldie River Barracks in May, 1985. At the same time it requested K100,000 as a Defusion Fund to get these youths to work. The retreat was a success as the youths were more than willing to accept help. Then a few weeks later came the State of Emergency, and the Defusion Fund, although approved by cabinet, was released. The gangs went into recess and began to scatter to other provinces to wait for better times.

Emerging trends
Today, four years later, we can see what is emerging from the past. These trends, as listed here, are not meant to be in a line-up of importance, but must be seen as new patterns evolving all at the same time and adding a complexity to our law and order problem that, in this author's opinion, is truly frightening.

1. Professionalism. A few years ago we had youths who committed crimes and did so as professional criminals. Some of these youths, and their number is growing, are seeing crime as a way of life, a profession. It is dangerous, but also lucrative. It makes a living. Why change? Crime does pay after all.

This is the line of thinking of many today. What has caused them to reach this conclusion? They have listened to the politicians and their broken promises and decided these will not help them. Government, and especially provincial governments, have lost credibility. Corruption is hardly front page news any more. So to whom shall they turn?

There is still a certain amount of trust in some Churches, and by and large they recognise that the Churches would help if they had the resources. On the other hand they speak disparagingly of some Churches who, they claim, seek only conversions and are not willing to help them otherwise.  Thus, many reason, they fall back on their own resources. It was quite possible to literally pick out juveniles whom you could predict would turn into this class of persons. Sadly enough there were no follow-up programs to reach these youthful offenders who have become professional criminals.

2. Exploitation. Exploitation of youth involved in crime is not new. The gangs arose partly because there were persons on the sidelines who were ready to use them.

The twist today is that the exploitation is not only to use these youths to commit crimes, but also to further some people's political careers. The concept of a gang taking a 'contract' in previous days was mainly limited to obtaining goods for a person, for example, a stereo. Then it took on the task of 'payback' work, or roughing up someone in order to have him abandon his job or leave the country, thus providing an opening for someone else to take over.

Of late, exploitation has entered the political arena whereby a contract may be given to assault an opposing candidate or terrorise the people to vote in a certain way. This is only a trend and one must not read more into it than that. By no means do we want to give the impressions to the reader that this is the general practice of candidates for political office. The majority do not employ these tactics.

It is, however, a particularly nasty type of exploitation because it undermines our democratic way of life and leads to 'thug' rule.

3. Entering the political arena. The 1987 elections did find some of these youths standing for parliament. Admittedly they were only a few and did not succeed in getting themselves elected, but the interest in politics has been stimulated and we are going to see more and more of these youths organising a political machine on both the provincial and national levels. There is nothing criminal in this, and in fact it fits in with our system of democracy. If someone does not like the way things are going, then either get your own candidates or get yourself elected and change the situation legitimately. Given their numbers and organisation, they are quite capable of building such a political base.

There is, however, one question that must be looked into. What is their motive? Do they see this as a means to obtain power and wealth? The media which has highlighted all too many elected leaders who have appeared to enrich themselves in dubious ways, has not been overlooked by these young people. Time, of course, will tell, but it does leave one in a bit of a dilemma as to whether they should be encouraged to enter into what is a perfectly legitimate means of affecting change, or whether it is better to stand by in silence and hope for the best.

The 1987 elections brought a host of educated men into parliament. The political aspirants are often quite naive as well as untrained. They do not realise that unless there are sufficient numbers in the arena they may not be able to bring about the legislation they desire. It can be argued, of course, that many others entered politics naive and untrained and became quite outstanding legislators. After all they are nobody's fool and will learn the skills of politics as they go along, and they have an axe to grind. In the meantime they are vulnerable and unaware of the pitfalls of political life.

4. Drug abuse. The use of drugs by the youth, both those involved in criminal activities as well as many ordinary youth, is now widespread. Alcohol abuse, which is but another form of drug abuse, has been with us for some time as a very serious component of crime and has by no means been confined to the younger generation. There is no sign that alcohol abuse is abating. But the use of other forms of drugs is very definitely an emerging trend in the 1980s.

Given the worldwide drug abuse, it is inevitable that sooner or later it would catch up with PNG as well. Until a few years ago the problem appeared to be related to a few expatriates found with marijuana in their possession or with a plant growing in their garden or house. Over the past few years it has left the confines of the expatriate population and become a truly full-blown national one. Presently it is still limited to marijuana.

The natural tendency for people when they hear that the problem is confined to canabis or marijuana, is to breathe a sigh of relief that we do not have to worry about heroin, cocaine or crack, the so-called 'hard drugs'. There are many who consider that marijuana is really no problem at all. Many are blissfully unaware that there is even the problem of drug abuse at all. Any sigh of relief, because we have no 'hard drug' problem, is premature, for if it indicates a trend, as in the rest of the world, marijuana is but a forerunner of what is to come. And those who believe marijuana is not a serious matter, are ignorant of the true nature of the harmful effects of this very potent drug.
For the sake of those readers who are not familiar with the marijuana scene, let me briefly describe the problem. One can say there is marijuana and then there is marijuana. For a long time much of the marijuana that hit the western world were species that were not all that debilitating. The potency of the plant depends very much upon the exact species grown, and the climactic conditions where it is cultivated. Marijuana grown from seeds from Mexico or Thailand contain a very high content of the chemical data-tetahydrocanabinal (THC). One third of a marijuana cigarette (known as a reefer or joint) of these species, will cause a very high 'psychological high', whereas that grown from seeds in northern climates, such as the north of the United States or the south of Australia, yield very little effect, even after smoking three or four reefers. Species known as Vietnamese Red or Acupolco Go, though they had a high THC content, were superseded by newer, specially cultivated species that raised the THC content from four or five per cent - 20-22 per cent.

Previously most research concentrated on the psychological effects of the drug, often using species with a low THC content. Hence the mistaken notion that marijuana is really not all that harmful. Today scientists are paying more attention to the biological and genetic effects of marijuana abuse on the body. The information coming from this research is indeed ominous.

While research in PNG on this topic has been practically nil and the exact of THC is not known, observations made by the users themselves, as well as youth workers, is that the marijuana produced in our country creates a very high psychological high. From this we can infer that the THC content must be very high.

Youths themselves admit to its widespread usage among their groups. It is used to 'give us courage' in preparation for certain offences, such as armed robberies. Again they have clearly indicated that its usage heightens their sexual excitement and is definitely the root of many of our crimes of rape and violence.

5. Armed weapons. The use of arms is not a new phenomenon among youth involved in crime, as guns have been around for some time. But what is emerging is the use of more sophisticated weapons. A few years ago home-made guns came in to use, many of them quite crude and dangerous to the criminal himself. Evident now, are better locally produced guns, as well as weapons from overseas. This of course denotes overseas connections being strengthened, a factor that has been present for some time already.

Drug abuse together with the use of arms by people under a 'psychological high', creates a serious and frightening situation. Statistics often show that crime is not increasing, which can be disputed. What is increasing is the use of weapons and violence in attacks on others. It is all the more serious because it indicates that the fuse on the time bomb is getting shorter. Indeed the riots in Lae of August 1988, clearly indicate that they are prepared to hit the very political structure of the country.

Corruption in the political and bureaucratic system appears to be the rallying point, whether it is real or imagined. It is significant to note, however, that if these youth see that something is being done or at least is being attempted to help them, then, even if they are frustrated, it takes a much longer time for them to reach the boiling point. What is difficult for them to understand, is that the political and bureaucratic systems do not work overnight. Even with the best of intentions not even the most sincere politician can bring about a new life for these youth all that quickly. The youth fail to see that it does take time to change circumstances, and the political process also takes a long time to bring about immediate change.

Halting the trends
Can these trends really be halted? They build up over a long period of time and are defused only when realistic measures are taken, that address the root problems. Or else they will explode in a violent eruption.

People tend to identify violent upheavals with repressive governments, and PNG certainly does not suffer from repression. Nevertheless when conditions within a country reach a low ebb, ideologies, such as communism, appear promising to solve the problem, and in some cases do so. History is filled with pseudo-saviours who solve problems through repression. No one wants that to happen here.

All of us are aware, in a general way, that we are sitting on a time bomb, and the government is well aware that the pot is brewing. Recent government policy was aimed at stimulating the economy, as one solution to the unrest of the youth. There is no doubt that in certain sectors the economy did take an upward trend. But economic stimulation that neglects the social issues is bound to failure as it forgets people. Without people the economy is meaningless. Likewise, economic stimulation has to be of such a nature that it reaches not just the elite and wealthy but the common man of the street and village as well. Another reaction that society often turns to, when faced with social ills and especially so when these are manifested in criminality, is to meet force with force. This is a natural reaction and is demonstrated by a call for more police, harsher jail sentences and so forth. At best these are only temporary measures, and sometimes even become counterproductive. We have tried several of these measures such as the State of Emergency, Minimum Penalties Act, the Lo-Met Raids and Operations. Are we really any better off? To be sure these did have some limited success, but no one can say that they have halted any of the above trends.

People know we have a serious law and order problem, but they often see it in isolation. They know of pack rapes and highway robberies as the media makes sure of this. But what they so often fail to understand is, that these acts of criminal activity are not isolated occurances, but that they stem from and hinge on social conditions of life. For example, some people steal because they are poor, or others may commit rape because they are on drugs. Poverty is one of the bottom lines that give rise to crime, but certainly not the only one. The rich also commit crimes. Again their crimes are not isolated events but stem from the whole picture of society in which a loss of moral values gives rise to crime. There needs to be a wider conscientisation of the entire spectrum of criminality among youth of which an understanding of social justice is one aspect. Without this, it will be difficult for society, and in particular for those who work with these youth, to devise and carry out countermeasures against these trends.

Will these work?
It would be foolhardy for anyone to claim that he has all the answers. Yet we are constantly treated to a barrage of solutions in letters to the editors of newspapers, many of them just as violent as the crimes themselves, such as public whippings and chopping people's hands off. The solutions offered below are no more than food for thought. This author, after 20 years of working with these youth, is only too aware that he does not have all the answers.

1. The professional criminal. A person becomes a professional criminal precisely because he uses professional methods and takes up crime as a way of life. It is his career in life. One cannot combat the professional criminal simply by blunt force. He is a professional because he knows how to get around force. The attack against professionalism is really two-fold. His professional methods can only be overcome by being more professional yourself. In short, that means a highly efficient and professional law enforcement agency and a justice system that is just as efficient.

Very many serious crimes are committed in retaliation against the police as any rascal will tell you. Police professionalism does not require brutality in order to obtain a confession. Then too, deficiencies in the justice system, such as prolonged waits in prison on remand, idleness in the prisons because of a lack of manpower and facilities, will all have to be eliminated, if we expect to divert people from turning into professional criminals.

In as much as we are concerned here with trends, a great amount of work will have to be done on individuals whom we have to identify as potential professionals. Those who are already professionals will also need individual attention. The task becomes more difficult, the more the person is entrenched in his profession of crime, but it must be at least attempted. Problems ranging from emotional behaviour difficulties to actual psychoses, many of which can be found among these young people, do not make the task any easier. Our present prison system is not geared to provide the individual assistance required, and in fact, may even turn the youth into a professional criminal. Our resources are limited, yet we must work with what we have and do our best.

2. Exploitation of youth by unscrupulous persons can best be counteracted by working directly with these youth who see that they are not going to be used for their own personal gain.  They follow the exploiters because these people have something to offer them, even if it is no more than empty promises. We can provide them with work and jobs, and also offer them understanding of their problems and sincerity in trying to help them. Many people are cynical about these so-called 'rascals' in believing they only want material gain. In fact, they are deeply moved by anyone who wants to help them and not only materially. Contrary to what many believe, the vast majority of them do not want to live a life of crime. They seek indeed a way of life that is in accord with human dignity. While this may be questioned by many, I believe the experience of those working among these youths would bear out the truth of this statement.

3. The political arena. Many of these youths are becoming interested in politics, and we have asked the question as to what their motive is. Even those who genuinely want to bring about social reform are naive about political life and vulnerable to political manipulation. Should we offer them political education as such? What they need prior to any such political education, and in fact what many politicians need, is an education in citizenship and social justice. What does it mean to be a nation? What does it mean to be a citizen with rights and duties? What are the values inherent in our nation, both from tradition and those enshrined in our constitution? This is all basic to political life and is non-political in content. It would be dangerous to attempt to steer these young people away from entering politics. It would be unjust to do so and against our democratic way of life and would most certainly have the very opposite effect of stimulating them, all the more, to try their luck in the political game. It would be far better for us to organise wholesome courses and seminars on basic citizenship and ethical values and guide them towards a true political life that would benefit the nation. In fact, we have a duty to do so.

4. Drug abuse. We have already seen that this is fast becoming a problem among our youth and will be further complicated by drug trafficking. We are also very late in attempting to counteract this very serious trend. Neither drug abuse nor trafficking are easy to combat and nowhere in the world has it been very successful.

What is needed is a strong Narcotic Control Board that will bring about awareness and education of the problems and set up rehabilitation centres. In contradistinction to heroin and cocaine addiction, which soon displays to the addict the ruin of his life, cannabis is much slower in showing its harmful effects. Hence people are not so prone to ask for help to overcome marijuana dependency, as they are with the 'harder' drugs.

We need up-to-date legislation to combat especially trafficking. Legislation alone, of course, will not solve the problem because the forces behind it are very powerful indeed. While the subject is far too complicated to go into detail here, it should be mentioned that prison sentences for drug dependency cases are failures, by and large.

5. The use of sophisticated weapons. This of course, is bound up with the entire crime problem and will demand an improved intelligence system and a vigorous law enforcement agency, that has the facilities to counteract the entry of these weapons into PNG.

Besides all this, we will need something concrete to offer these youths, if we expect them to give up crime altogether. Concrete action must be undertaken to solve their problems, of which the largest is unemployment. Enticing industry, land resettlement and many other such schemes are valuable long-term solutions. But what is needed, is the immediate introduction of short-term measures of employment.

For many of the ordinary youth in the cities, this can be in the form of granting contracts to do clean-up work, etc. However, this is not farsighted enough for the majority of the youths, not because they do not want to work, but because they want a goal, more than grass cutting all their lives. This is not said disparagingly about our 'ordinary' youth, but because it is the simple truth. They too, want more than grass cutting and clean up work as a career in life, but they are less volatile in expressing themselves.

In 1987, election year, the Ministerial Committee on Law and Order was allocated K500,000, much of which went to the Churches to provide work projects for these youths. Under that scheme youth who were at risk, as the saying goes, submitted through a Church, an application for funding of a particular income-generating project. Once this was approved by the committee the money was handed over to the Church, who then supervised the group in community work. The individuals were paid a fortnightly wage, which however was banked for them in a special deposit, towards setting up the project.

A small amount of pocket money was given to each person from this wage. When the initial amount was expended in community work, the Church then proceeded to assist the group in establishing their income generating project. It was not a handout system, and it worked well.

It is simplistic to believe, however, that employment alone will solve all our problems. As long as we have other social ills, such as drug abuse and political manipulation, we will be fighting an uphill battle. The need is there, to attack all of these social problems at one time. That will call for a holistic view of these youth and for measures that will bring about their full human development, physical, intellectual, psychological and spiritual.

The full development of our youth
The policy paper introduced in parliament in August, 1988, by the minister for Justice and Chairman of the Ministerial Committee, Bernard Narokobi, calls for a mobilisation of all our resources, to bring about the full development of our youth.

This comprehensive and constructive policy calls for more than just a strengthening of our law enforcement body, although this too is recognised as being vital for law and order. It calls upon the community, the non-government organisations, the Churches, the business sector and the youth groups, to work together, to turn the tide of crime. This will not be easy, but it is only through such a mobilised force that these dangerous trends can be halted.

The government will first of all have to get its act together. Many government agencies that are vital to the full development of youth are inefficient and this alone proves frustrating and counterproductive. What good is it to commence agricultural projects with these youths, if the extension services of the Department of Primary Industry is nearly non-existent? How do youths find work if the employment office does not function? If youth schemes are mismanaged, or if there are little or no realistic training programs set up, then where do these youths find the help they need?

The Churches too, have to get their act together. They should provide a good focal point of community involvement in assisting these youth, and some have. But in the past, not all Churches have risen to the challenge of solving social issues. Traditionally, some Churches have involved themselves in the health, education and welfare of the people for decades. Social concern has been a dynamic part of their mission to bring the Good News to the people.

Unfortunately not all Churches share this view. Some quite literally limit their social concern to their own members, or use social concern as a means of proselytising. There are examples where youth have been told that if they are converted to the particular church, they will be helped. Others do not see the social field as their concern whatever.

Hopefully, things are changing. Since 1987 the government, through the Ministerial Committee on Law and Order, began to meet with the Heads of Churches, on a regular basis, regarding law and order. This is being carried on by the present government. The Churches are going to have to realise that they have a vital role to play, in not only the law and order problem, but in preventing the whole fabric of our society from disintegrating altogether. Even within the ranks of those Churches who do show interest and who are committed to assist, one finds a great deal of unawareness and even at times opposition. Some feel more secure in the old system and do not wish to change to meet the challenge of the modern day.

The business sector will also have to get its act together. Business stands to lose considerably more than other sectors because of these dangerous trends. It is in their own interest to assist in solving these social problems. They alone can provide the expertise to these youth, who need aid in management. They have been a strong voice in demanding government protection. Some, and these are relatively few, have shown the willingness to assist. Efforts shown by the Chamber of Commerce in mounting a law awareness campaign, are certainly on the right track.

Conclusion
We are in a dangerous period of our history, as events are catching up with us. An explosive population growth coupled with an all-around low economic development, inevitably leads to a crisis and we are in that crisis now.

Yet the tide can be turned if we resolutely set ourselves to the task. Only time will tell whether we are able to do so. The country does have resources to call upon, not only among its law abiding citizens, but also among these very youth themselves. The basic problem will be to organise these resources for the good of us all.

Fr Liebert wrote this article 10 years ago. He begins with the murder story of Abel and Cain, and concludes that "crime never stagnates", since these early days. Later in the times of the Old Testament people had opportunities to identify other reasons for crime, such as: "when evil men are in power, crime increases, but the righteous will live to see the downfall of such men". (Proverbs: 29, 16).
 

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