Christopher Bryan | Non-conventional approaches to address human security

The realist theory of security is defined as the security of the State and territorial boundaries carried out by military force to avert external threats to the states and its people.

The Caribbean probably has never had to deal with such threats. To my knowledge, no such threat has been identified to date. Security threats in the Caribbean probably have never been against the State by external forces, but internally against the citizenry, sometimes because of social dysfunction in communities.

The human relations theory of security refers predominantly to threats which impact the ‘human security’, that is, those issues which impact ‘citizens or public safety’ rather than military threats against the states directly.

Some of those issues they identified as:

- preservation of human rights, social and economic values;

- freedom from fear and harm in the occupancy of public space;

- murder, drugs/human trafficking; and

- national disaster, which certainly poses a greater and real threat to the Caribbean citizenry than a military or external threat.

These security threats have been previously identified and enunciated at respective CARICOM Heads of Government and other similar meetings in the past.

Some Caribbean states are grappling to deal effectively with high crime rates (crimes against their people) yearly, to the point that they have to extend their military’s resources to fill operational gaps. Also, even with the employment of private security guards in private as well as in public spaces, these crimes continue to harm the people.

COMPREHENSIVE MESSAGE

Coupled with institutional approaches reflected in policies, programmes, as well as operational orders by the primary agencies of governments, there needs to be complementary well-coordinated non-conventional and multidimensional approaches to address those aspects of human security.

These non-conventional and multidimensional approaches should embody the development of a comprehensive and impacting public message (written) about crime and violence, the impact it is having on the society, and how each of us can help to create a gentler society. This message must seek to appeal and change perpetrators’ mind, heart and soul as well as to dissuade others from getting involved in crime and violence.

It must also aim to render, generally, a spirit of love and compassion between each of us while we occupy and share in our private as well as public spaces, and in our discourses with each other in the society.

This should form part of the wide-ranging Caribbean integration movement initiative, so wherever we go in the Caribbean, we are being reminded of the same binding messages.

For this to be acceptable and result orientated, governments must initiate partnerships with all media houses, electronic and print, and in time allotted for government broadcast, offer this service free of cost as their contribution to the national call for public partnership to address crime and violence.

Another aspect of this approach should be public displays of this message strategically placed on all government and agency building – entrances/lobbies, courthouses, airports, schools as well as a one-minute clips shown in movie cinema, and all cable televisions.

In Jamaica, our defunct Values and Attitude programme, which I think can add invaluable information to influence society’s behavioural change, must be re-established and be driven by an agency of socialisation in collaboration with the government. This time, the programme must be further developed with an aim of longevity to form part of everyday social intervention mechanism. A similar programme should be adopted by the wider Caribbean governments as well.

Since this proposed approach is about appealing to people’s heart, soul and mind to change behaviour, our heart-rending national pledge comes to mind.

USE PLEDGE PRACTICALLY

I have always thought that this pledge would be tremendously beneficial to all of us if we decided to use it practically. How well do many of us remember those words? When last have we reflected on them? Therefore, I am also proposing that we start by asking parliamentarians, officers of the court, security forces, to include private security guards on their briefing parades, to recite this pledge as a means to start their day’s activities.

It will send the message of what should be expected of them, as well as what society should expect from them in providing their service to the public.

Similarly as well, teachers and students should also recite this pledge in schools daily. Certainly, I can foresee the private sector getting involved as well. This approach can serve to instill and reinforce the shared pride and value in ourselves, our country as well as the humane conduct towards one another in society. One common factor for these approaches to be successful is to establish a common trust with all the partners.

We have to start build this trust by:

- allocation of the appropriate resources to these approaches;

- be honest and transparent; exercise respect for each other; and

- communicate thoughtfully with each other.

It would be interesting to measure the co-relation over time to assess the effectiveness of this approach if adopted.

Christopher Bryan is a physical and corporate security consultant. Email feedback to Christopher.bryan1000@gmail.com and columns@gleanerjm.com