Garth Rattray
THE RECENT mob killing of an alleged robber in Llandilo, Westmoreland on April 18, 2005 has sparked disparaging cries of shame and consternation from several quarters. For what it's worth, I must add my voice to the group of appalled Jamaicans who must helplessly watch as our once civil society rapidly descends into the bottomless pit of immorality. I am very sensitive to street 'justice' because way back in the 1979 I was almost mobbed.
Late one night, an irate, but very mistaken taxi driver, accused me of ramming his newly refurbished station wagon and driving off in an attempt to elude him and his car full of passengers. The driver wielded his 'lass and drew a large and hostile crowd of people sympathetic to his cause. A strange calm came over me as I realised that I may have to fight to the bitter end.
Perhaps it was my dispassionate attitude or maybe it was because I made no attempt to flee, but eventually they acceded to my invitation to solve the dispute at the Half-Way Tree Police Station. The night duty officer thoroughly inspected my unblemished vehicle and vented his wrath on my accuser. I came out unscathed but I will never forget how all the witnesses erroneously identified me as the hit and run culprit.
That was about 26 years ago, in a kinder, gentler Jamaica. People weren't as angry, fearful, frustrated or as wound up as they are today. The crime and murder rates were nowhere near what they are now. People had far more faith in the established systems of security and justice. Fewer people were poor and destitute.
NEAR BOILING POINT
There was hope for a prosperous tomorrow and immeasurably less despair. Our nation was not as near to the boiling point as it is now. Jamaicans today feel frightened and powerless.
There is a feeling of victimisation all around. Many feel abused by the criminals and by the system that is supposed to protect them. Once galvanised into action, it doesn't take much for a group of otherwise peaceful people to morph into a murderous mob.
Complex psychosocial forces can transform everyday law-abiding citizens into a unified death squad. Collective (group) behaviour is usually described as an explosion, spontaneous, sudden or emergent. People within a group respond to each other or to the same stimulus. They no longer act as isolated individuals with distinct thought processes, morals or belief systems to guide them. Their action usually comes as the result of a flashpoint and dissipates soon after the energy of the moment is spent. Psychologists still debate and quibble over the inexplicable rapidity with which we break our bonds with civility and reason.
CRIMINAL ELEMENTS
In a society such as ours, where decent people are often predated by criminal elements set on establishing a new order, wherein fear is used to rule over a defeated people, the sight of a cornered accused criminal triggers a self-preservative response. The accused becomes the embodiment of all that is evil. All the robberies, rapes, murders, pain and suffering of the entire nation is heaped upon his head. In the crazed eyes of the pursuing mob, he is no longer human he becomes the object of their loathing and a threat to be eliminated.
People have lost confidence in the justice system. They feel unprotected and robbed of their right to the freedoms enshrined in the constitution. In a country where innumerable poorly educated youths have guns and witnesses are slaughtered on crowded streets in full view of everyone, can we really expect mob killings to cease just because we say that they should? In a country where the law only shackles some of us while others manifestly float beyond its reach, can we seriously expect people to show restraint?
Extrajudicial and mob killings are unquestionably deplorable and must be fully investigated so that the perpetrators can be brought to justice but no amount of moralistic utterances will stop them unless and until confidence is restored in our nation's security and justice and our people feel safe.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
