THE EDITOR: For the third time within recent times a magistrate has imposed, as part of the punishment of a convicted offender, a requirement that the offender carries/wears a sign stating that he is a thief, or, as the last one in a daily newspaper of May 5 states, "Thou shalt not steal." I am calling on the magistrates who have imposed such punishment, or who intend to do so, to immediately desist from this harmful practice.
What is this type of punishment intended to achieve? We were made aware by the press that the first person who was made to suffer this ignominy, shortly after he received this sentence, proceeded to rob some people of their cellphones on Mayaro Beach. His having to carry the sign in front of the Besson Street Police Station, some months before, did not act as a deterrent to future wrongdoing. So what was the point of this exercise in futility?
This type of punishment points to the need for a more holistic training of magistrates. While there is training provided in legal principles, training in other relevant principles, the philosophy of crime and criminology, and international principles and practices, such as restorative practices, which should govern their application of the law, seems lacking.
Having an offender advertise to the entire community that he is a thief constitutes stigmatising shaming. It causes the offender to be labelled as a thief. It does not evoke remorse in the offender. As John Braithwaite, a prominent restorative practices advocate, teaches, it degrades the offender and further contributes to his estrangement from mainstream society, blocks opportunities for legitimate opportunities to earn an honest living and strengthens his bond to other outcasts from society.
Braithwaite emphasises that there is a place for shame as a powerful deterrent from crime and it is a type of shame that is more effective than the fear of punishment.
It is that shame that comes from the offender's realisation of his having earned the disapproval of family, relatives, schoolmates, friends and others who care about him, and will condemn his actions.
It is a type of shaming that will not condemn the offender as a person, that will forgive the offender, encourage him to take accountability for his wrongdoing, make reparation and help the offender on the road to recovery by strengthening his conscience and will deter others from committing crime.
That type of shame leaves the door open for reintegration. It is called reintegrative shaming. Those signs that offenders are being ordered by ill-advised magistrates to carry belong in the garbage.
HAZEL THOMPSON-AHYE
Independent senator
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