— because of culture of greed, says sociologist

THE get-rich-quick environment and the need for men to always satisfy the requests of the opposite sex with expensive gifts are motivating factors in criminality, sociologist Patricia Sheerattan-Bisnauth has said.
“Boys would tell you that their girlfriends want brand name things which are very expensive, even on occasions of Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and whatever the occasion is, people are dissatisfied whether it is women or men, unless the gifts are those shiny and expensive things that lots of money can buy.”

Her comments come in the wake of the daring attempted robbery of the Republic Bank Water Street branch on Tuesday by Elton Wray, 24, and his accomplices identified as Jamal Haynes, a Republic Bank staff member and Keron Saunders.
Wray was killed in the incident and soon after it was revealed that he had recently secured a loan from the said institution to purchase his Nissan Juke automobile, which he had parked in South Ruimveldt while attacking the bank.
He had studied in China on a government scholarship, obtaining a degree and worked at the National Agriculture Research and Extension Institute (NAREI) as an agronomist.
Reports indicate that Wray was planning to visit his girlfriend in the U.S., but he did not have sufficient funds to make the trip.

Sheerattan-Bisnauth, who is also Executive-Director of the Guyana Responsible Parenthood Association (GRPA), said sometimes a personal dream does not coincide with their reality, and the way to a better life is hard work.
She stressed that focusing on self-development and becoming a better person is way better than having a huge mansion and a fancy car from ill-gotten gains.
Making reference to Tuesday’s incident, the sociologist said generally, core values and ethics are lacking in the education system, pointing out that “We need to further analyse what is happening in our society.”

Noting that she does not have specific information on agronomist Wray and his accomplices, Sheerattan-Bisnauth said there are many motivating factors that can contribute to a person deciding to choose crime.
The most popular she said, is greed, which she noted is dangerous with or without a degree or education.

GET-RICH-QUICK SYNDROME
“When you want to get rich very quickly which happens among many youths, there is no focus on anything else, especially on growth and expansion of oneself. Everyone wants a job where they earn huge amounts of money. It’s a get-rich- quick environment where we are living and that is what the youths and many children are living by,” she said.
Youths molded in values and ethics will be less motivated to involve themselves in criminal activities, she said, and noted “This is lacking in our education system core values.”

Emphasising that the world economic order pushes many people into competition and greed, the sociologist said “What we are finding in Guyana with a lot of young persons is that they want to get rich quickly, and they want to have all those things peddled on social media, the fancy cars, the fancy houses and fancy things in general.”
Sheerattan-Bisnauth, who is also a pastor, said even children when asked what are their wishes and dreams for their future, relate the very extravagant and expensive things, instead of the simple things that usually bring about happiness.

She said society is flooded with extravagance and opulence and many do not want to work very hard to attain such a lifestyle and persons with higher education and degrees attached to their names are not exempted from any form of criminality.
“It happens in high offices in all spheres and field, not only government, but a wide arena where people are driven by greed and plans are always made to obtain a heist in relation to where they think they may find that sum.”

Sheerattan-Bisnauth also pointed out that children are raised on many occasions where values clash with what “we want to see in society, many times children steal and bring home things and they are applauded for such actions. It’s all about not getting caught; parents also do similar and related things.”
She contended that crime and deviance occur mostly when society provides little moral guidance to individuals and when there is a strain between society’s socially approved ‘success goals’ and the opportunities available to achieve these goals.
Crime, she noted, occurs when individuals still want to achieve the success goals of society, but abandon the socially approved means of obtaining those goals.