Children vulnerable to effects of crime

CHILDREN are vulnerable to the effects of crime and violence, said manager of the police Victim and Witness Support Unit (VWSU) Aisha Price-Corbie yesterday, as she urged victims of crime and their relatives to seek counselling and emotional support from the unit.

Speaking at a press briefing at Police Administration Building in Port of Spain, Price-Corbie said children were particularly susceptible to the knock-on effects of crime and criminality and warned that unresolved trauma among victims can manifest in anti-social attitudes and behaviour.

“This is critical in mitigating the effects of unresolved trauma, which from our experience shows that these adverse childhood experiences often form the genesis of dysfunction, substance abuse and future criminal activity.

“The group of children that are impacted by domestic violence is really significant, because often times we see children that grow up in homes of violence quickly graduate to other negative behaviour as well as perpetrating crime, so this is something that is of key importance to us.”

Price-Corbie said the unit was committed to breaking the cycle of crime and violence in the home and reported that since its creation in 2008, 14,575 victims of crime had been treated.

She said of the 396 murders for the year thus far, the unit has successfully counselled 75 percent of the families, but while it has enjoyed some success, there was still much more work to be done.

Price-Corbie said while the unit exists separately from the witness protection unit, it can also extend psychological support to witnesses to crimes.