Dear Editor,
The Shawn Hinds matter has really opened the door to an interesting aspect of the Guyanese society. Organisations or associations in a society can be of two kinds – legal or illegal. What distinguishes the two is the nature of the business. For example, in the case of Captain Khamraj Lall, the cash-jet pilot who was arrested and charged for having US$600,000 in his jet, what was the action that got him into trouble with the law? He was transferring money from one place to another. Is this act in itself illegal? No, the banks transfer money all of the time; the difference between his ‘organization’ and the bank, is that the bank has the legal authority to conduct that kind of business.
Illegal organizations or enterprises employ similar administration and management mechanisms as legal organizations, for example, if someone owes the bank, the bank sends notices and has the option to take the defaulters to the legal system, and the bank may acquire a judgment and move to employ more aggressive measures to get what belongs to it. This may require breaking the door of a property, throwing its occupants and their belongings out and barring the door. Illegal enterprises do not have those legal options but some of them employ similar measures; they serve, well rather they issue notices, and use other aggressive means to recover what is theirs.
This brings me to the point of the importance of good governance structures in a society. The level of illegal actions in our society is not isolated. It is a result of the lack or absence of something. The systems, structures, norms and rules in a society, are all intricately connected.
On the point of Shawn Hinds, many persons are asking questions, such as, why is he coming out now? What is his motive? Is this a diversion from something? And the list goes on. My view is that he is going through a natural transformation process. As I listen to and observe him, he seems to be transitioning from one stage in life to the next. Most persons with his experiences, if they live long enough, may go through this process. It is called, change. There is a reason why it is said that change is the only constant thing.
There are five stages of behavioural change. These are pre-contemplation, where someone has not yet acknowledged that there is a problem behaviour that needs to be changed; contemplation, where someone acknowledges that there is a problem but is not yet ready or sure of wanting to make a change; preparation/determination, where one is getting ready to change; action/willpower, where someone begins to change their behaviour; maintenance, where one maintains the changed behaviour; and the relapse stage, where someone returns to the old behaviours and abandons the new changes. Shawn Hinds could be going through one of these five stages. Very important here is support to help him to maintain this new perspective and perception of life and the worth of life, and prevent a possible relapse.
Because change is natural, persons like Shawn Hinds, as the change takes place, will move to confession. Everything we do as human beings comes with its benefits and burdens and very often the burden of some acts or knowledge of those acts is too much for humans to carry alone, hence, the relevance and importance of religion as a discipline in society. Human beings have a limit as to how much pressure they can withstand. What Shawn Hinds did in the media, very often, is done with the pastors, priests, counsellors ‒ and the media too.
Research shows that the compassionate side of the brain is reduced for many persons who commit crimes continuously. What religion does in many cases is to stimulate that compassionate side so that it becomes more a factor in influencing the person’s decisions. The brain largely functions by developing routines, hence a person develops habits, whether they be of a criminal nature or other. A shift in the brain happens when something with sufficient impact occurs to ‘shock’ the brain into a new reality. In behavioural change, this could be called a trigger. My question therefore is, what was the trigger that caused Shawn Hinds to respond in this jaw-dropping way? Something triggered this new behaviour, and that trigger is very important to him. Life is about stimulus and response; his response was stimulated by something, something with sufficient force. Another point to note is that some persons have commented that he is probably fearful. My view is that while there may be some degree of fear, it is not necessarily a key motivating factor.
He is not necessarily afraid, because fear is a result of an object and I don’t believe that there are many objects of fear for Shawn Hinds; as a matter of fact, he is an object of fear to many. Hence, he said that he protected the former Town Clerk Carol Sooba with a toy gun, and once people saw him, they were not going to do harm to her. Therefore he, the person, is more the object of fear than the weapon.
However, it may be more anxiety than fear. While fear is the result of an object, anxiety is the result of uncertainty, not knowing what will happen. As you listen to him, he is asking more for certainty than protection. It is more in the interest of those who think that he has something valuable, to protect that thing which will in turn be protection for him.
His interest is more what he would get in exchange for what he has. It would be interesting to see in what form certainty comes to him. Would it be in the form of amnesty or other? For many persons like him, the anxiety comes because he is in uncharted waters he is not in total control as he is accustomed to being; he now has to depend on others; this is new ground, new territory.
Further, he said that he is not a snitch or a whistleblower and this may very well be true; however, in the security business, whether it is of a legal or illegal nature, honour is a fundamental element in relationships. This is honour from both sides ‒ the employer and the employee. When honour is broken, loyalty goes through the door. Someone is loyal because there is honour in the relationship.
Finally, religion is therefore very important in developing the side of the brain that is compassionate. Pastors, imams, priests and other religious leaders should go after the minds of persons who commit criminal acts, to stimulate the side of the brain that is compassionate.
Yours faithfully,
Audreyanna Thomas
