ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the relationship between ethnicity and crime victimisation in Trinidad and Tobago. Very little is known about this issue in the Caribbean and indeed, most countries have not collected data that would allow for an examination of this issue. While Trinidad and Tobago has recently begun to collect data on race and crime, these data have not been examined. This chapter will examine official crime data for murder, woundings and shooting, robbery, sexual offences, burglaries and break-ins, larceny and larceny of motor vehicles, and domestic violence. Ethnicity data for murder are available from 2001 to 2013, while for domestic violence data are available from 2012 to 2014. Data for all other crimes are available from 2010 to 2014. Data from the 2012 United Nations Development Program (UNDP) and 2014 American Barometers Victimization Surveys will also be examined. The present chapter is exploratory and hopes to determine whether different ethnicities are over-represented as victims of crime. The chapter will also attempt to determine whether there are systematic patterns of over-representation and will offer explanations for the observed differences.
