We are a nation calling for blood. It seems as though we always bathe the beginning of our new year with the blood of the innocent and the clamouring of the society for the "return" of the death penalty.

Local politicians, as was expected, have ridden this wave in an attempt to save themselves from political suicide. Jack Warner stated his intentions to go on a death penalty campaign and people will easily forget their dislike for Jack to give room in their heads for his support of their desires.

How did we get here? For the past ten plus years we have seen a steady increase in our murder rate. It has become so unbearable that we have begun washing down the gallows to restart its dirty work. All hail the gallows, our salvation! We will wear it around our necks as the new sign of redemption and ask people to grovel at its feet.

Research has repeatedly shown that the death penalty is not a deterrent to crime. Our low detection and conviction rate does not help in this either. At best, it will be a visceral response that satisfies, momentarily, our need for vengeance. But it is my humble but informed opinion that we must give up this line of thinking for the sake of our development.

In a document published in 2009 by the Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, they indicate that there is a lower than one per cent conviction rate for murder in this country. What criminal in our country would think twice about killing someone if they really want to if all they have is a 99 per cent chance of getting away with it?

The death penalty is not a deterrent, it is a punishment. I sincerely understand this. When I got the news one evening that my aunt was in the hospital after being chopped over the head by a crazy neighbour over the death of his dog, I wanted his head to go off like the average hot-headed Trinidadian.

So this article is not the ranting of some human rights activist removed from reality; this is the reflective thoughts of a young man who wants what is best for our country's development. I hope we can at least agree on this.

When I open my eyes and look around, trying to understand our problem, I can hardly blame the criminals.

Criminals do not fall out of the sky as precipitation nor do they pop out of the ground as moles. They are born and bred within a social climate—our social climate.

This criminal element is a direct product of our country's economic, cultural and moral status. Obviously we are not in a good place. To implement hanging, keeping in mind our miserable conviction rates, is akin to just wiping a runny nose. It's not going to help stop our sickness.

Of course, we must still wipe our noses because no one wants to walk around with snot all over their jerseys. But I suggest we do not wipe them with blood-stained rags, but with clean ones, rags of restorative justice.

Countries like Norway that use this style of justice have significantly lower rates of recidivism, or repeat offence. Norway's recidivism rate is around 20 per cent while the US has one of 57 per cent. These two countries represent two opposing styles of justice. We ourselves have a 56 per cent rate.

Restorative justice, I must add, is not simply a method but a culture. A nation must sign on to this new way of seeing the world if it is to be given the support it needs for success. I say this because although our prison system's motto is "to hold and to treat" it is yet to be seen whether our rehabilitation methods are effective. This is where our focus should be.

It truly hurts me when I think of the great potential our nation has to be better.

Being oil rich and offering the opportunity to so many young people to study in university should have us in a much better position and I believe that it will in time.

However, we can only progress by letting go of knee-jerk reactions to crime and adopting new, creative means of aiding our situation as a testament to our potential and development.

—Kwame Weekes is a Spoken Word poet, writer and an anti-death penalty

organiser with the Doh Do Death project. www.facebook.com/DohDoDeath