"In Trinidad the rich get richer and the poor get prison." (PDF)

Research Paper (postgraduate) from the year 2010 in the subject Sociology - Law and Delinquency, grade: A, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine (-), language: English, abstract: Despite Trinidad and Tobago's wealth, experts say 25% live below the poverty line. According to Sookram (2008) more than a ¿ of the population of oil-rich Trinidad lives below poverty line. Sookram said that 27.32% live below the poverty level despite the fact that Trinidad and Tobago has been classified as a high income country by the World Bank. "Is this why the crime rate in Trinidad and Tobago is probably the highest in the Caribbean?" David Garland (1996), posits that the group that suffer the most from crime tend to be the poorest and the least powerful members of society and will usually lack the resources to but security or the flexibility to adapt their routines or organized effectively against crime. This disparity between the rich and the poor which overlaps with the developing divisions between property- owning classes and those social groups who are deemed a threat to property will tend to propel us towards criminal behaviour.

The term 'rich' may be defined as "the possession of material wealth, having abundant supply of desirable qualities or substances especially natural resources, having control of such assets and benefiting from the legislation." In contrast, 'poor' refers to the lack of specific resources, qualities or substances, with little or no possessions or money, having less than adequate in relation to the upper classes/the rich and wealthy. Socio-economic status is an economic and sociological combined measure of a persons work experience and of individual's or family's economic and social position relative to others based on income, education , wealth, occupation and social status in the community. As a result of this unequal distribution issue that arises between the rich and the poor, Clarke, Twoey (2001), has put fort the equitable solution arguing that one must eliminate the differences of rich and poor, and all man should be treated equally in the eyes of the law.

The distribution of wealth has always been uneven in Trinidad and Tobago. There are also extremes of wealth and poverty. The wealthy minority is made up of those with interest in the private sector manufacturing and it is widely rumoured in politics state co operations. The richest citizens in Trinidad are to be seen in the hill side suburbs of Port-of-Spain, where large villas boast satellites dishes and swimming pools. Trinidad and Tobago's rich tend to live a transnational lifestyle, with assets and interest in the US.