Jamaica has one of the highest murder rates in the world with the number of people killed there reported as reaching 1,500 out of a population of 2.7 million in 2008.
To talk about why this is happening and what can be done about it, the BBC World Service Your Story project has been hearing directly from prisoners locked up in Kingston's General Penitentiary.
With the help of the S.E.T Foundation which operates a radio station inside the prison walls, inmates were brought together to discuss the issue of crime.
Listen Listen to Jamaican inmates talking about crime (11 mins 2 secs)
The age range of the prisoners varied from 21 to 38 years of age. They began by explaining why they themselves had turned to crime and ended up behind bars.
Some deny outright their involvement in crime with one protestation of innocence.
One inmate says, "crime came for me", another, that he was "in the wrong place at the wrong time".
Others are more insightful and say that peer pressure and the lack of anything else to do was the reason for their involvement in crime.
The justice system comes under scrutiny by all the prisoners. They believe that men are being wrongfully accused, given guilty verdicts and being put into prison.
One of the inmates, Mr Clarke, says that when this happens, men end up living with a grudge in their hearts and will turn against a system they have lost faith in.
Who is to blame for rising crime rates?
Many inmates blame the politicians and those in positions of power and influence for the crime rate. The rich and powerful, first world corporations, leaders and politicians are all put in the frame.
One inmate notes that no guns are actually manufactured in Jamaica and that everything in the end, comes down to greed as companies try to make a profit from the sale of weapons and do not care if it leads to crime and murder among poor people in Jamaica.
There is however disagreement on this point.
Another inmate says that the responsibility for crime lies squarely in the hands of poor people. That it is they who decide to take up these weapons and use them rather than bury them.
The choice being faced by poor people in Jamaica is described as a choice between going to bed hungry on a diet of only "mackerel and rice" or to take a gun from a "don" across the street and to rob someone and end up driving a pretty car.
Faced with this choice, one inmate asks the rhetorical question: "what do you think that man is going to do?"
The carrot or the stick?
To try and tackle Jamaica's growing crime rates, the government has just decided to lift a moratorium on the death penalty which has been in place since 1988.
On the issue of death sentences, the prisoners disagree with the idea in unison.
They say that the whole justice system needs to be reformed before this can happen as they believe that there is a likelihood that innocent men will die as a result.
They also point to a danger that more people could be killed as putting the death penalty on the table increases the stakes and might persuade a killer to also kill any witnesses to his crime.
The solution to crime put forward by the inmates lies in making more opportunities available for poor and vulnerable young men. They say that training and jobs are the key.
If you want to listen to more of the prison radio broadcasts
click here
If you would like to get in touch with the SET Foundation you can do so on their website or email caldbook7@yahoo.ca
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