Organisational Behaviour – I

Quiz I

There are two instances in the article that perfectly describe the reason behind the acts of
crime.

1. When we look at them, we must not say this is typical of boys of this or that background.”
Nishigandha Sequeira argued that the context of the boys’ lives had to be accounted for in
order to understand the nature of their crimes.

2. “The police constabulary that is the point of interface is trained only to apply the baton,”
Vinod Kumar Menon told me. In many of the cases he has followed, the police barge into a
boy’s house, search the family’s possessions, often without a warrant, and drag the minor to a
police station without giving adequate explanation to parents. “This kind of treatment is meted
out only to boys from underprivileged families, mind you” he adds.

Sequeira tries to argue that we should not generalize sexual assaults as “typical male behaviour”.
Unfortunately, the current society that we are living in, which is built on the foundations of
patriarchy, makes it easier for us to do so. The whole notion of women being treated like
property or some sort of goddess who is just meant to stay indoors and be taken care of,
protected, and comforted by the stronger gender is still very common among majority of the
households in India. These ideas are brainwashed into children’s (both boys and girls) heads in
their very early days itself which makes them completely buy into them. The moment these
children start believing that one gender is stronger than the other, the urge to show off this
imaginary strength grows exponentially in the adolescent age which leads to such heinous
crimes. Also, the fact that the Indian Film Industry romanticizes the idea of harassment towards
female does not help either.

Meanwhile, the same logic can be applied to understand the way police treat these
underprivileged minor boys. It’s again the urge to show off the strength at hand. The police do
not really have the authority to act the way it is described in the article. However, just like how
women get harassed or assaulted as a result of being repeatedly brainwashed that they are
powerless, these minor boys and their families from underdeveloped areas get attacked
because they have been brainwashed into believing they’re powerless.

These problems can be solved only through the empowerment of masses and breaking the
barriers of patriarchy in the society. Even though it is a very difficult process to bring about that
change, the results of engaging of women volunteers to teach the young boys in the juvenile
detention centre, especially the way the boys received and understood the concept of sexuality,
gives all of us a reason to hope.

The following videos give a better idea of the situation of patriarchy in the country.

https://www.facebook.com/IndiaBakchod/videos/aib-harassment-through-the-ages-feat-
richa-chadha-vicky-ka/1296526953724629/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pgom8LRF8hQ