COMPARISON AMONG VARIOUS THEORIES OF CRIME AND PUNISHMENT

FOR ANALYZING RISING CRIME RATE IN INDIA

Introduction
There’s a rapid increase in the crime rate in India. These crimes are caused due to many
reasons. The problem of crime has been a relentless menace to society. From petty theft to
robbery with violence, crime continues to be a migraine to the government of the day. The
increase in crime rates over many countries is minatory, and testament of the myriad of
challenges that face society. As per National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Ministry

of Home Affairs, Government of India report, in 2010, a total of 67,50,748

cognizable crimes comprising 22,24,831 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and

45,25,917 Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes were reported, showing an increase

of 1.11% over 2009 (66,75,217). Further, in 2018, Lucknow topped the national tally of
metropolitan cities in crime against women, besides the rising number of criminal cases.
According to the report there is a 20% SURGE in crime against women in UP from 2016 to
2018.
This clearly shows the increase in crime rate in India. There are many reasons for such a
surge for example due to the jobless rate the people tend to commit the crimes to earn to
make the ends meet. Inequality and violent crime also causes crimes. Crime rates and
inequality are positively correlated within countries and, particularly, between countries, and
this correlation reflects causation from inequality to crime rates, even after controlling for
other crime determinants.

Now we will study the various criminal theories so that we can understand as to why on the
first place a crime is committed by criminals and also the punishments which these theories
suggests
Criminology theories
 Rational choice theory: People generally act in their self-interest and make decisions
to commit crime after weighing the potential risks (including getting caught and
punished) against the rewards.
 Social disorganization theory: A person’s physical and social environments are
primarily responsible for the behavioral choices that person makes. In particular, a
 neighborhood that has fraying social structures is more likely to have high crime rates.
Such a neighborhood may have poor schools, vacant and vandalized buildings, high
unemployment, and a mix of commercial and residential property.
 Strain theory: Most people have similar aspirations, but they don’t all have the same
opportunities or abilities. When people fail to achieve society’s expectations through
approved means such as hard work and delayed gratification, they may attempt to
achieve success through crime.
 Social learning theory: People develop motivation to commit crime and the skills to
commit crime through the people they associate with.
 Social control theory: Most people would commit crime if not for the controls that
society places on individuals through institutions such as schools, workplaces,
churches, and families.
 Labeling theory: People in power decide what acts are crimes, and the act of labeling
someone a criminal is what makes him a criminal. Once a person is labeled a
criminal, society takes away his opportunities, which may ultimately lead to more
criminal behavior.
 Biology, genetics, and evolution: Poor diet, mental illness, bad brain chemistry, and
even evolutionary rewards for aggressive criminal conduct have been proposed as
explanations for crime.
Criminal theories of punishment
Now, we will study various theories of punishments. The various criminal theories of
punishment are the deterrent theory, retributive theory, preventive theory, and reformative
theory.

 Deterrent Theory- This theory assumes that the punishment is given only for the sake
of it. Thus, it suggests that evil should be returned for evil without taking into
consideration any consequences. There are two theories in which this theory can be
divided further. They are specific deterrence and general deterrence.
 Retributive Theory- It is the most ancient justification for punishment. This theory
insists that a person deserves punishment as he has done a wrongful deed. Also, this
theory signifies that no person shall be arrested unless that person has broken the law.
 Preventive Theory- This theory has used a restraint that an offender if repeats the
criminal act is culpable for death, exile or imprisonment. The theory gets its importance
 from the notion that society must be protected from criminals. Thus, the punishment here
is for solidarity and defence.
 Reformative Theory- Deterrence and retributive are examples of classical and non-
classical philosophies. The reformative theory was born out of the positive theory that
the focal point of crime is positive thinking. Thus, according to this theory, the objective
of punishment needs to be reformation by the offender.

Conclusion
Crime rate in india has been significantly increasing from year to year and the convictions
rate laborious become terribly low which too the courts are awarding terribly megre
punishments by exploitation their vide discretionary powers. There area unit additional
possibilities to induce lenient penalization by the tried offenders thanks to framework of the
general assembly in fixing the penalization for many offences within the Code. There is
additional chance to use the in person favored brain and individual opinion of the judicial
officers whereas orthodox the sentence to the offenders, due to wide discretion offered within
the present sentencing jurisprudence. So that, there are more possibilities to flee for the
defendant from the clutches of the law. Already Indian Criminal Justice System is
functioning on the saying of “hundred criminals will be at large, however one innocent
shouldn't be punished”. In these circumstances, if the minimum penalization is conformed
within the penal statutes normally and in Indian legal code above all because it is covering
substantial portion of the offences in India by the general assembly through amendments, the
court decide are going to be curtailed by the Statute and he's forced to provide penalization at
intervals the limit stipulated by the general assembly. Crime is old development, a deep
frozen evil, born and developed at the side of the event of man and step by step became
universal malady afflicting every and each society