A SOCIOLOGICAL PROFILE ON DIFFERENT TYPES OF NON-VIOLENT

CRIME WITH SPECIAL REFERNCE TO DRUG USE AND ADDICTION AND

ACHOLOSIM AND DRUNKENESS

Introduction

Crime is defined primarily through the viewpoint of society. An act is not a criminal unless
society declares it to be such, and if society deems an act not to be contrary to their group
feelings, that conduct is not a crime at all. Crime is an act that offends and harms society, and
as such, it must be punished. The main reasons for adopting laws are to punish people who
commit crimes, and these laws are the outcome of society's wish to prevent such acts from
occurring. Society has a crucial part in determining crime since it leads to the creation of laws
that prohibit it from occurring. The standpoint of society on a particular conduct is crucial in
defining crime because, for example, if society does not regard bribery to be a crime, it will
not be counted as a crime and no legislation will be imposed on it, even if it is morally
wrong. The predominance of crime-related worries also indicates to the larger ramifications
of crime for many other aspects of society. They contend that, rather than being a
criminalised subset of social activity, criminality is a woven component of society processes.

When we think of crime, we generally think of these street crimes, or actions perpetrated by
regular individuals against other people or organisations in public places. Nonviolent
offences are an often-overlooked category; while they seldom attract the same degree of
media attention as street crimes, they can be significantly more destructive. Non-violent
crimes are ones that do not entail the use of force or the infliction of bodily harm on another
person. This might involve a wide variety of crimes, citations, and legal offences. When it
comes to violent crimes, the punishments are largely determined by the severity of the
victim's injuries. However, the seriousness of nonviolent crimes is frequently judged in terms
of economic harm or loss to the victim. They frequently entail different ordinance and
regulation infractions, such as traffic rule violations and other sorts of wrongdoing. If you use
a crowbar to break into a car, you are doing a nonviolent crime; if you use the crowbar to
mug someone, you are performing a violent crime. A non-violent crime is one that does not
include the use of force or the infliction of bodily harm on another person. The punishments
for these sorts of crimes are often determined by the amount of damage or loss incurred by
the victim, rather than the level of injuries in violent criminal instances. These crimes
frequently cause property damage to the victim, but not to the victim himself. State laws will
differ in how they define violent vs non-violent offences. Nonviolent offences, in general, are
penalised by a fine or a brief prison sentence. The punishment will be determined by the
gravity of the nonviolent offence committed as well as the surrounding circumstances. If a
generally non-violent crime is committed with a gun or under fear of violence, it is escalated
to the level of a violent crime. Both non-violent and violent crimes can result in heavy fines,
however violent crimes are often punished more harshly, depending on the circumstances.

Drug use and addiction

There has long been a strong correlation between drug usage and criminality. The beliefs of
the association fall on a spectrum between two opposed points of view. One is that criminal
behaviour emerges as a method of sustaining addiction, and the second is that criminality is
inextricably related to a person's personality and happens regardless of drug usage. To put it
another way, drug addiction drives a person to participate in criminal behaviour such as
burglary, stealing, and other such non violent or violent crimes in order to support their drug
habit. Criminal behaviour, on the other hand, stems from and an already existing criminal
nature, such that drugs are employed as an auxiliary to accomplish such activities.
Notwithstanding the abundance of knowledge accessible about the hazards of drug usage and
the growing number of laws forbidding drug use, more people today continue to abuse legal
and illicit substances without medical consent. Drug abuse and drug-related criminal offences
continue to be major problems for policymakers, law enforcement authorities, scientists,
clinicians, and people alike. All parties are becoming increasingly interested in investigating
the reasons, potential connections, and repercussions of the drug-crime nexus. Drugs and
crime are constantly linked in different research, but the result appears to be consistent with
drug addicts being claimed to committing more crimes than non-criminals. Drug addiction,
also known as substance dependency or dependent syndrome, is a condition in which a
person experiences a strong desire to use a drug. Other behaviours are also included in
addiction. These include finding it difficult to resist the desire to take the substance and
believing that the usage of the drug is more essential than more mundane things like family or
job. This Addictive personality refers to a person who is prone to being addicted to drugs. An
addiction is a physical or psychological reliance that has a detrimental impact on a person's
life. Such folks frequently take illicit substances. According to research, some drug addicts
commit a high number of crimes and spend a large portion of the earnings on drugs, Addicts
are forced to conduct crimes in order to get narcotics. Addicts are not employed. As a result,
they do not have enough money to meet their basic demands. As a result, many resort to
illicit activities including smuggling, drug trafficking, theft, and prostitution. As a result, the
cycle of poverty, addiction, and crime is perpetuated.The way the society views drug use, as
established by traditions and tradition, influences our initial attitude to and usage of specific
substances. The association between illegal drug use and criminal offending has been one of
the most thoroughly studied and difficult subjects in criminology, as well as other social
scientific and medical fields. It was assumed that these addicted infants would be a burden to
society for the rest of their life, causing enormous criminal, social, and medical issues. To
summarise the relationship between drug use and crime, drug users are more likely to commit
crimes than non-users, and a high percentage of inmates are frequently under the influence of
drugs when they commit a crime.

Alcoholism and Drunkenness

The availability of alcohol is unquestionably a critical and required environmental component
in the development of alcohol abuse and addiction. As a result, variables that diminish or
enhance alcohol availability have a direct link to the prevalence of alcoholism. There is no
universally accepted definition of an alcoholic. According to organisations such as Alcoholics
Anonymous, it is up to the person to determine whether or not they are an alcoholic.
However, there are several typical behaviours that are agreed upon as symptoms that
someone may be addicted to alcohol, such as: being unable to control or regulate their
drinking, requiring a drink first thing in the morning after waking up, experiencing memory
lapses while drinking, and getting into difficulty (arguments, accidents) on a frequent basis
when drinking. The extremely sociable one of drinking and driving If you are a P-Plater, you
are not permitted to drive with any alcohol in your system. If you have a full licence, your
blood alcohol concentration cannot be more than 0.05. If you are pulled over by the
authorities and requested to undergo a breath test, you must comply. If you do not comply,
you may be punished, fined, and barred from driving for at least two years. Whether or
whether you call it alcoholism, excessive alcohol intake has a harmful impact on both
physical and mental health. It also has a detrimental impact on friendships and connections
with family members, as well as the capacity to complete what is required for school,
university, or employment. There is also the broader influence on the neighbourhood,
schools, workplace, healthcare system, and society as a whole.
Several cultural attitudes are thought to be socially protective against alcoholism. Early
alcohol exposure to youngsters in the setting of a strong family or religious group, with
alcoholic drinks seen primarily as a food and typically drunk with meals, has consistently
been demonstrated to be protective. There are two distinct theoretical frameworks under
which alcohol consumption might be conceptualised. According to the functionalism
viewpoint, social problems arise as a result of the instability generated by social
developments. On an individual level, improper sociolization is blamed for the bad
behaviour. As a result, there is a contradiction between internalised objectives and
possibilities accessible inside the system to assist in the achievement of these goals. This is
referred to as anomie or normlessness. This disagreement has the potential to destabilise
society. Merton offers four deviant reactions to anomie. Specifically, they are: invention,
revolt, ritualism, and retreatism. Functionalism is a sociological perspective that maintains
the status quo without question. As a result, the alcoholic is viewed as a second-class citizen
who has failed and is striving to live within an existing social order that is strict and intolerant
of disadvantaged individuals. Approach to conflict: People do not have equal access to
money, economic and political power in society. This is an allenation that is viewed as a
catalyst for the emergence of societal issues. Within this perspective, every sort of substance
abuse is viewed as a method of escape or resistance to disalteration by members of
subordinate social groupings. Such behaviour is a slap in the face to labour power control.
The social establishment responds by classifying excessive alcohol use or other types of drug
addiction as illnesses or criminal offences that need medical treatment or legislative limits in
order to eliminate, treat, or penalise unproductive human assets. These sociological theories
described above attempt to help us comprehend deviance and conformity, culture and social
interactions, power structures and social institutions, and their personal significance to
alcohol. Several studies have found that a considerable number of alcoholics are admitted
to prison in several nations each year, although for minor offences. Similarly, delinquency
rates among alcoholics in hospital clinics are significant. They discover a fake bliss under the
influence of alcohol that they cannot reach in reality. Under the guise of inebriation, they find
a method to express their frustrations against the maddening world, and finally they become
criminals. Such people do not commit crimes because they are inebriated; they become
inebriated in order to commit crimes

Conclusion

In today's culture, crime is a serious concern, and the use of intoxicants has a substantial
impact on the quantity, kind, and severity of nonviolent and violent crimes committed. There
appears to be a significant connection between them. This paper attempts to demonstrate the
link between drug and alcohol addiction and criminal behaviour.
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