CRIMINOLOGY

CRIMINAL PSYCHOLOGY
Foundations of Criminology: Criminology in Indian Context
Component - I - Personal Details

Role Name Affiliation

Principal Investigator Prof(Dr) G S Bajpai Registrar

National Law University

Delhi

Paper Coordinator Dr Navin Kumar, Associate Professor,

University of Delhi

Content Writer/Author Dr. Shivantika Sharad, Assistant Professor,

Vivekananda College,
University of Delhi
Content Reviewer

Component - I (B) Description of Module

Description of Module

Subject Name Criminology

Paper Name Criminal Psychology

Module No. M-6

Module Name/Title Foundations of Criminology: Criminology in

Indian Context

Pre-requisites Basic understanding the field of criminology

Objectives To study the status of the field of criminology in

India and understand the role of culture

Keywords Comparative criminology, cultural context, crime in

India, classic cases
Table of Contents

1. Module 2
2. Introduction
3. Learning Outcome: This module shall help the students understand the
status of criminological studies in India, appreciate the role of cultural
context in crime and fathom the social problem of crime in India.
4. Topic Name 1:Comparative criminology
a) Different types of societies
b) Different legal traditions
5. Topic Name 2: Criminology In India
a) Current Scenario of Criminology Careers in India
b) Indian cultural context and crime
6. Topic Name 3: Crime as a social problem in India
a) Women and Crime: Crime against women
b) Female Criminality
c) Kidnapping and Abduction
d) Robbery
e) Cruelty by husband
7. Topic Name 4: Causes of/ Factors affecting crime in India
a) Understanding Crime Causation through Theoretical Lens
8. Topic Name 5: Prevention of Crime
a. Correctional services and the Prison culture
b. Respect for Convicts
c. Neighbourhood vetting
d. Localising programmes
e. Virtual violence
f. Social inequalities
9. Topic Name 6: Classical cases of criminal justice system in India
10. Summary
 1. Introduction

Crime rates in India are increasing at an alarming rate. Statistical Year Book India 2016
reveals that as per the data of cognizable crime under Indian Penal Code the following
states have the highest incidence of crimes (in decreasing order): Madhya Pradesh,
Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Kerala. Sikkim and Nagaland have the lowest
incidence of crime. The crimes that have been included under this analysis are murder,
dacoity, robbery, burglary, theft, riots among others. Amongst the union territories Delhi has
a crime rate that is four times higher than the union territory positioned second (Puducherry).
Amongst the cities too, Delhi has the highest crime rate. The data is extremely disquieting
considering the fact that Delhi is the National Capital.

With increasing population the diversity of crime has also broadened. However the discipline
of criminology that seeks to understand what goes in the making of crime and criminals and
ways to control it, is in its stage of inception in India. Not many educational institutes in our
nation offer courses in criminology and allied disciplines. This module strives for
understanding the status of criminology in India, the need to have criminological studies in
different countries and cultures (comparative criminology) and the history of criminology in
India. It would also discuss some classic cases of crime in India and situate them in the
culturally diverse Indian social context.

2. Comparative Criminology

Every nation has a different social and legal control system and a different way of thinking
about crime. This is the basis of comparative criminology. Given the impact of globalization
on the range of crimes committed in contemporary times and the impact that internet has
had in exacerbating crime, it is important and also necessary to study criminology in a
variety of cultural contexts. Comparative criminology is widely recognised as a ―cross
cultural comparison‖ of crime rates; however, it is rather a scientific approach which seeks to
analyse the commonalities and differences of a given phenomenon of two or more countries
(Johnson E, 1983).

Comparative criminologists seek to study and bridge the gap between criminal justice
systems across the world. A set of commonly recognized crimes across cultures have been
outlined in the International Criminal Law. These include genocide, war crimes, crimes
against humanity and crimes of aggression. One leading reason towards the reluctance of
accepting this International forum of prosecution and working to build an internationally
functional Justice System is the difference between cultures in their respective views of
criminality. A major contemporary focus of comparative criminology is to bring different
cultures together, mutually and without the feeling of suppression (from the more powerful
Western nations) and serve justice. This in turn has brought comparative criminologists to
categorize four different kinds of societies.

2.1 Different Types of Societies

1. Folk-Communal Society: These are described as barbaric and backwards on many

accounts. There is little specialization among law enforcers and such societies are
notoriously infamous for letting crimes slide without acknowledgment. This is done with the
hopes that projected crime rates don't increase. However once a person is in fact declared
guilty the punishments are unusually harsh. This kind of legal system is known to exist in
African, Middle Eastern tribes, early puritan American tribes.

2. Urban-Commercial Society: These kinds of societies have a very few written laws.
They do however have a culture of maintaining specialized and stringent enforcement in
accordance with the wishes or directives of a monarch or central religion (whichever has
supremacy). The punishments that are meted out are inconsistent and harsh.

3. Urban-Industrial Society: Such societies have laws that prescribe and give incentives
for good behavior and disincentives and punish citizens for bad behaviour. The police,
however, are specialized in property crimes such as theft. This type of crime is extremely
common but solitary expertise in this domain handicaps the police force's ability to take on
sudden, severe emergency situations.

4. Bureaucratic Society: This is the legal system of modern society. The criminal justice
system has fully developed legal system and multi-competent law enforcers. They are
trained and prepared for all levels and kinds of crimes.

Different societies have different legal traditions outlined below:

2.2 Different Legal Traditions:

Before studying the different legal traditions let us consider the following situation:

A woman has been viciously attacked by two sexual predators. She is abducted and
sexually violated. The perpetrators have kept her in an isolated location. She is able to flee
the situation by attacking her perpetrators. The woman procures a shovel and attacks one
perpetrators eye and hits the other one on the head and knocks him out. She runs to the
nearest phone-booth and contacts the police. The second perpetrator dies of excessive
bleeding while the first one loses his eyesight. The police reach the location with a woman
who is accusing the men of sexually abusing her and one surviving man accusing the
woman of murder.

1. Common law: the law is formulated by prior judicial branch decisions and it is
considered unfair to treat similar cases with similar facts differently.

In such a system of law if murder is ranked as a more serious offence than sexual offences
and all past verdicts are in accordance with the same hierarchy, the woman would be
convicted.

2. Civil law: Some common principles are codified into a referable system which serves
as a primary source of law.

In such a system while set of laws have been made clear, say in the form of the constitution,
the final judgment would remain in the hands of a jurist to establish what law needs to be
given into priority. Here the woman‘s defilement would be empathised with along with the
men‘s permanent physical injuries.

3. Socialist law: leans on the Marxist ideology with major adjustments; following a
framework of civil law but with the Communist ideology in the background.

Such a legal system views citizens as units which function for the nation with primary
responsibility towards nations. This system would view both, the woman and men as outliers
and an inconvenience to the stability of the nation.
4. Islamic law: Religiously inspired; falls back on the Islamic doctrine and the words of
contemporary religious heads.

Such a legal system would prosecute both the men and women. The men would be
prosecuted for murder and the woman for being sexually defiled outside marriage, in
accordance with the Quran‘s doctrine.

These variations in legal traditions and societies make the notion of a universal criminology
redundant. The bulk of comparative criminology studies the intricacies of the variations of
criminal law in different countries and cultures to paradoxically bring these vastly varied
ideologies of crime, justice and social order together in a forum that allows administration of
order across borders.

3. CRIMINOLOGY IN INDIA

The discipline of criminology is in its stage of infancy and toddlerhood in India. Not much
awareness exists in the general population about the field. This is also due to paucity of
professional courses in the area available in higher education institutes. One of the oldest
centre for criminology was set up in 1954 as the then erstwhile Department of Criminology
and Correctional Administration (CCA) at Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai. It was
directed towards creating trained personnel in the field of correctional and criminal justice
administration. Thus CCA Department felt the need to broaden its focus from corrections to
include access to justice, social exclusion and the re-entry of marginalised groups and thus
renamed itself to be known as the Centre for Criminology and Justice (CCJ). The Masters in
Social Work (Criminology and Justice) program offers intensive training in important sub-
areas of criminology, victimology, juvenile justice, criminal law and policy, human rights,
social exclusion, criminalisation of poverty and correctional social work with adults, juveniles
and children both within the institutional and the community contexts. Another significant
development was the setting up of an Expert committee by the UGC to suggest steps to
bring ―Criminology‖ and ―Forensic Science‖ into the general stream of University education
as a result of the resolutions taken at the UNESCO symposium in London, 1955. The
symposium resolved that systematic understanding of Criminology and Forensic Science
was necessary for Law Enforcement Officers and the Universities should be encouraged to
include these courses in their curriculum. The Lok Nayak Jayaprakash Narayan National
Institute of Criminology and Forensic Science, Delhi came up in 1972 and since then has
made significant headway in training and research in these two fields. It became an
independent department directly under the Ministry of Home Affairs in 1976. The Indian
Journal of Criminology and Criminalistics (ISSN 09704345) is also published by the Institute.

The Indian Society of Criminology was established in the year 1970 with the objective of
advancing the study and application of criminology and allied sciences for the welfare of
society and for facilitating cooperation to different stake holders interested in the prevention
and control of crime. Consistent with the multi-disciplinary nature that criminology is, Indian
Society of Criminology has attracted memberships of not only criminologists, but also of
psychologists, sociologists, judges, lawyers, police officers, correctional officers, forensic
scientists, social workers, and others. The society organized its 39th All India Conference in
2016.
Some of the other institutes include Department of Criminology and Forensic Science, Dr.
Harisingh Gour University, Sagar, (MP); Department of Studies in Criminology and Forensic
Science, K.U. or Karnataka University, Forensic Sciences Department, University of Madras;
Institute of Forensic Science, Mumbai.

3.1 Current Scenario of Criminology Careers in India

The field pf criminology has come forth as a challenging profession to the youths of this
nation. Since, it deals with the cause and prevention of crime, the different courses related to
this, help one in gaining knowledge about effectively identifying those causes and preventing
measures. After acquiring such a degree, one can work as any of the following
professionals:

 Crime investigators/ agents of bureaus of investigation/Crime intelligence analyst

 Crime laboratory analyst
 Crime scene analyst
 Forensic officer
 Police officers/ Law enforcement officer
 Social worker
 Prison manager
 Private detectives
 Crime researcher

More details can be found at http://www.dailypioneer.com/avenues/career-in-

criminology.html
 3.2 Indian cultural context and crime:

Law and culture are closely related. This can be seen through the cultural and religious
components that may be identified in the fabric of law (for instance Sanskrit-based Hindu
law, Islamic legal systems, or 'customary' law prevailing at local level). Thus criminological
understanding demands ―considerations of how this multilayered system interacts with state
law. The history of the Indian legal order shows an intricate construction of institutions and
codifications which relate to the British legal system, to Hindu or Muslim traditions (partly
reinvented), and, since independence, to various international interactions. (Berti and
Tarabout, 2012, p. 193-194)

India is a democratic multi-cultural and multi-linguistic country, with wide social contrasts due
to the caste system. India is in fact an important actor in the globalization process, engaged
in international conventions and with extremely active human rights organizations. Despite
the urbanization, Indian society largely remains essentially rural and relationships are still
rooted in religion, caste, and traditional local customs - all mechanisms of authority that can
be very coercive at local level. In India legal reforms have been a big way of bringing reforms
in the country along the values of democracy, justice, equality, and secularism. Legal acts
outlaw certain practices that are deeply entrenched in its local culture. Thus an educated
aware citizen of India is caught between affirmation of his/her global modernity and his
rooting in more traditional social and political networks. These results in tension between
values presented as ―universal‖ and local social realities. This is usually manifested as the
incongruence between the political will of the state in its normative activity – which tries to
conform with international law and ideals- and the everyday negotiation of kinship and other
local ties. One first example concerns caste. On the one hand, Parliament enacted the
Scheduled Castes and Tribes Prevention of Atrocities Act in 1989, which criminalizes any
discrimination against castes of low rank. On the other hand, today caste discrimination
remains very much an issue today. While marriages are usually arranged by the families
within the same caste, and over the last few years cross-caste marriages have led to an
increasing number of honor killings. (Berti and Tarabout, 2012, p. 196-197)

Caste system brings with it exploitative relationships like bonded labor or sexual
harassment. Another example concerns domestic violence against women. Since the 1960s
there has been a huge production of law acts forbidding dowry practices. As a result,
murders and suicides are regularly committed because of the inability to respond to dowry
demands.
Awareness of laws reaches local population through media or one‘s own participation in a
court case. However, the local practices and relationships of power that have been
criminalized by these laws may still be perceived (or implicitly claimed) by people as part of
their "culture", and this may also be used to legitimate caste- or gender- or religion-
associated relationships of domination.

To have a better understanding of crime and context with respect to Hindu Muslim riots and
lynchings, read the article in Indian Express using the link below.

http://indianexpress.com/article/opinion/columns/crime-and-context-4739229/

Infact the drastic increase in the crime against women is looked through the cultural angle in
the article below. In this article it has been explored that how Bollywood songs are
objectifying women and degrading them by becoming metaphors for doing ―Gandi baat‖ with
―Bomb‖ like looking girls.

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/jan/03/india-rape-violence-culture

The same article in the Guardian (by Hundal, 2013) quotes founder of Jagori, a Delhi-based
women's NGO: ―though there was growing awareness and reporting of sexual violence, men
"are not able to accept" women's increasing assertiveness and "use heinous ways to punish
them". India is full of brave, independent female icons, but they have
succeeded despite cultural norms – not because it encourages them to be independent. This
epidemic won't end until this mentality is challenged to its core‖.

4 Crime as a social problem in India

Organised crime has significantly risen in India, so has crime against women. Large-scale
organisations have also emerged for criminal activities which systematically organise the
control and distribution of illicit goods and services—like drugs (narcotics), human trafficking
(in India and in the Arabian countries), ransom oriented activities like kidnapping, protection
money (hafta), smuggling of banned items like animal trade, artefacts etc. Apart from these,
syndicated crime groups like mafia often use legitimate businesses as front for laundering
proceeds of criminal activities.
Another significant trend is criminalisation of modern politics in India, to the extent that the
known history sheeters have been elected to state assemblies and are referred by print
media as ―Bahubali MLAs‖. Crime is a social problem, because irrespective of the individual
victim, it impacts people across economic strata and would need concentrated effort and will
from law enforcement agencies to reduce this menace.

In India, the Criminal Procedure Code divides crimes into two heads: cognizable and non-
cognizable. In the former, police is responsible to take quick action on basis of a complaint
received or on receipt of credible information. Some cognizable crimes fall under the
category of Indian Penal Code (IPC) while others come under the Special and Local Laws
(SLL). Non-cognizable crimes, on the other hand, are supposed to be handled, pursued and
managed in the Court by the affected parties.

4.1 Women and Crime: Crime against women

Crime against women is growing day by day whether at home, at work, on the street, at work
place, in custody or, elsewhere. As the feminist movement rises in India and women fight for
their rights more ferociously than ever, what is visible even to a lay man‘s eye is that crimes
against women have increased and are continuing to increase exponentially. Not only are
the crime rates increasing, the severity and inhumaneness of the attacks are increasing too.
The National Crimes Record Bureau published the latest statistical data for the crimes
against women in 2015. Before this document shares the statistical data, it points out the
various laws in place, as a part of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to prevent crimes against
women. Among these were Rape, Attempt to commit Rape, Kidnapping & Abduction of
Women, Dowry Deaths, Assault on Woman with Intent to Outrage Her Modesty, Insult to the
Modesty of women, Cruelty by husband or his relatives and others. This gives us an insight
into how many domains of a woman‘s life a flanked with threats. The manual stated, “The
crime rate under crimes against women was reported as 53.9 in 2015. Delhi UT has
reported the highest crime rate (184.3) compared to 56.3 at all India level during the
year 2015, followed by Assam (148.2), Telangana (83.1), Odisha (81.9), Rajasthan
(81.5), Haryana (75.7) and West Bengal (73.4).”

The NCRB (2015) document shows that the major type of crime against women is cruelty by
husband or his relatives (34.6%), followed by assault on woman with intent to outrage her
modesty (25.2%), kidnapping and abduction of women (18.1%) and rape (10.6%) (refer
figure 2.1).
Figure 2.1: Crime head-wise percentage distribution under crime against women
during 2015

Source: National Crime Report Bureau 2015

http://ncrb.nic.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2015/chapters/Chapter%205-15.11.16.pdf

What also becomes abundantly clear form Map (Figure 2.2) is that the states of Uttar
Pradesh, Maharashtra and West Bengal have the highest registered cases of crimes against
women (exceeding 30,000) with Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Assam not far behind.

DID YOU KNOW?

A June, 2011 India Today article displayed a Thomson Reuters Foundation global poll which
revealed that India was perceived to be the fourth most dangerous place in the world for
women. What was more embarrassing was that the poll was administered to civilians. ―The
poll conducted among 213 gender experts who ranked countries on their overall perception
of danger, as well as by six key categories of risks - health, sexual violence, nonsexual
violence, harmful practices rooted in culture, tradition or religion, lack of access to economic
resources and human trafficking.‖ It said that India‘s low rank was because of the prevalence
of ―female foeticide, infanticide and human trafficking‖ in the country.
Figure 2.2: CASES REGISTERED UNDER CRIME AGAINST WOMEN DURING 2015 (All
India 3,27,394)

Source: National Crime Report Bureau 2015

http://ncrb.nic.in/StatPublications/CII/CII2015/chapters/Chapter%205-15.11.16.pdf
Violence against women in India may be categorised as: [a] Criminal Violence— Rape,
abduction, murder. [b] Domestic violence— Dowry-death, wife-battering, sexual abuse,
maltreatment of widows and/or, elderly women. [c] Social violence— Forcing the
wife/daughter-in-law to go for female foeticide, eve-teasing, refusing to give a share to
women in property. Harassing the daughter-in-law to bring more dowry.

4.2 Female Criminality

Another consequence of patriarchy in the view of Psychologist Anchal Bhagat is the growing
criminality among women. She quotes the example of Phoolan Devi (mentioned in section
Know More) to illustrate how when the odds are stacked against a particular group they
resort to becoming deviants. According to the NCRB‘s 2009 report, women criminals
comprise of only 6.3% of the total criminals (with an increase in criminals of 0.8% over a
decade). A plethora of research has indicated that the utmost reason of female criminality is
their dissatisfaction with the unequal status of women in the society (Klien, 1973) and the
more these females get educated the more willing they are to step outside the bounds of the
expected, traditional social roles (Adler, 1975). Furthermore, researchers highlighted how
maladaptation at the familial level causes upmost unrest. Sharma (1963) found that strained
interpersonal relations with husband and other family members, husband's extra-family
relations, deprivation and denial of basic needs of life (like affection, security, etc.) were the
main causes of ultimate criminal behaviour.
It is also interesting to note that a number of women are misusing laws that has been
formulated for their welfare against men. This is called legal terrorism in print media.

4.3 Kidnapping and Abduction

While crimes against women have been the central focus in India (particularly post the
Nirbhaya case) one astounding statistics of the NCRB report (2015) shows a 238.3%
increase in the incidents of kidnapping and abduction. This figure is astonishing as with
increased surveillance kidnapping should have become much harder. But with the
technological front serving as a backbone to crime collecting ransom money and dispatching
untraceable threats has become much easier.
Source: http://indiatoday.intoday.in/story/delhi-police-data-kidnappings-ministry-of-
women-and-child-development/1/884004.html

4.4 Robbery

Another crime which has seen a surge in the 2015 NCRB report is robbery. A 115.4%
increase in the crime seems ironical. For the same reason as above, one would expect the
frequency of robbery to decline. But it seems that with more sophisticated technology break
and entering is becoming more commonplace.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/kolhapur/Robbery-cases-rise-by-181-
in-district/articleshow/37659986.cms

4.5 Cruelty by husband

Crime against women has been discussed above. What sets this particular crime aside is
the Supreme Court‘s decision on Section 498A of IPC. This section protected married
women against domestic abuse by the husband or his relatives and SC in the month of July,
2017 decided that this law was being misused. The court ordered the halt of immediate
arrests on reporting, before verifying the complaint. The section also took into account
mental abuse and the Supreme Court‘s verdict outlines no way to ascertain or verify the
claims. With this the 2015 NCRB reports a 110.7% increase in the crime of cruelty by the
husband.

Source: http://www.firstpost.com/india/womens-groups-petition-ncw-alleges-dilution-
of-section-498a-of-ipc-on-domestic-violence-3962667.html

4. Causes of/ Factors affecting crime in India

- Criminality and Poverty: Acute poverty, economic and social inequality, and lack of
social security are related to high levels of crime.
Urban inequality and poverty are the main economic determinants of crime and violence.
Through this crime and violence, urban inequality and poverty can inflict serious losses to
society. This relationship can be direct, as in the case of more inequality and poverty making
crime more profitable at a given level of crime deterrence. It may also be indirect and go
through the amount that a society is willing to spend on crime deterrence. Because they
increase the extent of poverty, major recessions may have a comparable effect on crime.
(Bourguigno, 2001).
Bharadwaj (2014) found a significant positive relationship between poverty and crime (total
property crimes and robbery) which confirms the relative deprivation theory of crime.

- The sociology of crime: Changes taking place in society influence crime rates. The
level of urbanization, globalization and technological innovation is associated with
crime rates and diversity of crime committed.
 The UN HABIATAT‘s Global Report on Human Settlements (2007): enhancing the
urban safety and Security found that urban crime has increased in countries that
experienced rapid economic growth. The UN HABIATAT‘s report (2009), Urban
Safety and Poverty in Asia and the Pacific shows that 35 million people in the urban
cities of Delhi, Mumbai and Bangalore together accounted for more than one third of
all crimes. Globalization has also engendered a new generation of global crimes and
transnational organized crime groups. In the light of political and cultural
modernization taking place, many countries are also being challenged to modernize
their criminal justice in ways that are compatible with the global values of democracy,
human rights and equal justice.
- Gender specific violence is increasing due to failure of the society as well as the
Government to affirm dignity of women. Another reason could be the lack of
acceptability of women empowerment by a rigidly patriarchal society
- In a study on murder in India, Dreze and Khera, 2000 report that education appears
to exercise a moderating influence on criminal violence. They also found that the
strongest correlate of the murder rate is the female-male ratio: districts with higher
female-male ratios have lower murder rates. The causal relationships underlying this
connection between female-male ratios and murder rates call for further
investigation. What seems clear is that there is a strong link of some kind between
gender relations and criminal violence (not just violence against women, but violence
in the society as a whole).
- Disorganization and disintegration of the family and society leading to a decline in
moral and ethical values (decline in moral and social capital) of the people.
- Individual level psychological factors like unhealthy parenting, ‗deficient‘ parental
control and non-cordial relations within family, maltreatment in childhood, domestic
violence, alcoholism, drug addiction etc.
- Illiteracy and lack of social committment and social consciousness also accelerate
crime.
- Criminalisation of politics and political corruption have made the entire socio-political
system hollow.

5.1 Understanding Crime Causation through Theoretical Lens

Many theories have been used to explain the existence of crime and criminals. Give below
are the basic theories and their explanations for criminal behaviour.

THEORY EXPLANATION FOR CRIMINALITY

Crime as a result of underprivileged financial position

Social Structure
Theories: comprising
of a) Social Disorganisation theory Primarily focuses on
environment. For instance school dropout rates being particularly
higher in some given neighbourhoods
a) Social
Disorganisation
theory b) Strain Theory: Focuses on the discord between personal
goals and the means required to reach those goals
b) Strain theory
c) Cultural Deviance theory: Societal segregation leads to lower
class people developing subcultures which don‘t conform to the law.
c) Cultural
Anybody coming in contact with this subculture would be likely to
Deviance theory
violate the law themselves.
Crime committed because of awareness of being have-nots and not
Social Class Theory/
being able to afford the basics needs. Also because of constant
Anomie Theory
pressure to maintain the status quo.
Relative Deprivation The existence of wide divisions between upper and lower class
Theory cause crimes.
General Strain Multiple strains in an individual‘s lifetime contribute to destabilising
Theory the individual. This causes crime
Crime depends on the type of societal bond a person holds. If these
Social Process
bonds are constructive, the person will be law abiding and it they
Theory
are counter constrictive they could cause criminality.
Social Learning Criminality is learned like everything else, including conformity.
Theory (Burgess & Criminals learn from other criminals and get better at a particular
Akers, 1966) crime every consecutive time.
Everyone is capable of being a criminal. Moral or legal code of
Social Control Theory conduct stops people from becoming criminals. Without these
bondages people feel free to break the law.
Labelling Theory Law makers label actions as crimes. Criminals are labelled and
(Becker, 1963) further drawn into the criminal net.

Social
Constructionism: The
Behaviors become crimes through a process of social construction.
perspective holds that
The same behavior may be considered criminal in one society and
reality is created
an act of honor in another or in the same society at a different time.
through social
The legal status of a behavior—whether it is defined as a crime—
interaction and views
lies not in the content of the behavior itself but in the social
language and social
response to the behaviour. Changes in the legal status of a
interaction as the
behavior are often brought about by social movements and may
basis for its
entail considerable social conflict.
construction
 5. Prevention of crime:
5.1 Correctional services and the Prison culture

Correctional institutions should render both preventive and curative services to the offender
with the basic purpose of reforming as well as rehabilitating the offender. To facilitate
achieving these goals, the more accountable correctional services are the better, which will
also serve as the best way to safeguard human rights. A more humane approach is required
in the treatment meted out to offenders in the prison or in correctional homes. The prison
environment should be conducive to positive growth. Recently it has been clearly laid down
by the Supreme Court of India that the manner in which offenders are treated in jails is an
extension of the judicial process itself and the rights of the prisoners are to be protected by
the court. The prisons systems should also be independent of the bias of socio-political
system. Observational homes (or Remand houses) are an attempt in this very humane
direction. They provide education and vocational training for homeless children as well as
accused children awaiting trial. The stay here is used for evaluating the accused‘s
personality traits and behaviour while at the same time providing a path back to civilian life.
Children homes (for reformation of the children offenders and maladjusted children) and
special homes and shelters (for providing shelter and specialised training to young offender
for their reformation) are also attempts to forge a kinder and healthier relationship with
underage individuals who have flouted the law.

5.2 Respect for Convicts

The study of criminology makes it evident that the causation of crime is multifaceted and
loopholes in the law aren‘t the solitary reason for a crime to be committed. The core to
reducing crimes rests in the core that creates criminals. Can we make a criminal a non-
criminal? Can the society rehabilitate deviants into civil system? What has been evident to
scholars and even contemporary media is that one crime doesn‘t make an individual a
criminal, but the prison culture, the social tax of being a criminal and the degradation of the
status quo do. An individual who commits a crime is caught in a web that can‘t be escaped.
When a person who has shoplifted once is called a ―shoplifter‖, the society as a whole
pushes this person deeper into the web. Until this web isn‘t broken and the person isn‘t
allowed to find a way back into a life of normalcy, the cycle of crime will continue. This
awareness about how the society reinforces crime should be used to conjure respect for
criminals. Respecting convicts when they‘re being tried (the jurors should not lecture the
convicts), respecting inmates of prison once they get out and facilitating job opportunities for
people who have criminal background.

5.3 Neighbourhood vetting

A common approach employed by local police force is to have heavy surveillance in

neighbourhoods where criminal activities are high. This breeds antagonistic feelings
between the locals and the police as the locals who are not involved in crime feel shackled
to the consequences of being residents of a low end neighbourhood. An example of this
would be the treatment of prostitutes and the areas they inhabit in India.

5.4 Localising programmes

This was an approach that was first taken by the environmentalists in India. A realisation that
dawned upon the government was that the locals know more and care more about the
nature and its preservation. Including locals, raising awareness and organising them into a
task force of vigilance could be of great help in preventing criminal activities.

5.5 Virtual violence

The government needs to acknowledge that crime now is moving towards the virtual end.
Cybercrime is spreading at a fast pace and even if the crime itself isn‘t a cybercrime, the
internet plays a role in abetting it. In December of 2015, Ministry of Women and Child
Development released an official document about the increasing rate of cybercrimes and
described how the existing laws can be used to combat it. Link to the said document:
http://pib.nic.in/newsite/PrintRelease.aspx?relid=132545

5.6 Target social inequalities

The core of crime, criminals and rising rates of crimes can be condensed in a single
sentence: ―resources are limited‖. This simple fact is widely known and accepted. The haves
turn a blind eye towards it and some of the have-nots turn a blind eye towards the rule of law
consequently. Social workers, politicians, administrators of law and the police force need to
join hands and encourage the public to show empathy to fragment of the population that
belongs to the lowest strata. Can we blame a father who steals food to feed his hungry
children? Likewise can we explain to a murderer how the system isn‘t rigged against him?
Ensuring subsidized necessities of a decent quality of housing, food, education and
healthcare will help bridge the income divide that is reinforcing the cycle of crime for
generations.

6 Some Classic Case Studies of Criminals in India

Murder of Naina Sahni – The Tandoor Case

The infamous murder of Naina Sahni, perpetuated by her husband Sushil Sharma became
known as the Tandoor case. The case was provided extensive coverage by the media and
was closely followed by public. Sushil was suspicious of his wife‘s relationship and this led to
frequent heated arguments. On the night of 02 July 1995, an enraged Sushil shot Naina to
death. Sushil then, in an attempt to dispose of the victim‘s body, chopped the body to pieces
and tried to burn them in a tandoor (Indian clay oven). The first autopsy report opined the
cause of death as burning. Later on, the second autopsy detected bullets and changed the
course of investigation. The case involved use to DNA based evidence to identify the victim.
Sushil was sentenced to death that was later commuted to life imprisonment.

This is a case of marital conflicts and adultery. Human mind is complex. In this case the
husband brutally killed the wife whom he supposedly loved.
Nirbhaya Rape and Fatal Assault Case

The Nirbhaya rape and fatal assault case was an unfortunate event that took place in
December 2012. The victim was travelling home with her male friend, when they were
offered lift by accused in a private tourist bus. The six accused men took turns in raping,
beating and torturing the victim – thereby injuring the victim fatally. The victim suffered
serious injuries to her internal organs and genitals. The accused also beat and gagged the
victim‘s male friend. After the gruesome beating and rape of the victim, the accused threw
both of them out of the bus. The victims were then taken to hospital for medical treatment,
however after a long struggle the rape victim succumbed to her injuries. There was a huge
outpouring of grief and protest from the general public and the case was instrumental in
renewing the demands for effective women security.

The incident generated international coverage and was condemned by the United Nations
Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women, who called on the Government
of India and the Government of Delhi "to do everything in their power to take up radical
reforms, ensure justice and reach out with robust public services to make women‘s lives
more safe and secure". The case created intense public protests in the entire nation and led
to the he Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 2013.

Nithari Killings

The infamous Nithari Killings case was a series of serial killings of mostly childen during
2005 and 2006. The case got its name as the episodes took place in Nithari, U.P – a small
town near Noida. The unfortunate events took place at the home of businessman Mohinder
Singh Pandher, who was assisted by his servant Surinder Koli in the gruesome killings. The
culprits lured an estimated 19+ victims to the crime scene, and later disposed off the bodies
after slicing them into pieces. The motive behind the killings is not clearly established – the
suspicions have ranged from organ trade to child pornography to cannibalism. Both the
culprits were awarded death sentence in Feb 2009. The sentences were later revised by
superior courts. In the latest round of hearings (July 2017), both the victims were sentenced
to death by a CBI court.

Charles Sobhraj – the Bikini Killer

Charles Sobhraj, also known as Bikini Killer, was an alleged

serial killer of over 12 western tourists during 1970s. He is
considered to be psychopath, and was motivated for killing
to support his extravagant lifestyle. As a young man, he was
endowed with good looks and charming persona – that he
used with devastating effect to lure and trap his victims. He
started with committing petty crimes and forgery, and later
on started preying on western tourists throughout south-east
Asia. He was sentenced to 12 years in jail in India. He
cunningly manipulated the jail personnel during his stay there and had a much comfortable
stay there. After bein released, Charles turned into a celebrity – and received money for
interviews and photographs. He was captured again in Nepal where he was sentenced to
life.

Priyadarshini Mattoo Case

Priyadarshini Mattoo was victim of rape and murder, perpetuated by Santosh Kumar Singh –
son of a high ranking police official. The unfortunate incident was preceded by sustained
stalking of the victim by Santosh. Priyadarshini complained against Santosh for the stalking
and was also provided police protection. On the fateful day, the culprit visited the vicitim‘s
residence using pretext. He proceeded to rape the victim, and followed it by strangling her
with an electric wire and smashing her face with a motorcycle helmet. Santosh was acquitted
by the court, citing ―benefit of doubt‖ as the prosecution failed to establish the key facts. The
court, while acquitting the accused, was also critical of investigation by the police. The public
outcry that followed led to an appeal in Delhi High Court, where the accused was sentenced
to death. Later the Supreme Court of India, revised the sentence to life imprisonment.

The above cited cases indicate the multiplicity of crime types and diversity of factors
contributing towards the crime.

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Hundal, Sunny. (2013). India’s bitter culture of rape and violence. Retrieved from
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparative_criminal_justice

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http://www.wbnsou.ac.in/student_zone/e-resources/study_material/pg/MSWPaper-12.pdf