Meaning of Crime
Societies have been concerned about behavioural expectations, disruptions to social order, and the protection of the natural flow of life since ancient times. Ancient Babylon’s Code of Hammurabi is the earliest evidence of a society that clearly identified a set of rules governing social life. King Hammurabi (1795–1750 BC) established a historical precedent for other societies to follow. By drawing notice to his subjects of what he saw as acceptable behaviour, he laid the foundation for a more organized, purposeful, and civilized social order. With varying degrees of formalization and success, rulers have endeavoured to protect their kingdoms, albeit the wealth and power of monarchs have frequently superseded the interests and protection of their citizens. The key issue here is that rules governing social life have been part of the social order of human communities since recorded time. Violations of these codes of conduct have also been part of the social fabric and social experience since humans began living in social groups.
Crime has traditionally been studied as a form of deviant behaviour. Crime is a behaviour that violates official law and is punishable through formal sanctions. The dictionary meaning of the word ‘crime’ refers to a “violation of law” or “an act punishable by law”.
For example, driving with a blood alcohol percentage over the province’s limit is a crime.
The English word ‘crime’ is derived from the Latin term “crimen” which means ‘charge’ or ‘offence’. Thus, literally the word crime means “an attack on norms or the law”. It also means “violation of norms and laws”.
Definition of Crime
According to Samuel Koenig, “Crime may be defined as any act forbidden by law which society expects its authorized officials to enforce.”
According to F.R. Scarpitti and M.L. Andersen, “Crime can be defined in terms of the body of law that codifies a society’s rules about proper and improper behaviour.”
According to Hall Jerome has defined crime as “legally forbidden and intentional action which has a harmful impact on social interests, which has a criminal intent, and which has legally-prescribed punishment for it.”
According to Elliot and Merrill, “Crime may be defined as anti-social behaviour which the group rejects and to which it attaches penalties.” Therefore crime is believed that anti-social elements are responsible for increase in crime rate.
According to Mowrer (1959) has defined as “an anti-social act”.
TYPES OF CRIMES
Crimes have been classified on varied bases. Sutherland has given two types of crimes on the basis of their atrocity and seriousness – felony and misdemeanour. The distinction between the two is made in terms of the sentence that can be imposed.
Felonies are the most serious of crimes that one can commit. Felonies are punishable by one year or more imprisonment. In fact, there are some states which impose the death penalty for certain types of felony crimes. Felony crime includes personal crimes, such as murder, robbery and rape. Other types are crimes against property, including burglary or larceny.
One well-known celebrity case that involved a felony charge was the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Celebrity O.J. Simpson, the former husband of Nicole Brown Simpson, was charged with the murders of the two victims. After a lengthy public trial, O.J. Simpson was found not guilty of the felony murder charges.
Misdemeanours are less serious crimes. These crimes are punishable by less than one-year imprisonment. Examples of misdemeanours include assault, battery or writing bad checks. For instance, in 2011, actress Lindsay Lohan pled guilty to a misdemeanour charge for stealing a $2,500 necklace.
Clinard and Quinney (Criminal Behaviour Systems: A Typology, 1967: 14-18) have given six types of crimes:
Violent personal crime: This crime is based on the use of violence and is committed by a person who does not have earlier record of crime against him. Murder, rape, assault are some examples of this crime. The reaction of society against those who commit this crime is very harsh.
Occasional property crime: This crime is violation of individual property rules. Shoplifting is one example of this crime.
Occupational crime: This crime is committed, during the course of one’s occupation, with an economic motive. The criminals who commit this crime accept the traditional norms of society except that of honesty. Embezzlement, black-marketing, misleading advertisements are some examples of this crime.
Political crime: This is committed by an individual with vested political and economic interests. Treason, spying, passing secrets to enemy countries are examples of this crime.
Public order crime: This crime is one in which an individual violates the rules of conduct in society. Some examples of this crime are alcoholism vandalism, prostitution, homosexuality and violation of traffic rules.
Conventional crime: This is a crime in which an individual violates the sacred norms of individual property. Theft, robbery, dacoity, kidnapping, and riot are some examples of this crime. Individuals commit these crimes on a part-time basis, and these crimes are not the main source of their income. However, these criminals are more committed to criminal subculture.
Besides the above kinds of classification, crimes are also classified as white-collar crime (committed by persons of high status with an economic motive), professional crime (committed as a profession and as the main source of livelihood because of which crime becomes a way of life which gives criminals a status in their criminal group), and organized crime (committed in a planned way by a group of criminals).
CAUSES OF CRIME
Lack of Family Control: One of the causes responsible for committing crimes is lack of control the head of the family over his children. Due to lack of family bonds, children do not obey their parents thereby resulting in broken families. This leads to considerable freedom among children for committing crime.
Lack of Social Control: The control over its members in society has considerably weakened. That is more so in urban rather than in rural area. In big cities one finds absolutely no social control. In rural areas there is still little control and local self government institutions that persist. That is perhaps the reasons as to why rate of crimes in the cities is higher than in villages.
Use of Intoxicating Drinks: Intoxication and alcohol increases crime rate. A drunkard commits serious crimes under the influence of drinks; on the other hand hard earned money is also wasted on drinks, eventually bringing down the living standard of family lives. There are cases of family disputes when low income is drained out in drinks.
Religion: Religion is the most important source of purification; it is believed to keep people away from committing crimes. But unfortunately, religion is the cause for serious crime as well. For instance in India, in the name of religion country was partitioned, properties were looted and most heinous crimes were committed.
Education: The present day educational system has certain flows. The system of education does not lay stress on moralities which are effective forces for checking crimes. Apart from that, it is partly vocational oriented and does not help the young people to be employed in time. So, many to choose alternate means to earn money, sometimes leading to crime.
Defective marriage: Unhealthy marriages such as dowry, child marriage, polygamy, sexual assaults, molestation, and sati can be termed as defective marriage. There have been many cases where women were victims of these social practices or bad situations. Upon which the rate of crimes and suicide have increased in the society.
Cinema: Today cinema is a very popular source of recreation. But it has indirectly encouraged crimes such as pornography, robbery, murder, gambling, human trafficking, sex trade etc. All this factors collectively result in making a person criminal and many imitate it in real life. Scientifically it has been proved that solace for every disappointment lies in taking liquors, which again drives the mind to execute unstable behaviour.
It is impossible to find a society in which crimes are not committed. Crime rate is even higher in advanced societies, especially sex crimes, which are rapidly increasing every day. If such hideous crimes are not checked, then maybe mankind will near its doomsday.
Theoretical Explanation for Criminal Behaviour
The theoretical explanation for criminal behaviour can be discussed by dividing them into the following four classifications. They are as follows -
Classicist Explanation: Classicist explanations of crime and punishment were developed in the second half of the eighteenth century. The propounder of the classicist explanation was an Italian thinker Beccaria. The main postulates of his classicist explanation developed in 1764 were:
Man’s behaviour is purposive and rational and is based on hedonism or pleasure-pain principles, that is, he consciously chooses pleasure and avoids pain.
Punishment should be assigned to each crime so that the pain would outweigh any pleasure from the commission of come.
Punishment should not be severe and deterrent but it should be proportionate to crime and also be predetermined, prompt, and public.
The law must apply equally to all citizens.
The legislatures should clearly enact the law and prescribe specific punishment for its violation.
Biogenic Explanation: There are three major positivist thinkers. They are Lombroso, Ferri and Garofalo. This thinker emphasized the biogenic or hereditary aspect of criminal behaviour. Lombroso claimed that the criminal is of a different physical type than the non-criminal. According to him, he identified criminals by a number of characteristics or stigmata, for instance, asymmetrical face, large ears, excessively long arms, flattened nose and other physical peculiarities. Though, Ferri and Garofelo supported Lombroso but he (Lombroso) modified his theory at the end of his life and said that all criminals are not ‘born criminals’.
Psychogenic Explanation: In this explanation, the psychogenic theories could trace crime to some defect in the personality of the offender or ‘in the inside of the person’. According to Henry Goddard, crime is caused due to feeble-mindedness which is inherited and is very little affected by life events. He emphasized that a criminal is not born but made.
Sociogenic Explanation: In sociogenic explanation apart from physiological, psychiatric and psychological theoretical explanations, sociologists argue that criminal behaviour is learnt and it is conditioned by the social environment. Sociologists have used two approaches in studying the causation of crime -
The relationship between crime and the social structure of society.
The process by which an individual becomes a criminal.
From the above explanations, we learned valuable insights that the understanding of criminal behaviour is complex and multifaceted. The causes of crime likely involve a combination of individual factors, biological and genetic predispositions, psychological characteristics, and the influence of social and environmental factors. A comprehensive understanding of criminal behaviour requires considering various theoretical perspectives and recognizing the interplay of these factors in shaping human actions.
References:
Ahuja, R. (2012). Criminology. Jaipur: Prem Rawat for Rawat Publications.
Clinard, M. B., & Quinney, R. (2016). Criminal Behavior Systems: A Typology. London: Routledge.
Turner, B. S. (2006). The Cambridge dictionary of sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Rao, C. N. (2015). INDIAN SOCIAL PROBLEMS: A sociological perspective. Place of publication not identified: S CHAND & CO.
Macdonald, A. M. (1903). Chambers twentieth century dictionary. Edinburgh: Chambers. (p.220)
Ahuja, R. (1992). Social problems in India. Rawat publications.
ddceutkal - Social Problem (pp 50-53) ~ Link
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