Midweek Musings 21,29.04.2026 Crime control through employment generation.
By Malini Shankar
In every society there is crime. Crimes differ
in definition and nature of crime, but they occur nevertheless. The could be
petty crime of stealing some garden implements or debris in the backyard; it
could be breaking in to private property to steal contraptions like taps, or TV
remote control devices, cellphone chargers pressure cookers / vessels …. Just anything
they can get their hands on.
Then there are crimes related to drug peddling
and drug syndicates; sexual crimes like rape and molestation; child sexual
abuse, or same sex sexual violence. Trafficking in women, children, destitute…
Then there is poaching n smuggling of forest
produce…protected and endangered fauna, and flora.
Sociologists aver that only those who were
abused themselves wreck revenge in adult life. Or those who were deprived of
what they were deprived of in their growing years seek satisfaction in possessing
what they are stealing. These kind of deprived and depraved elements go so far
as to ‘steal’ a young woman’s virginity in patriarchal societies and communities.
It is difficult to say if the thief was a virgin till then or what makes him
want to steal a woman’s virginity.
Anyway this article is about trying to keep
such crime prone elements constructively engaged so as not to allow them to be
entrapped in criminal activities. I agree criminals should not be sympathized with
wrongfully when their victims deserve a sympathetic ear and resolution of their
loss.
But looking at it through the lens of
anthropogenic development, these criminal elements once having tasted blood
will continue to wallow and indulge in crime, either to feed their immediate
needs or because of addiction to the adrenaline spurt or simply because of no
salvation. Once they are in police records, they are never again employable. Again,
let me emphasise and reiterate: I am not trying to sympathise with the
criminal. I mean if they were gainfully employed from the age of employment itself
perhaps many a criminal career could have been aborted. Hypothetically
speaking. It must also be said that 100% employment in any society is not possible.
Neither is 100% crime proof society.
But a recent incident dawned some introspection
in me. A neighbour’s security cameras captured thieves gaining access into a newly
built house. They could not find anything to steal and when they were
confronted by the good Samaritan neighbor the thieves bolted for their own
safety. Police were informed and the routine complaints etc were filed by the
house owner. Police investigations led them to conclude that the young boys
were looking for any resource to provide them access to their nightly fix of
drugs and alcohol. Police did not book the boys because officially or as a
matter of fact nothing was stolen from the property.
That’s when it occurred to me that if these
misguided and disenchanted youngsters had been constructively engaged in
gainful employment perhaps they would not have been in such limbo. But before
they were identified as criminal elements from a nearby slum. Perhaps if they
grew up in more secure circumstances there would have been no negative
impressions while they were growing up. If they had more secure impressionistic
years of adolescence, perhaps their latter day criminal propensity could have
been averted?
On the other hand why did the Police refuse to
take action? Are they complicit? Possibly. Or perhaps they do not want to waste
energy and resources on criminal elements who did not actually steal anything
in this case. The cops know exactly where they are from and their entire socio
economic background. While the cops’ complicity remains mysterious, …
It is my thought, that these criminal elements
or unemployed youth should be constructively engaged in socio political and so
economic activities like say green patrol, Disaster prevention activities or
simply in profiling the social fabric of society … any constructive activity commensurate
with their level of literacy / education. There will be an enormous dip in
criminal activity if unemployed youth ar constructively engaged… if in public
domain all the more transparent; they don’t need to be given secure pensionable
jobs, but atleast a quasi-official body like say a youth force, or volunteer
green patrol, or something like that…
Not to offer the proverbial other cheek to
criminals but to earnestly try to find a solution to crime in society…
I am intentionally not writing a conclusion
because I need your constructive feedback to give it a credible engaging conclusion,…
Please fill in your comments in the space below on this page…I will revisit
this article next week based on your feedback.
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