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Deviant Behaviour And Crime Literature Review

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INTRODUCTION

Literature Review

Criminologists have offered various explanations to deviant behaviour and crime occurring in our society. The prevailing social conditions are major factor in determining crime in our society. The Chicago school emphasised on disorganization of social institutions leading to deviant behaviour, hence high associated crimes. Thus social disorganization theory pointed to breakdown of families, peer-pressure and extreme socio-economic conditions for deviance. The lower social cohesion leads to delinquency and hence crime. The pioneer in study of drug addiction was Bingham Dai who published his research as ‘Opium Addiction in Chicago (1937)’ (1)

The differential association theory focussed on role of peer group …show more content…

Determining the level of drug abuse in society
2. Various factors contributing to drug abusing behaviour
3. Appropriate measure required to break cycle of drug abuse

The problem with the current criminal justice system is that it punishes the past deviant behaviour of the drug abuser without putting an effort to influence the future.
Highly emphasised drug abstinence and stringent punishment has not resulted in breaking the cycle of drug abuse and related crimes. A holistic approach is required to address the problem. A combination of drug control treatment and criminal justice supervision is an optimised solution to drug abuse

Ingredients of an effective criminal justice system

1. Understanding drug abuse disorder and associated crimes.
2. Assessing the socio-economic background of the drug abusers.
3. Assessing the needs and risks for drug abusing individuals.
4. Interventions requisite to severity of problem
5. Understanding the recovery process and …show more content…

Difficulties in finding the independent witness It is very rare when an independent witness volunteers to give the evidence during seizure. The working of the criminal justice systems puts huge opportunity and economic cost to the witness, thus police finds it difficult to have an independent witness. Usually the delay in trial and time consumed in attending courts are major reason for lack of witnesses. Unlike the developed countries, in India there is no concept of compensating the work hour if one attends the court. The drug peddlers have a strong lobby and start threatening the witness or bribing them to turn hostile.
Since most of the seizures are made at nakas(barriers), ‘it is difficult to find an independent witness at every naka. The law however require an independent witness even to search a vehicle or a person during a naka’ (11)

2. Possession of raw material used in manufacturing psychotropic drugs in not a crime

NDPS act mandates manufacturer and dealers to maintain the record and file a report to Narcotic Control Bureau. Provision should be introduced in the act to prosecute a person having the unexplained quantities of controlled substances.

3. Circumventing the restrictions on bail

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