The lockdown imposed all around the world to fight COVID-19 has had a wide range of ill-effect and consequences on the society. The world was brought to a standstill by the lethal virus threatening the lifestyles and economies. Social animal could not step out of the threshold of their door, much less meet and interact with friends and close ones to share their miseries regarding this unprecedented situation. As a result, wide range of socioeconomic losses were suffered by one and all and the battle is still going on.
Except essential services and goods, everything got restricted and strict rules and regulations were imposed on the movement of people to ensure social-distancing. One could speculate that these strict rules would have caused limitations for criminals like trouble in finding victim, less or no mobility, etc. it indeed is true that in the very beginning of the lockdown, a significant drop was seen in burglary and accidents. However, the crime against women saw a spike. One could notice great rise in crimes against women across all the states in our country itself.
Lockdown increased the aggregate crime in Bihar by 44% including theft (63%), murders (61%) and crimes against women (64%). Between March 24 and March 30, Karnataka saw over 1,500 cases of crimes against the women alone. In just a single state, disturbingly around 64 rape cases and 38 dowry deaths were reported. Also, there were 716 molestation cases, 215 cyber-crime cases and 175 cases of cruelty against women. The National Commission for Women got 587 complaints between March 23 and April 16. These are just the cases that got reported and many cases remain unnoticed due to the fear and humiliation as well as reputation of family because many times women are subjected to violence by their own family membersthus, the victim and abuser were locked inside the room together. And to think of the fact that these were just the stats of crimes against only women in a single state and of just two months into the lockdown!
Number of cases of domestic violence also surged in number. The primary reason behind this was that all the members of the family were staying indoor constantly for days at a stretch. All the frustration about change in daily life and withdrawal symptoms due to closed shops and no supply of liquor or drugs, led to the outburst on accessible victims i.e. the women in the house.
Every criminal was once an ordinary human being functioning in the world, leading a normal life just like us. The external factors, surroundings or bad experiences led them on the road of criminality. Apparently, there are many scientifically studied psychological theories behind the crimes. Many of them have a sound scientific basis and are based on knowledge and real-life experiences. Many theories and factors work together to give birth to a crime.
Brain chemistry and crime
Our moods are affected by a neurotransmitter in our brain called Serotonin and it can, in turn, lead to criminal behavior. Also, the male hormone testosterone is closely linked to the aggression level of an individual. This is not something that happens automatically. It has been found that a poor nutrition provided to kids under the age of 3 years can also tap the aggression level of an individual. Also, the damage done to some parts of the brain due to accident, diseases, a birth defect and others, can also lead to such behavior.
Structure of our brain and its anatomy
Amygdala is the part of our brain that is linked with the emotions associated with our brain. However, damage on this region can trigger criminal behavior. This happens because the fear associated with the punishments for committing a crime drops down to a very small amount and stops deterring them from committing it.
Also, the part of our brain that stores memories is the Hippocampus and damage to this area could end up omitting the memories of being punished for crimes in the head of a criminal. This would lead to the repeated crime and forgetting about the prior punishments received for crimes.
Apart from the human anatomy, there are some socialization theories behind committing a crime. It is found that people who are surrounded by crime, within the community or family, learn criminal behavior from these external factors right from the beginning. Therefore, a kid who is exposed to such adverse criminal situations or went through hardships and unjust in the childhood, is more prone to end up committing a crime.
The most appropriate theory that fits well with the adverse situation posed by the pandemic in our lives and lifestyles is the Strain Theory of crimes. Human beings have a lot of needs and demands. We have emotions and expectations that range from the regular necessities, material goods, better lifestyle to sexual needs. However, when one of these needs are not met, it leads to dissatisfaction and resentment against people surrounding oneself. This leads to achieving these desired with the help of criminal activities like robbing, drug dealing, rapes and other criminal behaviors.
Since the lockdown was implemented to curb the spread of COVID-19, a silent pandemic got birth during this period. It was about the sexual assault and heinous rape case committed with minor girls by family members themselves. A father allegedly raped a 14-year old girl in Tamil Nadu for three months repeatedly. In other case, the daughter was killed by her father for wealth and baby boy. In Patna, a heart-rending case appeared in which a 40-year old father had been raping his daughter for four years and she just turned 16. Not just teenagers, a 75-days-old baby girl was raped by her father in Tamil Nadu. Such perpetration of violence against women surging during a time when the victims are at homes amidst family means that they are not even safe inside and have nowhere to escape.
The psychology behind the Crime
The pleasure one would draw in this heinous act is a query that remains unanswered. The pain and anger is somehow released by the outburst of frustration in the act of transferring that pain by putting someone else to suffer. All of us are humans and have different reasons behind the way we act be it good or bad. No one is born a monster. The way people live their life and think determines the kind of life their future beholds. Unloved, rejected or bullied kids end up lashing out to something and the scale of the destruction ranges from kicking a dustbin to even committing a heinous crime. However, all of us should try to triumph through our hard past and not do something unjust to other people in the process. We should outgrow from the hardships and make a life independent of all the repressed anger instead of letting it cause agony in life of other people, making them a part of this vicious cycle too.
https://owlcation.com/social-sciences/Psychology-of-Crime-Why-do-people-become-criminals
Written by Sanjana Saxena
