ASSAM UNIVERSITY, SILCHAR

DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL WORK

ASSIGNMENT TOPIC :

URBAN CULTURE AND CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES IN SILCHAR TOWN

NAME OF THE SUPERVISOR : DR. SUBHABRATA DUTTA.

Submitted to : Dr. SUBHABRATA DUTTA.

Associate Professor & Head

Department of Social Work

Assam University : Silchar

Submitted by :

KHAN HASINA AHMED.

DEBOSMITA DAS.

SEMESTER - MSW 4th

Sem.

CONTENTS

Page No.

Introduction 03

Conceptual Understanding/Discussion 03-06

Present Conditions 07-09

Suggestions for Improvement 10

Social Work Intervention 11-24

Conclusion 25

References 26

INTRODUCTION

The city or an urban place is a centre of attraction. From this it attracts a large number of people

especially from the rural areas. Various factors are there to migrate the rural people to the urban place.

An agrarian country like India is also undergoing the process of urbanization and as a result the number

and the size of the cities are increasing in India. And ultimately the more in number of population the

more in number of social problems like crime and etc. The word “Crime” means a violation of conduct

norms or of establishing norms. The modern concept of crime is essentially a legal concept and

according to the modern approach, crime is a creation of law.

According to Hall Jerome - (1947:8-18) 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”.

Before we proceed to the meaning and definitions of crime, let us try to deal with the various concepts

of crime. They are :-

� The Demonological Concept : In the primitive society there were those days where the

people believed that society is protected by divine power and the God was the criminal

code. For such an act society was awarding punishment in the form of death to the

offender.

� The Legal Concept : Crime is that behavior which is prohibited by the laws or the

criminal code.

� The Sociological Concept : All actions and behavior which are socially harmful are

considered as Crime.

� The Socio-legal Concept : It is an improvement over the legal and sociological concepts

where it says that crime is an act which is believed to be socially harmful.

� The Psycho-socio-legal Concept : This concept is an improvement over the

shortcomings of all the other concepts of crime. It takes into consideration of the

intention of an individual in committing crime, social conditions leading to criminality

and the legal aspects of crime.

This paper presents an interactive visualization which is done to present the viewer with an accurate

perception of the view of criminal activity in a cityscape. This also employs many different visualization

elements, which taken together to presents this paper in a useful manner that can be used to visualize

many associated factors of crime. So here in the coming discussions, we will talk about the “Urban

Criminal Activities “with special reference to the Silchar town, (Assam).

CONCEPTUAL UNDERSTANDING / DISCUSSION

There are some of the concepts under mentioned:-

� Urban: (Latin ‘urbs’ city) - the term implies, the city or town community where man became a

citizen when he became a member of a city or a state.

� Culture: (Latin: related to ‘cultivate’) - by the term we can understand, a manufactured

environment which surrounds the city man and the way of life of him.

� Urban Culture : By the word ‘Urban Culture’, we can understand - the knowledge, belief,

morals, law, customs and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of the

urban society.

� Crime: (Latin ‘crimen’) - the term implies, the illegal and intentional act in violation of law.

� Criminal: (Latin: related to ‘crime’) - by the term we can understand, persons conducting illegal

acts.

� Criminal Activities: By the word ‘Criminal Activities’, we can understand - the activities which

violates the norms and regulations of a society and breaks the law of the State.

� Social Problem: By the word ‘Social Problem’ we can understand - any problem existing in the

society which affect the public at large and which cannot be regarded as individual problem.

There are some of the following ‘Social Problems’ which contributes to the

“Urban Criminal Activities”. They are:-

� Violence against Women: Women are the victims of humiliation, torture and

exploitation. They are beaten, kidnapped, raped, burnt and murdered. In spite of the

legislatives measures adopted in favor of women in our society, women still continue to

be victims of violence.

� Crime and Criminals: As the crime is increasing day by day might cause awareness

among the public but our police and politicians remain ungathered about the present

law and order situation but the Sociologist giving their concern in rising up of the issues.

� Juvenile Delinquency: They are the under-age criminals. From the total delinquencies

committed by the juveniles, the police can catch hardly 2% of the delinquencies. It has

seen that delinquency rates are much higher among boys than girls.

� Alcoholism: It is the habitual use of addict’s choice of chemical to produce a temporarily

pleasant mental state. Earlier it was known for its moral problem and also a sign of

social irresponsibility but now it was viewed as an illegal act.

� Drug Abuse and Drug Addiction: This is perceived as a deviating behavior which grows

ultimately to the cause of social problem. Now a day’s India has become both an

important passage as well as the existing centre for drugs.

� Poverty: It is a situation where an individual is not able to meet his/her minimum

standard of livelihood as a consequence of lack of resources. Hence poverty is observed

in terms of poverty line.

� Unemployment: It is a situation where an individual is capable of working and also

willing to work but remains without work. In India after Independence, there has been

an alarming problem of unemployment.

� Population Explosion: Because of the growth in population India is falling behind in the

contest of speed in the economic and human resources development. The scale at

which India’s population is increasing is simply mind-frustrating.

� Communalism and Regionalism :

� Communalism states that society is divided into religious communities

whose interest differs & also opposed to each other.

� Regionalization is the division of geographical territory with the definite:

boundaries.

The rising trend of the above accompanying violence which created a

feeling of insecurity among the people.

� Backward Castes, Tribes and Classes: This section of people comes under the

underprivileged category in India as because they were occupied by the inferior status.

Government of India prescribes protection and safeguards for them.

� Youth Unrest and Agitations: The youth used to become angry when they notice any

widening of the wrongly deeds in the society. When the youth got frustrated and

disappointed, they start taking some agitation to carry the social protest.

� Child Abuse and Child Labor : Large majority of the Indian children are compelled by

economic considerations to join the labor force where they continue to be employed,

harassed and abused, this cause them to be in distress and violent condition.

� Illiteracy: In India it has been considered as an obstacle in development and the

problem of illiteracy among women in our country is worse. Every time the attempts

made by the Government for removing the illiteracy but it could not succeed.

� Urbanization: There has been a shift in the population from rural to urban areas and

this urbanization has lead to many social problems. Urbanization reflects an

organization of society which is in terms of a complex division of labor.

� AIDS: Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome is a disease which is caused by a virus

called Human Immunodeficiency Virus or HIV. It is currently spreading in the world at

the rate of one new infection every fifty seconds.

� Terrorism: It is the problem which we have been facing very rampantly in our country

like India. We can say that terrorism is an organized system of frightening the public.

Generally it is practiced by the opponent of the State.

� Corruption: It is a deviating act from the norms of the society for getting the private

profits through the utilization of the public power. Corruption is spread all over in the

society in various forms.

� Bonded Labor: It can be said as the selfish bondage between the two people where a

man is keeping another man for his personal designs in the form of man’s cruelty to

man. It is found that the bonded labor is found as a global phenomenon.

� Black Money: It is both a social problem as well as an economic problem. Consumer of

black money is not affected but it affects the common man in the society. It is not easy

to calculate the magnitude of black money in any society.

So social problems are common to all societies because every society has its own social problem. The

above social problems are the public issues which affect the society as a whole or we can say the larger

part of the society.

Social Problem has been defined by Reinhardt, 1952:14 - as, “a situation confronting a group or a section

of society which inflicts injurious consequences that can be handled only collectively”.

Thus no single individual or a few individuals are responsible for the occurrence of those socially

problematic situations, so the control of this situation is also beyond the ability of one person or a few

persons and as a result the responsibility of tackling is placed upon society at large.

As we know, major challenges to India’s growth strategy are our failure to create an inclusive

economy. While growth has reduced poverty situation to a greater extent but India is still has a block of

poor people and this leads to the hue and cry of the basic needs for the survival. As a result people used

to indulge in all the above mentioned social problems and involving at large creates an environment of

criminal activities.

PRESENT CONDITION

In Reference To India :

In the recent years it is evident everywhere that the city is growing in population at the expense of the

village. It is also observed that urban culture is spreading to the rural areas.

As said by Davis that “The city effects are wider than the city itself".

The growing transport and communications, the increased urban newspaper circulation in rural areas,

advancement in science and technology, etc., have gone a long way in diffusing a wide variety of urban

attitudes, ideas and habits from the city to the village. Urbanism or the urban way of life, has affected

the size and character of the rural family. The mode of rural recreation has changed due to the urban

influence. It is true that the city continues to dominates the country. Even with respect to birth rate,

death rate, age at marriage, infant mortality, divorce, suicide etc.

Man is gradually making the urban environment more suited to his needs and to live in luxury, he can go

beyond the values of human being and as a result there comes the breeding place for the several social

problems where it includes different forms of urban crimes. Urban crime is universal, but research

suggests that patterns of urban crime are affected by the nature of cities and the social, economic and

geographical environments in which they exist.

For example:

� Property crime tends to be higher in cities of the developed countries.

� Violent crime is higher in cities of the developing world.

Regardless of social or economic development, the larger the population of a city, the greater

the level of crime and victimization.

There are many relationships between the patterns of urban life and the patterns of crime.

There are some of the following evidences to support the description of crime in our country. They are :-

� The total crimes committed in India in every year is about 16.35 lakh which are cognizable

crimes under the Indian Penal Code, (IPC) - including theft, burglary, robbery, dacoity, murder,

riot, kidnapping, cheating, breach of trust etc.

And about 38.76 lakh are offences under the local and special laws like Dowry Prohibition Act,

Prohibition Act, Gambling Act, Excise Act, Arms Act, Immoral Traffic Prevention Act, Narcotic

Drugs and psychiatric substances Act, Railways Act, Explosive Substance Act etc. However the

crime rate in India is 614.79.

Source: (Crime in India, 1993:22 and 1994:25).

� In every year the police investigated 30 percent cases of cognizable crimes from about 21 lakh

cases of crimes which is under the IPC.

And about 70 percent are cases of offences committed under the local and special laws.

Source: (Crime in India, 1994:35).

� The total persons arrested for offences under the local and special laws is about one-fourth i.e.,

24.9% are arrested under five Acts. They are :

• Prohibition Act- 15.8%.

• Gambling Act - 4.3%.

• Excise Act - 2.5%.

• Indian Railways Act - 1.7%.

• Arms Act - 0.6%.

The remaining three-fourths i.e., 75.1% are arrested under Immoral Traffic Act, Narcotic and

Drugs Act, Explosives Act, Dowry Prohibition Act, Essential Commodities Act, TADA and so on.

Source: (Crime in India, 1993:107).

� Crime rate is much higher for male than females. Out of every 100 offenders, 96 are males and

04 are females.

Source: (Ibid, 1994:138).

� Crime rate is highest among those :

• In the low (income up to Rs. 1,000 pm).

• Lower-middle (income between Rs. 1,001 and Rs. 2.000 pm).

• Middle-middle (income between Rs. 2,001 and Rs. 3,000 pm) socio economic groups.

Source: (Ibid, 1994:140).

� Crime rate is :

• Highest i.e., 51% in the age group of 18-30 years.

• Less than 1 percent i.e., 0.2% in the age group below 16 years.

• 1 percent i.e., 1.2% in the age group of 16-18 years.

• 41% in the age group of 30-50 years.

• 7% in the age group of 50+ years.

Source: (Ibid, 1994:140).

In presenting the above facts and features, the idea is to point out the weakening of motives for

accordance with the social norms and the disruption of social relationships and social bonds and the

unrest is increasing almost in all sections of our society.

In Reference To Silchar :

Over time and across each city, specific crime patterns influence the general social climate and social

reactions to crime, which have a longer term influence.

Urban environment of Silchar may also have an effect on the ways in which the community

reacts or responds to the city crimes and how it is perceived by the residents of the very town. This can

be seen both institutionally in the presence of the roles played by law enforcement institutions and the

mass media in the Silchar city. The nature of life in the Silchar town are also significantly influences the

crimes in various ways as because some types of crime are more or less prevalent in urban

environments and also some crimes take different forms in urban as well as in the rural environments.

The conditions of Silchar also use a powerful influence on the ways of reacting to the societies or

respond to the crimes with preventive, law enforcement, victim support and other measures as stated

by the Silchar Police Station.

From the above we can understand that urbanization in the country has affected the structure

and functions of the various social institutions like:

� The family,

� Economy,

� Politics,

� Religion,

� Education,

� Industrialization and

� Modernization which led to the less functions of the family.

Source:(Sadar Police Station-Silchar, 2011)

Economically urbanization in Silchar town makes poverty more serious by the:

� Unemployment,

� Underemployment,

� A decrease in real wages due to continuation of the increase in prices and,

� Uncontrolled migration.

Source:(Kalibari Char, Slum-Silchar, 2011)

So for the above, the labor market remains unable to fully absorb fresh graduates and migrants

from the city of Silchar and because of the lack of job opportunities, many have forced

themselves to work in the abroad and the others who were not in the condition to migrate

themselves becomes the bulk of the crime involving activities or the victims of such situations

prevailing in the society.

SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT

Crime Prevention Through Social, Economic and Political Inclusion:-

Possible responses to urban crime include as wide as the range of possibilities of the forms of urban

crime itself. But there is probably one common principle that effective counteraction to urban crime

depends not only to put an end to the crime by force but also to the majority of society who have to

choose to support the laws voluntarily and which is fundamental to effective prevention of crime.

The relationship between marginalization and many forms of urban crime makes the problem of

organized crime and commits the criminal activities. So the state parties have to work together with the

State to take actions to make less severe of those circumstances. Social prevention should also include a

thorough and critical assessment of the broader concept of social environment where it identifies the

social problems that are linked to crime and also by determining that how it can be addressed and

alleviated in regards to the issues of vulnerability to victimization.

Social measures take care to address the social conditions in general rather than targeting the crime

directly. For example, education creates employment and other opportunities for youth that provide

alternatives to crime and give them a boundary in a society and the evidence is that the better the

young people receive education, the less likely they are to cause offence.

In recent years, the emphasis of the Police Force has shifted to crime prevention and the

provision of non-crime related services. The police are not a profit-oriented organization but a

government agency responsible for providing both crimes related and non-crime related services.

There should be the following functions of the Police Force. They are:

� Preventing crime.

� Maintenance of a feeling of security in the community.

� Arresting those who were responsible for crimes.

� Performing non-crime related functions as traffic law enforcement and emergency response to

non-crime citizen problems.

� In performing the above functions, police services should be provided rapidly in a fair, courteous

and honest manner while avoiding excessive harassment and false accusation of innocent

persons.

From the above list of the police's functions, the output of the police can be defined in terms of,

reduction in crime rates, number of persons arrested, clearance rates for various offences, and citizen

feedback measures on their feeling of security and their satisfaction with the police's response to both

the crime and non-crime activities.

In conclusion, I could say that there should be change in the mind set of the people and also

there should be some sort of mental revolution which is a change in the attitudes of all police officers

towards the concept of productivity towards their duties and proficiency but productivity is not an end

in itself, it is a means to other ends which includes the other things in the improvement of the quality of

life.

It is hoped that the Police Force and other Crime Involving Institutions plays a vital role in controlling the

urban crimes in India and will definitely nurture the development of the productivity which is nationally

common among the citizens of India so that its productivity will not be attained as an end in itself or at

any cost.

SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION

We have already noted that “Crime” is one of the social problems in any society and as a social problem,

it is a threatening condition to the wellbeing of the society. Wellbeing of society mainly depends upon

the eradication of criminal activities from the society. Therefore, from the point of view of well-being of

society prevention of crime is essential.

In the present paper Social Work Trainee, SWT intervene with the Judicial Institutions for taking out the

information and also records about the present status of the “Criminal Activities” in Silchar town. SWT

visited some of the Institutions like:

� Police Station.

� District Level Committee for Crimes Involving Women.

� Juvenile Justice Board and

� Silchar New Life Condition.

So there are the following observations and data based information about the Urban Criminal Activities

in Silchar town.

� SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: Sadar Police Station.

Social Work Trainee, (SWT) visited the Sadar Police station in Silchar town, (Cachar) and

interacted with the Officer in Charge and Sub-Inspector Police regarding the emerging

“Criminal Activities” in Silchar town. So the SWT were provided with the two cases filed

in their police station and also along with the criminal records of the year 2010 and up

to the month of March, 2011.

Table 01: Cases of Crime against Women in Sadar Police Station.

TWO FILED CASES OF THE CRIME AGAINST WOMEN, 2011

SL.NO CASES FIR NO. DATE OF

CASE FILED

CRIMINAL

ACTIVITY

AGE OF AGE OF CASE SUMMARY PRESENT

STATE

ACCUSED COMPLAIN ACCUSED

01 Case 1 331/11 02-03-2011 Dowry 20 yrs. 33 yrs. Complain came from the poor

income and somehow her

parents managed to bear the

expenses of the Marriage

Ceremony but the groom’s

family was not satisfied with

the items provided to them

and force her to bring the

In Jail.

amount of Rs. 10,000 in cash

along with the furniture and

then she gave Rs. 2,000 in cash

but this amount did not

satisfied the greediness of the

groom’s family she was

tortured physically and

mentally by her husband. After

some days, her husband

brought a women who is her

husband’s previous wife but

she and her parents were not

known about it before her

marriage. Then she bears a girl

child but still the domestic

violence continues. Even her

husband’s previous wife also

started torturing her. Then she

escaped to her parent’s house

and filed the case against her

husband.

02 Case 2 395/11 16-03-2011 Kidnapping 18 yrs. 47 yrs. Complain came from a middle

class family and he was the

father of his beautiful

daughter, because of her

beauties she used to get many

proposals from many boys to

marry her but she was not

interested in those. She wants

to study more. Even her

parents did not want her to get

marry in the early stage. That’s

why she was very confident in

her decision. One day when

she went to school. She was

kidnapped by some boys when

the school get closed. At that

particular time some people

came to recognize about her

and informed her father about

the incident than he came to

the police station and filed the

case.

In Jail.

Table 02: Shows the Records of Criminal Activities in Silchar Town, 2010-2011.

CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES IN SADAR POLICE STATION, SILCHAR

CACHAR, (2010-2011)

SL.NO CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES 2010 2011

01 Dacoity 08 Nil

02 Robbery 11 Nil

03 Rape 36 02

04 Kidnapping 97 06

05 Extortion 12 Nil

06 Murder 19 01

07 Burglary 125 08

08 Theft 356 25

09 Rioting 32 01

10 Extremist Nil Nil

11 Crime against Women, 498(A)-

IPC

245 13

12 Other 28 02

13 NDPS Act 03 Nil

14 Arms Act 02 Nil

15 Other IPC 1434 93

Total 2408 151

� SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: District Level Committee for Crimes

Involving Women.

After getting the required information from the Police Station, SWT step forward to the

District Level Committee for Crimes Involving Women, (DLCCIW) and interacted with the

Chairperson regarding the Crime against Women in Silchar town, (Cachar). So the SWT

were provided with the two cases filed in DLCCIW and also along with the records of the

year 2010 and up to the month of March, 2011.

Table 03: Cases of Domestic Violence against Women in DLCCIW.

TWO FILED CASES OF THE DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN THE YEAR, 2011

SL.

NO.

CASES FILED

NO.

DATE OF

CASE FILED

CRIMINAL

ACTIVITY

AGE OF AGE OF CASE

SUMMARY

RELATION

WITH

ACCUSED

PRESENT

STATE

ACCUSED COMPLAIN ACCUSED

01 Case 1 161/11 16-03-2011 Domestic

Violence

21 yrs. 31 yrs and

27yrs

respective

ly.

It was a Hindu

marriage

where the

duration of

their marriage

is one and half

year but still

complainant’s

husband used

to beat her

frequently and

also she used

to get

mentally

harassment

from her

sister-in-law in

the name of

disobedience.

One day her

husband tried

to kill her but

somehow she

manage to

save herself.

And then she

Husband

and

Sister-in-

law.

In charge of

the case filed.

came to know

that her

husband is

having a extra

marital affair.

Now she got

three months

pregnant. So

she went to

her father’s

house and

filed the case

against her

husband and

her sister-in-

law.

02 Case 2 152/11 07-02-2011 Domestic

Violence

22 yrs. 70 yrs and

28 yrs

respective

ly.

Complain

came from the

slum of Silchar

which is so

called Kalibari

Char and she

get married in

the town area

of Silchar.

They have a

five year son.

Her husband

used to go out

of the Silchar

town i.e., in

Meghalaya

and comes

after a couple

of months.

Whenever her

father-in-law

got chance, he

used to molest

her and also

have a bad eye

on her body

movements.

She tried to

protest but

Father-in-

law and

Sister-in-

law.

In a

compromise

situation..

she was

mentally and

physically

harassed by

her sister-in-

law. But her

father-in-law

keeps on

doing the

same and one

day when she

burst out in

front of her

sister-in-law

about her

father-in-law’s

act. She was

forced by the

two to leave

her house and

also they did

not allow her

to take her

son. Then she

came to her

father’s house

and filed the

case against

the two and as

a result, they

gave the son

back to her.

Table 04: Shows the Records of Domestic Violence against Women in Silchar Town, 2010-2011

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN IN DLCCIW, SILCHAR (CACHAR)

( 2010-2011)

SL.NO CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES 2010 2011

01 Domestic Violence 160 27

� SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: Juvenile Justice Board.

After getting the required information from the District Level Committee for Crimes

Involving Women, SWT step forward to the Juvenile Justice Board, (JJB) and interacted

with the Magistrate regarding the Criminal Activities in Silchar town, (Cachar). So the

SWT were provided with the two cases filed in JJB and also along with the records of the

year 2010 and up to the month of March, 2011.

Table 05: Cases of Children with Conflict with Law in Juvenile Justice Board.

TWO FILED CASES OF THE CHILDREN WITH CONFLICT WITH LAW, 2011

SL.

NO.

CASES FIR NO. DATE OF CASE

FILED

CRIMINAL

ACTIVITY

AGE OF AGE OF CASE SUMMARY PRESENT STATE

ACCUSED COMPLAIN ACCUSED

01 Case 1 43 C/11 18-03-2011 Heinous

offence

-

17 yrs. On the basis of specific

information to the effect

that Red sandal logs, each

one covered with clothes

weighing approximately

3/4th

tons secreted

beneath loads of bags of

fertilizer will be carried in

a truck. On 27-02-2011,

the driver of the vehicle

was asked by the Custom

Preventive Force to

disclose the contents in

the truck to which

contains fertilizers and

logs and it was on the

way to Mizoram.

Therefore, the vehicle

along with the goods and

the driver and two other

occupants were escorted

to the Custom Preventive

Force, Silchar by the army

officials.

He got released in

bail.

02 Case 2 736 G/11 11-03-2011 Burglary 28 yrs. 17 yrs. On 01-03-2011 at about

06 pm on the leadership

of and other were

trespassed in the house

He got released in

bail.

premises of conflict with

the accused and sharp

weapons and arrange the

unlawful assembly with a

view to attain on the

family members of

complainant and better

assault. According to the

accused persons were

assaulted to the

complainant’s father and

his brothers by the lathi

and sharp weapons as a

result complainant’s

father has got grievous

head injury and his family

members also received

injuries. The accused

person also throwing

stone on the house of

complainant and his

family members. Hence,

the case was registered

and investigated. The

accused is arrested to the

Judicial custody.

Table 06: Shows the Records of Children with Conflict with Law in Silchar Town, 2010-2011.

CHILDREN WITH CONFLICT WITH LAW IN JUVENILE JUSTICE BOARD,

SILCHAR CACHAR, ( 2010-2011)

2010 2011

RECEIVED DISPOSAL PENDING RECEIVED DISPOSAL PENDING

45 17 - 5 - 129

TOTAL 62 TOTAL 134

� SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: Silchar New Life Foundation.

After getting the required information from the DLCCIW, SWT visited the Silchar New

Life Foundation, (SNLF) and interacted with the Secretary cum Project Director

regarding the Alcoholism and Drug Addiction in Silchar town, (Cachar). So the SWT were

provided with the two cases filed in SNLF and also along with the records of the year

2010 and up to the month of March, 2011.

Table 03: Cases of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction in Silchar New Life foundation.

TWO CASES OF THE ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION, 2011

SL.

NO

CASES DATE

OF

CASE

FILED

CRIMINAL

ACTIVITY

AGE ADDICTION STARTED

IN THE

AGE

CASE

SUMMARY

PRESENT

STATE

01 CASE 1 18-02-

2011

Theft and

Burglary.

27

yrs.

Drugs. 20 yrs. At first he

started his

addiction

from taking

Alcohol

with his

friends and

then

gradually

taking it for

occasionally

for two and

a half years

and then

one of his

friend

Last one month

In the

Rehabilitation

Centre.

introduce

him with

the Drugs

so called

Heroin

where he

got

addicted to

that

chemical

and started

developing

dependency

on that

particular

choice of

chemical.

Then his

parents

admit him

in the

nearby Drug

Deaddiction

Centre but

he got

relapsed

and it

continues

till the

present

Centre i.e.,

five times in

the short

term

treatment.

02 CASE 2 18-02-

2011

Burglary. 30

yrs.

Alcohol. 29 yrs. At first he

started his

addiction

from an

open

challenge

which is

given by his

girl friend

by saying

that-“If you

Last one month

In the

Rehabilitation

Centre.

love me

than you

have to

drink the

full glass of

Alcohol in

one

minute”.

Then after

forcing him

for the sake

of his love

towards his

girl friend,

he drunk

the full

bottle. After

some days

some of his

friends

were

consuming

the Alcohol

and also

offered to

him but he

refused to

take it. One

day again

he was

offered by

the same

friends and

he had

taken a

little then

gradually

taking more

and they

consume it

till they felt

tired of

taking.

So from the

next day he

keeps on

meeting his

friends and

taking the

Alcohol as if

that was his

daily

routine.

When his

condition

became

severe, his

parents

sent him to

the Centre

which is his

first time

Centre.

Table 04: Shows the Records of Alcoholism and Drug Addiction in Silchar Town, 2010-2011.

� SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION: Kalibari Char, Slum.

After getting the required information from the different Judicial Agencies, Social Work

Trainee, SWT went to the Kalibari Char which is a slum to get the actual understanding

of the slum dwellers regarding the Urban Criminal Activities in Silchar town and also the

perceptions regarding the Silchar Police Forces working in the Silchar town.

ALCOHOLISM AND DRUG ADDICTION IN SILCHAR NEW LIFE FOUNDATION,

SILCHAR-CACHAR (2010-2011)

SL.NO. SOCIAL PROBLEMS 2010 2011

01 ALCOHOLISM 19 37

02 DRUG ADDICTION 11 20

TOTAL 30 57

So, SWT visited the “Kalibari Char” which is a Slum in Silchar town for getting the feedback from the

slum people regarding the Urban Criminal Activities and about the services or the performances of the

Silchar Police Stations in dealing with those Social Problems. This one day survey was conducted simply

to get the public’s opinion of the Silchar Police Force, SPF.

SWT tried their best in getting the attitudes of the public towards the SPF. This survey was an

attempt to examine the attitudes of the public towards the police in Silchar. The major findings of this

survey can be summarized as follows:

� Majority of the respondents felt very secure about their neighborhood like -

• Some said that they felt safe when they walked through their neighborhood at day time

and,

• Some said that they also feel the same while in the night time.

� Majority of the respondents had favorable perceptions of the SPF by saying that -

• They trusted the police,

• Some indicated that they liked the police and,

• Some said that they were not scared of the police at all.

� In terms of efficiency -

• Some respondents said that the police were extremely efficient and,

• Some described that the police forces are fairly efficient.

� In terms of friendliness -

• Some respondents felt that the police were extremely friendly,

• Some said that the police were fairly friendly,

• Some respondents described the police as rude, interfering, frightening or bullying,

• Some said that the police were extremely secretive and,

• Some felt that the police were fairly secretive.

� Regarding police performance -

• Majority of the respondents were satisfied or extremely satisfied with the way the

Silchar Police Force were performing their jobs in maintaining peace and order, in

traffic control, enforcing pedestrian crossing rules and in handling the crowd control in

the Silchar city whenever in need of.

So these are the above responses towards the Silchar Police Forces in controlling the crime rate in

Silchar town which is gathered by the Social Work Trainee from the Kalibari Char, Slum. From this

survey, we can understand that a place like slum is giving a positive response towards the police which is

hardly seen in a society and that we can say that yes, there is a hope in the reduction of the urban

criminal activities in Silchar town if the general people come together and joined their hands in the

mitigation of the crimes from our society and country at large.

SOCIAL WORK TRAINEE’S OBSERVATION IN

KALIBARI CHAR

CONCLUSION

So from this paper, where it lies the brief discussion about the crimes in the urban area, we came to

know that, “Crime” is a multidimensional, complex and a dynamic activity which not only affects an

individual but it also affects the mass as a whole.

Mainly the question of prevention of crime is discussed under two heads namely:

� Prevention Program - It is used to avoid the occurrence of crime and to mitigate the causes that

giving rise to crime.

� Treatment of correctional program -It is used to restore the person to a normal condition of

living after he has committed a crime.

If we take the example of our India we can see the multi storeyed building which is hiking in the sky of

the cities and down the line, we can also see the remote rural villages. India is a country of unique

efforts and that is where her beauty lies in the heart of the people.

What I’m trying to say here is that we possess the wealth of talent in our country that has been born

from a population of india. India is a wonderful dynamic and vibrant country that has managed to evolve

despite of all the linguistic, cultural and traditional restrictions. In fact, with the massive population who

calls themselves Indian. We have a rich cultural background, progressive thinkers and the intellectuals

to move it forward, the only thing we are missing is the faith that change is possible in every aspects of

our life.

We need to actively work on that how to bother the people into action by spreading the message and

encouraging everyone to participate against the crimes in India. India’s NGO workers and other welfare

agencies should not be the only one concerned about the betterment of the society in terms of rime

free society. Instead of that, we also need a collaborative effort that uses their talents and ideas of a

nation to make its everyone problem.

As said by a great scholar that, “Nothing is more frustrating than someone who writes an article

claiming to have all the answers but not intimately involved in any decision process”.

While I acknowledge that some issues are far more complex than I may understand. This paper, only

seeks to get the specific and the particular place oriented i.e., restricted in the Silchar town which could

not contribute to the formation of the true facts and ideas in the whole scenario of our Indian society.

So in conclusion, I could say that realistically, we must look at the peak situation of “Crime in India” and

work within it to create a positive difference in our society. The change must be internal and the most

important thing is that,

“India will change when people believe it will”.

REFERENCES

� SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN INDIA : Ram Ahuja, Second Edition, 2006, Rawat

Publications, printed at Nice Printing Press, New Delhi, Satyam Apts., Sector

3, Jawahar Nagar, Jaipur-302004 (India).

� SOCIOLOGY – Themes and Perspectives : M. Haralambos with R.M.Head,

Thirty-fifth impression, 2009, printed in India by Chaman Enterprise, Delhi-

110002, published by Oxford University Press, YMCA Library Building, Jai

Singh Road, New Delhi-110001.

� MANORAMA YEARBOOK 2011 : 46th

Year of Edition, printed and published

from Malayala Manorama Press, Kottayam-686011, by Mammen Mathew

on behalf of the Malayala Manorama Co. Ltd., Chief Editor- Mammen

Mathew, Mnaging Editor- Philip Mathew.

� INTERNET :

• www.HighBeam.com/Journal_Research

• www.indiastat.com

• www.go.worldbank.org/NLCX7C1VC0

� Other Institutions/Associations :

• Sadar Police Station, Silchar-Cachar (Assam).

• District Level Committee for Crimes Involving Women, Silchar- Cachar

(Assam).

• Juvenile Justice Board, Silchar-Cachar (Assam).

• Silchar New Life Foundation, Silchar-Cachar (Assam).

• Kalibari Char, Slum, Silchar-Cachar (Assam).