The possible causes of increasing crime in our society are enumerated as under

The possible causes of increasing crime in our society are enumerated as under 

Crime: “An act committed or omitted in violation of a law forbidding or commanding it and for which punishment is imposed upon conviction”

“Society prepares the crime; the criminal commits it” - Henry Thomas Buckle

By the twenty-first century criminologists looked to a wide range of factors to explain why a person would commit crimes. There are certain factors in our societies, cultures (family values), system (educational, political, law-enforcement...), economy, and so on that endorse the potential of criminal activities of an individual. Usually a combination of these factors is behind a person who commits a crime.

The possible causes of increasing crime in our society are enumerated as under:

1 .Economic disputes

Economic disputes over the distribution of land and property etc. are mostly the causes of crimes.

2. Family and Marriage

The disputes in the family and marriage institutions in the shape of divorce and separation etc. Result in serious types of crimes in both rural and urban areas.

3. Illiteracy and Ignorance:

Mass illiteracy and ignorance of the people is the major cause of large number of crimes. The number of most of the murders and other petty crimes can be decreased through spread of education in the country.

4. Factions and Feuds:

Old factions and feuds keep the inhabitants of different localities divided into different groups these inter-group oppositions and conflicts result in many serious types of crimes like murders, thefts, decoities and elopements etc.

5. Imposed Leadership:

Imposed leadership both in rural and urban areas is the root of different minor and major types of crimes in the country. Big landlords and businessmen in their specific areas try to maintain their false prestige or imposed leadership by hook or by crook, which leads to different types of deviants in society.

6. Lack of Means of Communication and Transportation:

There are certain geographical areas which are not approachable to police and law agencies due to lack of different means of communication and transportation and thus such areas become rampart of crimes and other anti-social activities.

7. Poverty:

Poverty is the major factor responsible for criminal behavior. When the economic position of an individual is not sound and satisfactory he develops hatred against the other prosperous members of society.

8. Emotional Disturbance:

There are certain types of crimes, which mostly do not occur under normal circumstances and are, generally, done not pre-planned. For instance, rape and murder mostly occur due to the emotional disturbance of an individual which otherwise seem to be impossible.

9. Lack of Religious control:

The force of religion is losing its hold over the masses, which is increasing the rate of crime in the country. Fear of GOD and thorough understanding of religion serve a strong force of social control over the masses.

10. Un-Employment:

Un-Employment and Under-Employment of a large section of population result in increasing the crime rate. This appears valid for the youngsters in particular.

11: Educational System

Unfortunately present day educational system is very defective. The system of education does not lay stress on morality and character, which are effective forces for checking crimes.

12: Political Set up

Our political set up also encourages crimes in our modern times government machineries are slow and inefficient with the result that this becomes premium on the illegal activities of the criminals.

13: legal system:

Our legal system too is very complex and complicated and the criminals are confident that they can escape free and involve some innocent persons in it. They know that by their illegally earned wealth they can purchase as well as mound the course of law.

14: Industrialization

It has been said that crime is the price, which we pay for industrialization. Due to industrialization many industrial towns develop in which there is no proper residential accommodation particularly for low paid laborers. They are forced to live together in small rooms. Their privacy is lost and rate of sex crimes increases.

15: Urbanization

Atmosphere in the cities is quite different than what it is in the villages. These new migrated people suddenly find absence of social control and feel tempted to violate established laws.

16: Change in Values

Today we are more materialists and rational as well as individualists. Collectivism and blind faith is being replaced by new ideas. Due to these changes, social values have also together changed and restrictions considerably reduced. This has resulted in committing many crimes.

17: Poor judgment

Lack of proper education and great role-models causes many to fail to distinguish right from wrong. In most cases offenders don't think they are doing something wrong, it seems right from their point of view.

19: Deprived neighborhoods

Economically impoverished neighborhoods breed criminal minds

20: TV violence

21: Poor parenting skills

Erratic or harsh discipline, lack of parental control, supervision and monitoring, parental conflict,
family dysfunction/breakdown, criminal, anti-social and/or alcoholic parent/s

21: Fraudulent Supreme Court rulings

22: Poor parenting skills

Children who are neglected or abused are more likely to commit crimes later in life than others. Similarly, sexual abuse in childhood often leads these victims to become sexual predators as adults.

23: Fatherlessness is also one of underestimated cause of crime

24: Drugs and alcohol

The urge to commit crime to support a drug habit definitely influences the decision process.

25: Income and education

Many prisoners could not read or write above elementary school levels, if at all. The most common crimes committed by these inmates were robbery, burglary, automobile theft, drug trafficking, and shoplifting. Because of their poor educational backgrounds, their employment histories consisted of mostly low wage jobs with frequent periods of unemployment.

26: Easy access

Another factor many criminologists consider key to making a life of crime easier is the availability of handguns in society. Many firearms used in crimes are stolen or purchased illegally (bought on what is called the "black market").

"Government is an example to the people."

To clean up crime, then, we must first clean up government.

History offers examples which support this study:

Before his presidency, Teddy Roosevelt served a time as police commissioner in New York City. He found the department seriously corrupt and cleaned it up. Street crime dropped!

Characteristics of Crime

Ideally, a human behavior cannot be called as a crime, unless at least seven characteristics of crime are present which are as under:

1.      Harm should have been caused, mere intention is not enough.

2.      The harm must be legally forbidden. Anti-social behavior is not crime unless prohibited by law.

3.      There must be conduct which brings harmful results.

4.      Men’s rea or criminal intent must be present.

5.      There must be a fusion or concurrence of men’s rea and conduct.

6.      The harm caused must be natural consequences of the voluntary act.

7.      There must be legally prescribed punishment.