The economics of crime

Our heart fills with joy upon hearing the news of 'Tigers' winning in the game of cricket, or the country elevating itself to middle-income status, but it aches upon seeing  the newspaper headlines that  carry series of harrowing and gruesome tales unheard-of a few decades ago. The unborn baby sustained bullet hit when her eight-month pregnant mother was shot in the abdomen by some political activist; Rajon, a 13 year old boy, was beaten to death in broad daylight; 12 year old Rakib was tortured to death by two men who inserted high pressure air pump nozzle into his rectum; 10year old Rabiul was beaten to death for stealing fish; Garo girl gang-raped on moving microbus in Dhaka streets, Bangla New year's incident at the Dhaka university etc. These unfortunate incidents underscore the urgency for us to introspect at the erosion of values and to devise effective measures for the safety and security of our women and children. We must identify the causes of moral decline in our society.  The recent increase in cases of brutal assault on women and children has forced us to rethink-- are we really progressing or retreating into the murky, cavernous depths of the middle ages?
In the recent years, increasing research is going on to trace the strong links between economic factors and crime. Crime is rooted in concrete social and economic conditions-- in deprivation, joblessness, discrimination, poverty and social marginality. There is a relationship between joblessness and crime. Crime is the inevitable byproduct of inequality and injustice of existing social and economic system.  Crime, in the most fundamental sense, is the product of desperation rooted in a system that consigns millions of citizens to poverty, forces them to live in decaying environments, and leaves them to believe that the future will be merely a repetition of the past, and so there will be no ground for hope. Criminal behaviour multiplies when the nation itself is incapable of providing for the well-being of its citizens. The reality of the social and economic basis of crime in Bangladesh is most obvious as it affects poor and marginalised people who have been the most victimised by unemployment and discrimination. Under such circumstances, the most vulnerable individuals often embrace the view that anything ensuring their survival, whether it s a petty crime, selling drugs or violence is more desirable than giving in or giving up. When survival is at stake, it should not be surprising that criminal activity comes to be viewed by the offender as an opportunity rather than a cost, normal behavior than a deviance.
It seems that we have created a society in which materialism overwhelms moral commitment and from the highest level to the lowest we suffer from a complex. We are a people who often feel proud for all the wrong reasons. We live in a country where the people see nothing wrong in children being hurled abuses or smacked by grown men on the streets. We turn a blind eye seeing children pulling carts and chipping bricks.  It is common knowledge that individuals in custody often are put through terrifying torture to extract information or for extortion. Torture is a common practice in our society and often those holding positions of some power are involved in inflicting it.
This only reinforces the idea that inflicting physical pain on a person, even a child, to teach him/her a lesson, is acceptable. For many, incidents of child abuse, rape, sexual assault and harassment on the streets, public gatherings and educational institutions are considered minor crimes though these are all punishable by law. And as such, each of such brutal crimes initially triggers much outcry and becomes a sensational headline for the media, but eventually gets buried, lost to oblivion.
Our society is now in the process of gradual disintegration into a fragmented, greed-oriented, selfish entity. This erosion in social and moral values makes our society less humane and we become poorer in social capital. We must understand that humans are a product of their environment and value system. It is the value system that shapes the perceptions and beliefs of the people. Therefore, a society with a strong value system will experience desired development spurred by the deeds and acts of disciplined groups of people. A society with a weak value system will experience chaos and underdevelopment.
Lately, our politics has been characterised by conflicts and corruption.  There are demonstrations and strikes, brutalities and other hideous acts that affect thousands every day. Many psychologists are of the view that people who are exposed to violence and destruction in their early ages, or those who live in a society where the media is filled with the images of violence and the 'messages' of doom and destruction, are sure to undergo long-term adverse effects. Seeing the gory images of violence, blood and arson day after day, people may show signs of excessive anxiety and panic which will disrupt their natural mental development and behaviour.
In today's society, the connection between greed and wealth is ever present. Our society values money, and is least bothered whether it was acquired legally or illegally. This causes the degradation of moral values prompting individuals to continue acquiring more and more wealth and to use wealth as a shield against their misdeeds. Amassing fortune through smuggling, tender manipulation, drug trade, shady land and sand business or by extorting money from transport sector and other businesses is common practice these days. The correlation between greed and money manifests how money leads to an increase of self-centredness and personal gain at the cost of snuffing the core social fabric of togetherness and collective social welfare.
Wealth is often linked to moral corruption, when people possess a great amount of wealth, some of them feel a sense of superiority and believe that their money can protect their irresponsible acts. This is amply proven in behavioural studies. Last April, when an MP's son irritated by street traffic at night fired fatal shots 'under the influence of drugs' killing two people in the capital, he must have thought that his family influence and wealth would exempt him from the responsibility of his action.
There are many laws in Bangladesh to prevent the growing trend of violence against children and women, but implementation of these is not satisfactory. There are innumerable instances of perpetrators being brought to trial for justice, but many of these criminals go off the hook because of loop holes in the judicial system. The rise of child abuse, killing, rape and sexual harassment is a reflection of the existing culture of impunity and a breakdown of the rule of law in the country. The onus is on the state to take the responsibility of ensuring and protecting the lives and rights of the citizens and restore their confidence in the rule of law.
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