The concept of crime is closely related to social policy of
a given time. With changes in ideologies or values, the concept of crime also
changes. What is crime today may become a permissible conduct tomorrow and vice
versa. For example, abortion which was considered to be heinous crime because
of the immorality involved in it is no longer an offence after the enactment of
law legalising abortion.
It is for this reason that the criminal law has often been
considered as a barometer to gauge the moral turpitude of the society at a
given time. In other words, the social standards of the society can easily be
judged by studying the criminal policy adopted by it. The legislative measure
to legalise abortion in certain cases sufficiently reflect the changing concept
of morality in Indian society. More recently, the stringent anti-dowry laws
enacted to. prevent the incidence of 'dowry-deaths and bride-burning, and
deterrent legislation against the practice of sati providing for death
sentence, etc.,clearly indicates that the society is no longer going to
tolerate atrocities against women and wants to assure them a dignified place in
the community.
Further: crime is a relative term. That is to say, what is
wrongful (crime) at one place may not be so at another place. Thus, adultery is
a criminal offence in India whereas in England it is merely a civil wrong redressible
by payment of compensation. This example further reflects that the concept of
crime depends largely on the social values, accepted norms and behavioural
patterns of a particular society at a given time.
There has been a considerable increase in crime rate in
recent decades. This can be attributed to the changes in social values brought
about by the modernisation and industrialization of the present society. In a
society, as competitive as today's, one is often compelled to go for 'unfair
means' to raise one's status in the society. That is why "white-collar
crimes" have become prominent in recent times. With economic growth, our
thrust for wealth and other luxuries of life has increased beyond limits which
cannot be satisfied with the available resources. The incidence of crime in
western countries is far greater than that of India perhaps, because of the
variance of social conditions in these countries. The factors such as greater
control of family over the children and respect for morality and religion,
etc., have acted as effective restraints to reduce the incidence of crime in
India. This leads us to the conclusion that criminal law is an index of
socio-economic progress of the society. Modem criminologists even consider
increase in crime as a symptom of social progress.
Courtesy:-
Legal Point Foundation
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