Criminology Penology And Victimology
Fleur Francour
The present eighth edition of the immensely popular and authoritative work, Ahmad Siddique's Criminology, Penology and Victimology, has been thoroughly revised and updated in light of the latest developments in the subject.
In this eighth edition, the author has meticulously revised and updated every facet of the book to ensure that it remains a reliable guide through the intricate web of criminological studies. The aim has been to integrate the latest developments in the field, emphasizing the importance of evidence-based policymaking and its impact on the study of criminology.
The author has discussed crime in the Indian context with explanation of crime from individualistic to environmental approach. Problems like organised crime, white collar crime, sex offences, drug abuse, female criminality, etc. have been exhaustively dealt with. The penology issues like prison reforms, probation and juvenile justice have also been discussed. The subject of victimology has been updated in light of global changes in this area. The work examines the police and the legal set-up.
Penology is a multi-disciplinary subject that aims for the study and evaluation of the application of penal laws onto the wrongdoers. It broadly explains the justification, characteristics, and effectiveness of punishment in its various forms. In other words, it is a systematic study of different facets of punishment and its impact on crimes, criminals, and society. As a matter of fact, penology owes its origin to Cesare Beccaria, the classical school of criminology. This Italian criminologist argued that justification of punishment must be to deter potential criminals, and not merely to punish the offender. Later, it was during the end of the 19th century that different theories of punishment were propounded focusing on the aims and objectives of the punishment.
The scope of penology is vast and hence it becomes difficult to define the same. Penology is almost seen in every aspect and type of punishment for the crimes and offences. To limit the scope we have to study basically all the aspects of penology, where all the things are explained in their wider senses.
Modern penologists lay greater emphasis on the rationalism of punishment. The penal policy should be more reformation oriented rather than coercive penal sanctions. As Lewis Gillin (1871-1958) rightly observed:
It must retreat that criminology is one of the branches of criminal science which is concerned with the social study of crimes and criminal behaviour. It aims at discovering the causes of crimes and effective measures to combat it
The primary concern of victimology is to seek justice for victims of crime who are faced with multiple problems. It deals with the rights and claims of victims of crime and their dependents. The focus is on mitigating the sufferings of crime victims and providing them with compensatory and other reliefs.
The policies which are postulated by these three branches i.e., criminology, penology, and victimology are implemented through the agency of criminal law. Broadly, all these taken together constitute the subject-matter of criminal science.
The administrative personnel employed for custodial functions in prisons ought to be capable persons conscientious of their responsibility to the society. They must be well-educated and imparted entry-level training before taking the job. Services old psychologists, social workers, and media persons should be availed for assisting the prison authorities in carrying out their correctional programmers. Prison guards and jail supervisors owe a special duty to keep the inmates under control and special vigil on prisoners who have no loyalty to the prison.
Individualization of prisoners should be the object of privatization and the effectiveness of rehabilitative techniques is essentially dependent on relaxing the custodial and disciplinary conditions keeping in view the personality needs of each inmate. The services of therapeutic specialists may be used for scientific corrective treatment of inmates in prison. The prison environment should be corrective rather than punitive.
It aims at ascertaining as objectively as possible, the adequacy of existing penal policies and methods and suggests measures for improving the system. Thus, it makes a critical analysis of penal measures and offers solutions for the efficient administration of penal justice.
The basic principle underlying the modern penology is that the sentences awarded ought to be proportionate to the gravity of the offence. In operating the sentencing system, the law should adopt the corrective machinery or deterrence based on the factual matrix of the case. The nature of the crime, the manner in which it was planned and committed, the motive of the commission of a crime, the conduct of the accused, the nature of the weapons used, and all other attending circumstances are relevant facts which should be taken into consideration before sentencing the accused. The court must not keep in view the rights of the victim to the crime but also the society at large while considering this imposition of an appropriate sentence. Awarding inadequate sentences out of uncalled for sympathy for the accused would do more harm to the justice system and undermine the public confidence in the efficacy of the penal system.[5]
Despite the fact that traditional methods of deterrent and retributive justice have fallen into disuse and they are now substituted by modern reformatory measures, it must be stated that excessive reformation is likely to defeat the very object of penology. If the difference between life inside and outside prison is narrowed down beyond a certain limit, it is bound to culminate into catastrophic results. The element of deterrence is as necessary for any penal program as reformation; otherwise, the very purpose of punishment will be defeated. It must be realized that the ultimate control and prevention of crime depends on the proper utilization of criminological knowledge to the needs of society.
This accounts for the emerging importance of applied criminology in recent years. The focus of attention should therefore not only be the offender or his criminal act but the interest of society in general and the rights of the victim, in particular, which must be protected at all costs. It is only then that the real objective of penology would be accomplished. A balanced penal program justifying deterrence when it is absolutely necessary and reformation as a general model of treatment of offenders would perhaps be the best policy to achieve the desired ends of criminal justice administration.
Justice must be prompt, stern, and summary inspiring a wholesome fear in the criminal. It must not be forgotten that the protection of society against crime and criminals is far more important than the personal gain of the individual offender in committing a particular crime. Therefore, it is the offender who must suffer in the larger interests of the community. Then only the real ends of penal justice can be accomplished. It must be remembered that punishment presupposes an offence and the measure of punishment must not be lesser than the offender deserves. It must be recognized that there is a strong and wide-spread demand for retribution in the sense of reprobation.
The active participation of the people in the implementation of the correctional penal program may be helpful in exercising effective control and supervision over the offenders. Since the criminal is the product of the community is for the community to devise ways and means to solve this problem. The Nyaya Panchayat system representing community justice may perhaps play a significant role in this sphere. The Lok Adalats which are meant for quick and cheap justice may also go a long way in accomplishing the objective of social justice.[7] The statutory recognition given to Lok Adalats by the Legal Services Authorities (Amendment) Act, 2002 is indeed a progressive step in this direction.
Above all the impact of information technology and its widening dimensions have to be recognized by the legal fraternity, particularly those who are concerned with the administration of criminal justice. The courts, advocates, academicians, law teachers, and even the litigants have to acquaint themselves with the use of the developed and developing tools and technologies to meet the demands thrown up by numerous statutes and litigation explosions.
According to the modern view, lawbreakers can be deterred by harsh penalties as a cost of breaking the law. It has been generally observed that developing countries like India focus more on penalties rather than their effective implementation. The weak implementation of laws and harsh punishments lead to a culture of public and private violence, lawlessness and impunity, as can be observed in India today.
The laws relating to social policies such as Article 377 on homosexuality or beef bans and prohibition laws, which are gaining popularity all over the country are accompanied by over-strict penalties. Even in non-prohibition states like Delhi, the possession of a few cases of beer, or a collection of more than nine bottles of single-malt whiskey, could land one to a jail term of three years. Added to the list in upholding criminal defamation under section 400/500 IPC. Defamation is essentially a civil wrong that was criminalized during the British period when duels aimed at defending honour and reputation posed a threat to public order. The need of the hour is that India should improve the delivery of speedy justice in civil defamation cases, instead of retaining criminal defamation.
[9] The cases of the former prime minister, Shri Narsimha Rao; former Chief Minister of Maharashtra, Shri A.R. Antulay; Bihar supremo, Lallo Prasad Yadav; Jharkhand Leader, Shri Sibu Soren; sitting M.P. from Bihar, Shri Rajesh Ranjan alias Pappu Yadav; Tantrik Chandraswamy, etc. are only a few illustrations to support this contention.
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