No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
Crime and Development: Some Observations on Women and Children in India
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2025
Abstract
The arrest frequencies and distributions for nine serious crimes reported in official statistics in the United States and India are analyzed to assess how economic development may be associated with various factors that are believed to directly influence rates of criminality and criminalization. Compared to Americans, the arrest proportions of women and juveniles in India are extremely low. In addition, Indian women differ substantially from American women in terms of the distribution of arrests accross the nine offenses while the arrest patterns of juveniles were quite similar. It is argued that these differences in arrest proportions and patterns reflect actual differences in behavior and societal (official) reaction to the criminality of women and juveniles in the two countries. In this regard, the arrest frequencies of women and juveniles in India are low because they have comparatively fewer opportunities or reasons to deviate and, even if they do, their behavior is likely to be treated in an informal, unofficial manner. To the extent that these socio-interactional dimensions are related to a country's level of economic development, variations in crime rates across societies ultimately may be explained by the influence of economic forms and levels of development.
Crime et developpement : quelques observations sur les femmes et les enf ants en inde
La fréquence et la répartition des arrestations pour 9 types de crimes graves répertoriés dans les statistiques officielles des États Unis et de l'Inde, sont analysées ici afin d‘évaluer de quelle manière le développement économique peut être associé aux différents facteurs considérés comme influançant directement les taux de criminalité et de dangerosité. Comparée aux données Américaines la proportion d'arrestations de femmes et de mineurs en Inde est extrêmement basse. En fait, les femmes Indiennes diffèrent substanciellement des femmes Américaines en ce qui concerne la répartition des arrestations entre les 9 types de délits étudiés, alors que le schéma d'arrestations de mineurs est pratiquement identique. Il a été avancé que ces différences entre la proportion et la répartition n‘étaient que le reflet des différences de comportement et de réaction sociale au crime des femmes et des mineurs existant actuellement entre ces deux pays. Dans cette optique on peut dire que la fréquence des arrestations de femmes et de mineurs en Inde est inférieure car, comparativement avec les États Unis, ils ont moins d'opportunité ou de raison de sombrer dans la déviance, et s'ils le font, leur comportement est traité de manière informelle et officieuse. Dans la mesure où ces considérations sociales et interractionnistes se retrouvent au niveau du développement économique du pays, les variations des taux de criminalité à travers les sociétés peuvent être finalement expliquées par l'influence des formes économiques et des stades de développement.
Information
- Type
- Research Article
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © 1986 International Society for Criminology
Footnotes
(1)
My thanks to S. Priyadarsini for ther comments on this paper.
References
REFERENCES
ADLER, Freda, (1981) The Incidence of Female Criminality in the Contemporary World (New York: New York University Press, 1981).Google Scholar
ADLER, Freda, (1983) Nations Note Obsessed With Crime (Littleton, Colorado, 1983). ADLER, Freda & Simon, Rita James (eds.) (1979), The Criminality of Deviant Women (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1979).Google Scholar
ADLER, Christine (1984), “Gender Bias in Juvenile Diversion”, Crime & Delinquency 30 # 3: 400414.Google Scholar
AUSTIN, Roy L. (1982), “Women's Liberation and Increases in Minor, Major, and Occupational Offenses”, Criminology 20 # 34: 407430.Google Scholar
BLACK, Donald (1980) The Manners and Customs of the Police (New York: Academic Press).Google Scholar
BOWKER, Lee H. (1981), 'The Institutional Determinants of International Female Crime“, International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 5 #1: 41–50.Google Scholar
BUREAU OF POLICE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT (1977), Crime in India, 1974 (New Delhi: Ministry of Home Affairs).Google Scholar
CENTRAL STATISTICAL ORGANIZATION (1980), Statistical Abstracts, India 1979 (New Delhi: Ministry of Planning).Google Scholar
CURRAN, Debra A. (1983),:: Judicial Discretion and Defendant's Sex“, Criminology 21 #1:41–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
CURRAN, Daniel J. (1984), “The Myth of the ‘New’ Female Delinquent”, Crime & Delinquency 30 #3: 386–339.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
EMPEY, LaMar T. (ed.) (1979), The Future of Childhood and Juvenile Justice (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia).Google Scholar
EMPEY, LaMar T. (1982), Amerivan Delinquency: Its Meaning and Construction (Homewood, Ill.: Dorsey Press).Google Scholar
FRIDAY, Paul C. (1980), “International Review of Youth Crime and Delinquency”, in Newman, Graeme R. (ed.) Crime and Deviance: A Comparative Perspective, pp., 100–129 (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage)Google Scholar
FRIDAY, Paul C. & Hage, Jerald (1976), “Youth Crime in Postindustrial Societies: An Integrated Perspective”, Criminology 14: 347–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
GOLDSTEIN, Rhoda (1972), Indian Women in Transition: A Bangalore Case Study (Metuchen, N. J.: The Scarecrow Press).Google Scholar
GREENBERG, David F. (1978), “Delinquency and the Age Structure of Society”, in Wickman, Peter and Whitten, Phillip (eds.) Readings in Criminology, pp., 66–86 (Lexington, Mass.: D.C. Heath).Google Scholar
HARTJEN, Clayton A. & Priyadarsini, S. (1984), Delinquency in India: A Comparative Analysis (New Brunswick, N.J.: Rutgers University Press)Google Scholar
HARTNAGEL, Timothy F. (1982), “Modernization, Female Social Roles, and Female Crime: A Cross-National Investigation”, The Sociological Quarterly 23:477490.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
HILL, Gary D. & Harris, Anthony R. (1981), “Changes in the Gender Patterning of Crime, 1953-77: Opportunity vs. Identity”, Social Science Quarterly 62 # 4: 658–671.Google Scholar
KLEIN, Dorie & Kress, June (1976), “Any Woman's Blues: A Critical Overview of Women, Crime and the Criminal Justice System) Crime and Social Justice 5: 34–46.Google Scholar
MARSHALL, Ineke Haen (1982) “Women Work and Crime: An International Test of the Emancipation Hypothesis International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice 6 #1: 25–38.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
MARSHALL, Ineke Haen (1983) “The Women's Movement and Female Criminality in the Netherlands”, in BaraK-Glantz, Israel L. & Johnson, Elmer H. (eds.) Comparative Criminology, pp., 87–102 (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage).Google Scholar
NEWMAN, Graeme R. (ed.) (1980), Crime and Deviance: A Comparative Perspective (Beverly Hills, Calif.: Sage).Google Scholar
PHILLIPS, Dretha M. & DeFleur, Lois B. (1982), “Gender Ascription and the Stereotyping of Deviants”, Criminology 20 #34: 431–448.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SCHWARTZ, Ira M., Jackson-Beeck, Marilyn, & Anderson, Roger (1984), “The ‘Hidden’ System of Juvenile Control”, Crime & Delinquency 30 #3:371–385.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
SHELLEY, Louise E. (1981), Crime and Modernization: The Impact of Industrialisation and Urbanisation on Crime (Carbonéale & Edwardsville, Ill.: Southern Illinois University Press).Google Scholar
TOBY, Jackson (1963), “The Prospects of Reducing Delinquency Rates in Industria Societies”, Federal Probation 27: 23–25.Google Scholar
VISHER, Christy A. (1983) “Gender, Police Arrest Decisions, and Notions of Chivalry”, Criminology 21 #1: 5–28.CrossRefGoogle Scholar