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Why young criminals commit major crimes
Published on Tue, Nov 18, 2008 at 23:09 in Health section
Tags: Abuse, Criminal Behaviour , New Delhi
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New Delhi: Cases of neglect and harassment are increasingly scarring youngsters but nobody's willing to acknowledge depression or adjustmental problems. Meanwhile, cases of abuse resulting in delinquency are on the rise.
A former beauty queen from UP’s Meerut town confessed to killing her parents on Thursday.
"Yes, I killed them, but not intentionally. I didn't plan to kill them," Priyanka said.
It sounds like an unthinkable crime, but a history of child abuse had a pivotal role to play in this criminal act, combined with the constant trauma of being a girl child and growing up with a feeling of rejection.
Was this double murder waiting to happen?
"Any kind of violence or abuse has a very deep impact on children and one of the things that it does is basically break down a sense of well being," says Psychiatrist, Dr Arpita Anand.
Experts call this a "victim-turns-culprit-phenomenon".
A NIMHANS study done in 2006 found that in more than 46 per cent of cases, respondents mentally or physically abused over years turn criminals.
A UNICEF study points to a deeper societal issue. More than 49 per cent of girls in the country - that is practically one in two girls surveyed - wished they were boys. And that too, because they were constantly being picked on by family members.
According to the UNICEF study, 70 per cent adolescents in the country report physical abuse and half of these turn to criminal behaviour.
A gruesome case like the Meerut double murder sounds alarm bells not just for the police, but for psychiatrists, and social workers as well. Exposure to violence in films, violent video games and even on TV also serves to reinforce an increasingly skewed attitude towards crime - almost normalising the use of violent means.
"Although it's an extremely tragic case, I suspect it is the tip of the iceberg and I am sure lots of children, particularly young girls who find themselves in this position of being marginalised, deprived and being abused in every which way will fall prey to this," says Dr Amit Sen.
There is an urgent need for introspection by soceity as a whole, but it won't happen if parents, and families don't start addressing serious issues like abuse, especially within their own homes.
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