GOPALDAS JHAMATMAL ADVANI LAW COLLEGE

BANDRA (W), MUMBAI–400050

ASSIGNMENT

Criminology -Recidivism

SUBMITTED BY: Manali Nagendra Jain

S.Y.LL.B ACADEMIC YEAR: 2020–2021

DIVISION: A

ROLL NO: 59

SUBJECT: Criminology

SEMESTER: IV

SUMBITTED TO: Mrs Ann Chako

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Introduction
Recidivism is a concept of criminology that may be simply defined as the tendency or habit of
reverting to a particular kind of behavior.
Recidivism has bothered various criminologist since ages
and is considered to be one of the most serious problem of
criminology.

The ever-increasing recidivism is undoubtedly the crucial

problem for penologist in the control of crime and
rehabilitation of offenders. Recidivism is also at the same
time one of the basic concepts in criminal justice.
Recidivists or repeat offenders are considerable challenge
to the criminal justice administration as recidivism is often
seen as a failure of the correctional justice. Recidivism is directly related to many core criminal
justice issues.

Recidivist is a person who falls back into his prior criminal habits and is generally
perceived as a habitual-offenders. For example, a petty thief who is released from jail
promptly steals something else the first day.

National crime records bureau of India defines recidivism as the tendency of relapsing into
crimes by criminals. Accordingly, Recidivist is a person who relapse into crime again and
again. After having been convicted on previous incidence. It is important to study recidivism
to measure a person's re-arrest, reconviction or resentencing during a period of three years after
the end of previous sentence and release from prison.

Object
The object of my assignment is to study the psychology of the recidivist. How they tend to
become a recidivist? Its causes and ways to prevent it.

Recidivism in India
Recidivism has grown into a very serious issue in different countries all over the world
considering that overall rate of crime increases with time corresponding increase in the rate of
Recidivism shall affect such countries adversely unless systematic measures are taken. A
Recidivism rate in India is much lower as compared to other countries. Though, the reality is
that the current conviction rate is 46.8% based only on the case registered. But merely 3%
according to the 2019 report by the NCRB. So there is nothing to worry much about it.

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Recidivism according to various criminologists
In order to understand the psychology some criminologists have given their views on the
Recidivism. Following are some of the criminologists below.

Dr. Sutherland
Dr. Sutherland in his study stated that men who have more dominating nature are more likely
to exhibit recidivistic characteristics than women. He has pointed out 2 major factors

 Social psychology of such offenders and

 Inadequacy of reformative techniques.
There are certain physical and psychological factors contribute to recidivism. The released
offender feels that the society will not trust him nor accept him. Such suspicion on offender
will never allow him to reform. Though judicial system does not realize that reformation. case
of alcohols and drug addicts are more difficult comparatively. Dr. Sutherland states that
poverty, financial crunch or failure to satisfy addicts are more tempt to commit crime. In India
normally Recidivist are corrected. However, there is also a need to bring positive change in the
environment and surroundings that influence such habit.

Roshia Bob
Roshia Bob (1989) suggested that recidivists can be reformed and rehabilitated by nurturing
them with care, affection, security and self-conscious that may encourage them to disassociate
themselves from the criminal world and reintegrate with the mainstream of the society. Crimes
are not committed in isolation they are results of a combination of serval social economic and
financial factors.

Prof. Paranjape.
As per Prof. Paranjape, Recidivist are seen to be lacking the following 4 elements that are
generally found in the law-abiding citizen:

 lack of attachment with the family and community

 want of sense of responsibility and commitments.
 Disregard for morality and social values and
 Absence of beliefs that forbid delinquency.
Generally, a woman involved in prostitution are found to be more Recidivistic while men who
are found guilty of drug peddling, car thefts etc. are more likely to repeat their offence.
However, cases of rape, embezzlement and assaults are not so readily repeated by the offenders.

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Prof. Mathew
As per the findings of Prof. Mathew correctional education came from the belief that criminals
lack the academic, vocational and social skills needed to be successful in society. Since they
lack these skills, they are more inclined towards criminal activities for their survival. Therefore,
vocational and educational support is essential to reduce recidivism.

Sir Robert Mark

According to sir Robert Mark, permanent and determined criminals do not regard the present
criminal justice system as sufficiently deterrent. They are aware of the limitations which are
made by the police and the system of criminal justice and find crime to he highly profitable
and rewarding. In the India professional criminals do get the protection of resourceful patrons
and get the advantage of slow-moving criminal justice system. The need of time therefore is to
realize that cure for crime lies not only in speedy criminal justice but in certainty of punishment
rather than its severity.

Penologist have also expressed divergent views about the co-relationship between intelligence
and recidivism. Goring, the noted penologist in his study on Recidivist concluded that with
increasing degree of recidivism there is a small but regular regression in the mean intelligence
of convicts.

Adolph Prins
According to Adolph Prins recidivism is "mechanical appointment of the punishment to guilt
usually results into short terms of imprisonment and multitude of minor punishments means
the incessant coming and going of habitual delinquents, it means that prison becomes a hostelry
that the prisoners go free in good time and remains in a state of war against the society.

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Categorization of criminals and recidivists

G.B Vold had categorized criminals into 4 major categories.

 Psychological distributed criminal who commits because of their mental disorder or

emotional instability. Such personalities need to be treated in mental hospital and not
in prison. According to G.B Vold most of the criminals belongs to this category.

 Criminals who are relatively unskilled or less educated possess low level of ability.
Such offenders are psychologically normal persons in the society but they suffer from
inferiority and complex society. Ultimately, they end up doing crime. The appropriate
remedy for such offenders is to develop self-sufficiency, honesty and competitive
ability in them. 40% of the total population of criminals are covered under this category.

 the 3rd category of criminals comprises persons who are psychologically normal and
possess proper knowledge also but their identification with law violators makes them
criminals. Thus, persons who indulge in communal activities of political rivalry are
often included in this category of criminals. In such cases neither imprison nor
reformation works.

 The 4th category of criminals consists of hardened criminals who are professionals in
crimes and have embraced criminality as a regular way of life. Such type of criminals
are quite often organize themselves into regular group associations and syndicates and
usually carry on their activities in a well-planned and organized manner. Apparently in
such types of criminals there are less chances of rehabilitation. The organized gang of
drug traffickers belongs to such type of category.

Modern correctional method have also classified criminals into different categories. They
are as follows-

 Innocent convicts
 Insane criminals
 Criminals by accident
 Occasional criminals
 Habitual offenders
 White collar criminals

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1 This classification rests on the responsibility of the criminal to his act. For example, innocent
convicts are those who are convicted and imprisoned due to erroneous or misguided judgement
of the law court. They are therefore innocent persons who are wrongly sentenced or convicted.
Obviously, such persons should be dealt with leniency because by nature they prefer to avoid
the company of recidivist and hardened criminals.

2 The insane criminals, on the other hand, commit crime due to certain mental disorder and are
considered irresponsible to their crime. They are therefore, suited to clinical methods of
treatment rather than penal one. Normally such type of criminals do not recidivist.

3 Criminals by accident are also called situational criminals. They are not habitual or
professional criminals but they lend into criminality by chance. Their crime is never
premeditated but is the result of momentary impulsiveness or soothing opportunity in which
the offender finds himself placed incidentally. This is often true with many of the sex offenders.
There are no recidivistic trends among such criminals.

4 The crimes committed by occasional criminals are often well planned and pre-meditated but
these criminals do not accept criminality as a profession. The treatment of such occasional
offenders should depend upon their psychological and psychiatric condition. These offenders
are most likely to turn recidivists if not properly handled. They should be therefore treated
cautiously.
5 A habitual offender or a person habitually addicted to crime is one who is a criminal by habit
or by disposition formed by repetition of crimes. These are the persons who have embraced
criminality as a mode of life and commit crime with boldness and courage. Reformative
treatment completely fails in case of such offenders. Perhaps imprisonment is the only option
to prevent them from committing crime.
6 There is yet another category of crime is white collar criminals. They are the persons of high
social status who commit crime in course of their legitimate business. These criminals are
seldom detected or if detected hardly punished. Moreover, there is no social condemnation for
such white-collar criminals. The remedy suggested for repressing white collar crime is to award
severe punishment to white collar criminals through stringent laws.

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Causes of recidivism
The cause of recidivism is a combination of personal, sociological, economic and lifestyle
factors. Recidivism is broadly classified into 3 types.
A. social factors
B. economic factors
C. institutional factors

A. Social Factors
1. Substance Abuse
The way people commit petty thefts and burglaries to keep their stomach full same way a
criminal or recidivist commits crimes like thieving to access drug for their addiction. The major
reason for this crime is easy availability of narcotics. Such type of people does not necessarily
have an unhappy childhood, but practically they give up on moral values due to the physical
need established due to drug addiction.

2. Family issues and improper upbringing

Family is at the root of an individual's moral value system and completely decides future
behavioral pattern. The majority of violent criminals or recidivist in the world spend their
childhood in an environment that is subconsciously deviant behavior in their personalities.
Parental presence and their supervision play a very crucial role for the growth of the child. It
is the parent’s duty to install right and wrong sense in the child’s growth age. None of the
famous serial killers, murders or rapist ever had the fortune of receiving caring or educated
childhood. The study described the relationship between the parents.
For example- In the movie Mardaani 2 the criminal use to rape, torture or kill the victims. He
had some psychological problem. In his childhood he saw his father who use to beat and abuse
his mother just to satisfy his ego "That women are meant to be behind men" and the same
thing was adopted by the criminal in the movie. Hence whenever he use to see any successful
women, he used to do such things.

3. Lack of Education
Lack of education is one of the main causes of recidivism. Several prisoners in the prison talks
about dropping out of school. Education and schooling actually provide a sense of discipline
and integrity among students that helps to develop a strong conscience on a certain level.
Without education children tend to become socially aimless and eventually deviate from
morally accepted social behavior.

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4. Area of dwelling
The apple doesn't fall from the tree, because of which area where a person resides is a major
contribution factor to recidivism. In such places, most people commit crimes on a repeated
basis and receive less or no sanction. An individual is shaped by the place there he spent his
life in growing up and illegal and violent areas severely handicap a person's idea of right and
wrong, leading to continue criminal activities.

B. Economic Factors
1. Migration from rural places to urban places
Practically speaking the migration of a family from rural to urban requires certain amount of
financial resources. In innumerable cases, it is found that after migrating to an urban area,
families have been forced to live on streets or slums in order to survive. Such low standard of
living generally creates a sense of deprivation in youths making them to divert more towards
criminal activities. Vulnerability to deviant or criminal behaviors is more than often owed to a
human being’s basic need hierarchy system and not their moral character.

2. Unemployment and Financial Instability-

The situation created by the society leaves recidivist with no option but to commit petty crimes
in order to sustain oneself. Such unemployment results in financial instability because of which
dishonest means become a necessity.

C. Institutional Factor
1. Lack of Institutional Rehabilitation
One of the most aggravating factors of recidivism is huge loophole in our country's criminal
justice system. There are no institutional rehabilitation programs within prisons and neither is
there any provision for ex-convict support in place. Prisoners are expected to adjust into
ordinary social life without displaying deviance after spending years within the walls of an
overcrowded prison full of violent criminals. The lack of rehabilitation or aftercare programs
directly causes ex-convict to become recidivists by committing more crimes in order to adjust
to society.

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Legal Provisions for repeated offenders
Section 41 of CRPC: When police officer may arrest without warrant

1 Any police officer may without an order from a magistrate and without a warrant arrest any
person

 who has been concerned in any cognizable offence or against who a reasonable complain
has been made or credible information has been received or a reasonable suspicion exists
of his having been so concerned; or

 who has in his possession without lawful excuse the burden of proving which excuse shall
lie on such person any implement of house-breaking; or

 who has been proclaimed as an offender either under this code or by order of state
government; or

 in whose possession anything if found which may reasonably be suspected to be stolen

property and who may reasonably be suspected of having committed an offence with
reference to such thing; or

 who obstructs a police officer while in the execution of his duty or who has escaped or
attempts to escape from lawful Custody; or

 who is reasonably suspected of being a deserted from any of the armed forces of the union;

 who has been concerned in, against whom reasonable complaint has been made or credible
information has been received or reasonable suspicion exist of his having been concerned
in any act committed at any place out of India which is committed in India would have
been punishable as an offence and for which he was under any law relating to or otherwise
liable to be apprehended or detained in custody in India; or

 who being released convict commits breach of any rule made under sub-section 5 of section
356; or

 for whose arrest any requisition, whether written oral, has been received from another
police officer, provided that the requisition specifies the person to be arrested and the
offence or other cause for which the arrest is to be made and it appears therefrom that the
person might be lawfully arrested without a warrant by the officer who issued the
requisition.

2 any officer in charge of a police station may, in like manner, arrest or cause to be arrested
any person belonging to one or more of the categories of persons specified in section 109 or
section 110

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Section 110 CRPC Security for good behaviour from habitual offenders. When an Executive
Magistrate receive information that there is within his local jurisdiction a person who-

a) is by habit robber, house breaker, thief or forger or

b) is by habit a receiver of stolen property knowing the same to have been stolen or

c) habitually protects or harbours thieves, or aids in the concealment or disposal of stolen

property or

d) habitually comments, or attempts to commit, or abets the commission of the offence of

kidnapping, abduction extortion, cheating or mischief or any offence punishable under
Chapter 2 of IPC or under Section 498A, section 489B, section 489C or 489D of the
code

e) habitually commits or attempts to commit or abets the commission of offences

involving a breach of the peace or

f) habitually commits or attempts to commit, or abets the commission of-

any offence under one or more of the following Acts, namely-

 Drugs and cosmetic Act, 1940
 The foreign exchange regulation Act, 1973
 the employee provident fund and family pension Act, 1952
 the prevention of Food Adulteration Act, 1954
 Essential commodities Act, 1955
 the untouchability (offences) Act, 1955
 customs Act, 1962

(ii) any offer punishable under any other provider for the prevention of whole or
profiteering or of adulteration of food or drugs or corruption or
(g) is so desperate and dangerous as to render his begin at large without security hazardous
to the community such magistrate may in the manner hereinafter provided require such person
to show cause why he should not be order to execute a bond with sureties for his good
Behaviour for such period not exceeding three years as the magistrate things with.

Section 413 IPC

Habitually dealing in stolen property- Whoever habitually receives or deals in the property
which he knows or has reason to believe to be stolen property shall be punished with
imprisonment for life or with imprisonment of either description for term which may and to 10
years and shall also be liable to fine.

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Section 310 IPC
Thug- Whoever, at any time after the passing of this Act, shall have been habitually associated
with any other or others for the purpose of committing robbery or child-stealing by means of a
accompanied with murder, is a thug.

Indian Evidence Act and Recidivism

Indian Evidence and Recidivism are connected to each other. There are 2 sections of Indian
Evidence Act Section 53 which talks about criminal cases and previous good character which
is really very relatable in the proceeding of criminal nature the fact which comes over here is
that the person who is actually accused is of a good nature is also the relevant over here also
there is another section which is Section 54 of the Act which talks about the bad character that
cannot be relevant unless and until any sort of evidence has been provided to state that the
person had a good character in which the case becomes element in nature.

Important Cases

There are some important case laws which depicts recidivism along with Indian Evidence Act

 Bai Chaturi v. State AIR 1960 Guja 51

In this particular case the evidence of normal bad repute was actually a type of an evidence of
a normal bad character. It was mentioned in section 54 that in any proceeding of criminal
nature, the fact that accused person has a really bad character is not at all relevant unless and
until a concrete evidence has been provided so as to state that the accused had a good character
and therefore at the instant the character becomes quite and much relevant.

 Mankura Pasi v. Queen Empress Equivalent citations: (1900) ILR 27 Cal 1392

In this particular case, it was relied on a previous judgement of a case i.e. Queen v. Kamal
Fukeer regarding the character of the accused who is not being here in a fact of an issue that in
any offence of being in a gang of people associated of habituated offences under Section 401
of IPC, along with evidence of the person having bad character or bad reputation was not at all
admissible for the purpose of proving the particular person guilty of the offence.

Other Important Provisions Dealing with Recidivism:

(i) The Arms Act, 1999

(ii) The Immoral traffic prevention Act, 1956
(iii) The prevention of corruption Act, 1988 and habitual offenders
(iv) The protection of civil rights Act, 1955 and habitual offenders

1
AIR 1960 Guja 5
2
(1900) ILR 27 Cal 139

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 (v) The air prevention and control of pollution Act, 1981

Recommendations for Controlling Recidivism

Due to reduction rate of recidivism in India it is not considered to be a major problem per se,
but the reality is after deep research indicates that recidivism needs to be controlled because it
directly proves that our criminal punishment system creates no value rather takes it away
through the inhumane forms of punishment and absence of rehabilitative care for prisoners.
Shutting criminals behind the bars will always prevent them from doing more crimes during
the period of their sentence, but inculcates in them the learning and reason to get out and
commit worse crimes. Hence proving the entire time from their first conviction to their acts of
recidivism to be an absolute waste in terms of social justice.

 An effective systematic rehabilitation must be placed within every prison in the country
in order to provide prisoners with sufficient help during their stay and after leaving the
prison for easier adjustment into ordinary life.

 Policing and community education must be drastically improved to better govern areas
that are less developed to prevent juvenile delinquency and customary criminal
behaviour

 Instead of rehabilitation being one of the objectives of punishment, it should legally be

made the only objective of sentencing criminals to prison. The main object of keeping
criminals away from the society is to improve their personality and make it suitable for
normal life whereas prisons in India have succeeded in doing the exact opposite

 Education of criminology should be initiated at a young age when children are the most
susceptible to social manipulation. This may not be a strong deterrent, but it would at
least develop awareness amongst children regarding the basics of criminal behaviour
and how to resist it from such temptations.

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Conclusion

In simple words Recidivists means some people will re-offend after they have been convicted.
The judicial system of our country is strong and known to be flawless at providing justice to
those who seek for it. The entire criminal justice system is based on procedural defects of scot
free since people do not have much awareness or resources to challenge it's functioning.
Recidivism is evident proof of the criminal justice system causing injustice to society via the
absence of efforts made to compensate for the lives destroyed. Punishment given to criminals
has always been appropriate way to deal with abnormal behaviour but punishment within
prison has again and again proved to be counterproductive to the actual objective by creating
recidivists. In order to give back what was taken from the society, recidivism must be
consciously battled by setting in place the required legal framework to support the mental
normalization of convicted criminals instead of encouraging their moral descent by displaying
apathy.

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Bibliography

The topic assigned to me is “Recidivism” for this assignment I have referred various books
and website.

Books

 Bare Act
 Dr. N.V.Paranjape – 15th edition

Sites Referred

 www.legalservices.com
 Indian Kanoon
 blog.ipleaders.in
 lawcorner.in
 lawtales.in

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