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Sex Crimes
A crime that involves a deviant sex act, forced intercourse or the exchange of sexual activity for money may be considered a sex crime. These are often particularly serious due to their sensitive nature and the harsh penalties that may be imposed if a defendant is convicted, including lifetime registration as a sex
offender. Some sex crimes include: rape, sexual abuse, sexual battery and prostitution.
Drug Crimes
Certain substances are controlled by the government, including narcotics and prescription drugs. A defendant may therefore face criminal charges for the unlawful possession, sale / distribution, trafficking, manufacturing or cultivation of such substances as heroin, marijuana, cocaine, ecstasy, methamphetamines, or prescription drugs.
Violent Crimes
When a person is accused of committing a crime against another person, causing or attempting to cause them bodily harm, this may be considered a violent crime. Some specific types of violent crimes include: murder, manslaughter, assault, battery and domestic violence.
Theft Crimes
Unlawfully taking another's property, whether by force, deception or by clandestine means, may be considered a theft crime. The penalties for these will vary depending on the manner in which the alleged offense was committed, as well as the amount of property involved. Some examples of theft crimes include: grand theft auto, burglary and robbery.
Federal Crimes
Certain acts are prohibited by federal law. These and crimes committed against the federal government or on federal property may be considered federal crimes. Some examples include: bank fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud and kidnapping. Because federal agencies and prosecutors typically have more resources than those on a local or state level, and due to the extremely harsh penalties that may be imposed for these offenses, it is important to work with a lawyer who can handle cases in federal court.
The famous and powerful personalities in our societies (such as the industrial tycoons, politicians and cinema stars) leave much to be desired in terms of theit ideals. Most of them are involved either in corporate frauds, market manipulations, flouting land acquisition norms, sex scandals, land scams or have connections with the underworld dons. Yet such personalities mostly get away with all of this, and moreover seem to get whatever they want, in terms of wealth, fame or followers. Some of them privately even sneer and scoff at people who try to stick to moral and ethical values, while simultaneously maintaining the opposite stand in front of the public. However, common people easily see through this farce and this sets a wrong example for the others who eventually lose their motivation to follow any sort of values and eventually start feeling that it is ok to break the rules in order to make it big in life, as long as they are not caught.
INEFFECTIVE LAW AND ORDER SYSTEM. It is well known that many of the people responsible for law enforcement themselves are often hand in glove with criminals for making some quick gains by underhand means. Even otherwie, theyre not too keen on nabbing the culprits unless the crimes are of larger magnitude. This sluggish attitude from the law enforcers encourages the criminals in their crimes.
ALCOHOLISM AND DRUGS. Alcohol and drug consumption affects the mind and impairs judgement and rational thinking, causing an individual to lose control over his inhibitions and act on impulse. This has been a big time contributor to crime world wide among the youth. TELEVISION. The television has a powerful influence, especially on the impressionalble children and the youth. Research studies have showed that children who grew up watching violence depicted on television exhibit aggressive behaviour patterns. This is even reflected in their play time, where they act out violent scenarios. By the time they grow into adolescense, they are like time bombs, ready to explode with all the violence they have been seeing on television.
CYBER CRIME. Cyber crime is criminal activities done through computers and internet. Though computers explore a lot of opportunities for the youth, cyber crime is one of the grave problems of national concern. Young people indulge in on-line criminal activities that are detrimental to national security. Cyber crime includes on-line fraud, pornography, hacking, virus dissemination, etc.
An analysis of crime statistics of Delhi shows that people below the age of 25 years form a huge chunk of criminals. In a trend which should worry both the police and residents of this metropolis, the youth, especially those below 25 years of age, are involved in crime in large numbers. Be it murder, rape or dacoity, an analysis of the latest crime statistics of Delhi shows a disturbing trend that people below the age of 25 years form a substantial part of those involved in crime with the majority of them being 'first timers'. Around 850 of the 891 people, which is 95 per cent of those arrested for committing murders last year were first timers while about 510 (57 per cent) were below 25 years, the crime statistics for 2008 said. There were 518 murders in the city in 2008. Ninety-three per cent of those arrested were illiterate or school dropouts, it said. The figures for 2007 were also similar as 92 per cent murder accused were first timers while 70 per cent were illiterate.
According to these reports the most common means of committing suicide are as follows: Poisoning (36.6%) Hanging (32.1%) Self-immolation (7.9%)
Further, the most frequently cited and regular causes for committing this act are as follows: Unknown (43%) Illness (21.9%) Family Problems (23.8%)
Since suicide as a phenomenon carries a certain social stigma it should not come as a surprise that the causes for a large percentage of these cases remain unknown and unexplored.
Every year around 2,500 students in the age group of 17 to 23 years enroll for various undergraduate and postgradyare progtammes at Symbiosis International University in Pune, Nasik, Bangalore and Noida. "Usually, when youth experience little or no control in the important events of their lives, they may see themselves negatively. "I am worthless. I'm no good." This negative thinking makes it difficult for youth to face the stresses in their lives, and this combined with poor problem-solving skills can lead to feelings of depression and hopelessness," thinks Rajeev Yeravdekar, dean faculty of health sciences at Symbiosis International University. Alka Pawar, director of Maharashtra Institute of Mental Health, said, "Lack of communication in some families makes it difficult for the suicidal person to state his or her needs openly to others. And adolescents believe there is no one who can understand them. This often creates a sense of intense aloneness and isolation as they face problems." "Besides in cities, trivial happenings, peer-pressure to perform, lower levels of tolerance, psychological problems arising out of daily living are reasons. How to cope with a difficult situation is no longer part of grooming. It is not happening through observational learning in the family, parents have become over protective of their wards and there is not enough bonding between parents and teachers. There are too many expectations. Very few people talk at home if there is a problem," Pawar said.
societies and live a reclusive life. 2) Change in normal life. A normal child or youth shows signs of change in life by suddenly turning quiet and withdrawn from normal life. Long silences, unexplained visits to the bathroom, or hiding behind locked doors are some of the signs of this. 3) Loss of self esteem. Inability to accept failure or loss in self esteem leads to dejectedness and suicide. This may be expressed by aversion in eating, or loss of interest in activities. 4) Expression of suicidal intention. Suicide is not an instant action. Usually it is premeditated and expressed in some way or other.
According to thinkers like him, suicide as an issue must be dealt simultaneously at two levels by the use of an integrated approach: (i) Individual Level- an approach wherein saving life after suicidal attempt must combine psychiatric treatment, including crisis intervention and drug treatment, counselling and sociotherapy. (ii) Societal Level- a collective and conscious attempt to tackle poverty, unemployment, attempt to change value systems; Suicide Prevention/Control must be seen as a Movement. According to another study conducted on suicide amongst college students, the number one student risk factor in the minds of college administrators is alcohol use, and to a certain extent use of other drugs too (Lake and Tribbensee, 2002). Other studies suggest that Suicide Ideation in the college population correlates to High-risk taking behaviors (Barrios et al. 2000) unlike the commonsensical understanding ofsuicide on the contrary belief that suicides are common occurrences amongst individuals who on most cases choose not to act out their
aggression, that is, they direct their aggression toward self rather than inflicting pain or violence on objects and individuals in the external environment. Thus, in most cases suicidal individuals are more prone to high-risk taking behaviors such as rash driving and substance abuse etc. that might also include breaking of accepted societal norms and the codes of the law.
STUDENT SUICIDE.
According to research reported in the national media, suicide is the sixth leading cause of death among 6 to 14 year olds and third leading cause for 15 to 25 year olds (c.f. DNA, Feb. 2010). 95 to 100 people commit suicide in India every day40% adolescent. Young women in South India-the highest suicides rates in the world (WHO, c.f. NewScientist, April 2004). Nearly 22% of the suicides in India have been among students caused by nonattainment of expectations (WHO/SEARO, 2006). According to a study of Mumbai students conducted in the year 2000, 6 % of were depressed V that is 2 per cent more than the students in Boston- and 8 percent of them were suicidal. Today, 10 years later, researchers say things could be worse reported CNN-IBN. The city of Mumbai was alarmed at the rate of student suicide at the start of the year 2010 when over 20 cases of student suicides were reported in the media within 30 days. In fact, TISS was instituted for the study of the factors causing these suicides and to make necessary recommendations toward making education system stress free.
a child upset about usually came back home to sympathetic grandparents, uncles, and cousins who were always willing to pitch in with assistance. But now, what is the situation of the family? Life in families is jam-packed and there is no time for anybody to care for the other. Moreover, parents today are more worried about the academic performance to push them up as per their ambitions rather than the ability and condition of their children. The children are forced to study what their parents want. 2) Closed emotions of teens. The mental condition of our younger generation is in turmoil. They are unable to outlets for their suppressed emotions. The emotions of todays youngsters are different from that of olden days which the parents and elders do not recognize. 3) Change in societies. Societies have drastically transformed into much more openness which has positive and negative consequences. TV and other media have become more important. They have their own negative aspects.
4) Relationship failures. At home there is no one to care. Only stomachs are more cared than hearts. When a friendship or love affair fails, todays emotional mind thinks of suicide as the only relief. Even the media suggest this end as an effective solution. 5) Addiction to Internet. Too much of addiction to Internet and self-centered approach often aggravates their isolated life. Teens become cocooned insects without any interaction with anyone. 6) Negative thoughts lead to suicide Life seems to be nothing more than a hellish nightmare to the disappointed youth of modern emotional world. They easily lose confidence in life as their unrealistic sense of hopelessness is one of the most crucial factors in the
development of their serious suicidal wish. They do not wait to analyze things. Rather they jump to the conclusion that their problems are insoluble. 7) Indian education system is more job-oriented than life-oriented. Education system in India is more job-oriented than life. Pressure to perform well to reach higher academic qualifications is one of the major reasons for suicide. Failure in examinations and lack of family support in such situations cause depression in youth. Suicide news filling the newspaper columns after the examination results has become common in India. Teen suicide in India is a serious problem which needs the attention of every one. Facts are alarming. We are aware of the reasons. It is our turn now to act to solve the problems.
Indian scenario :
Out of every three cases of suicide reported every 15 minutes in India, one is committed by a youth in the age group of 15 to 29. In the Union Territory of Pondicherry, every month at least 15 youths between the ages of 15 and 25 commit suicide. In 2002, there were 10,982 suicides in Tamil Nadu, 11,300 in Kerala, 10,934 in Karnataka, and 9,433 in Andhra Pradesh. In 2003, the largest number of farmers -- around 175 -- committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh.
Kerala, the country's first fully literate state, has the highest number of suicides. Some 32 people commit suicide in Kerala every day.
These statistics are startling. Southern India is the country's information technology hub. The southern region is competing with northern India to become the country's economic powerhouse.
But south India has another distinction, one that it would rather not have: the region accounts for the world's largest number of suicides by young people, according toThe Lancet, the respected British medical journal. Some 50,000 people in the four states of Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh and the Union Territory of Pondicherry kill themselves every year. This statistic becomes even more alarming when you consider that the total number of suicide cases recorded in the whole of India in 2002 was 154,000. The Lancet has published an authoritative study on suicides in southern India in its April edition. The study says the suicide rates among young men and women in southern India are the highest in the world. The study conducted by the Vellore-based Christian Medical College on teenagers in Tamil Nadu, especially in the Vellore region, found that the average suicide rate for women is as high as 148 per 100,000, and 58 per 100,000 for men. Worldwide, this rate is 14.5 per 100,000. Also, in the West, men are three times more likely to commit suicide than women. "This is just the tip of the iceberg," says Dr S K Vijayachandran, nodal officer for Kerala's district mental health programme. "It is not youngsters alone. More people in the southern states belonging to every walk of life are killing themselves than in other regions in India." For instance, the suicide rate in Kerala was about 32 per 100,000 persons in 2002, thrice the rate in India as a whole. "This is a huge problem," Dr Vijayachandran says, "which requires urgent intervention." Experts like him put forward various reasons for the dismal state of mental health among people in the South. Some of these reasons, which mental health experts term 'acute stress factors,' include:
Family conflicts, domestic violence, academic failures, and unfulfilled romantic ideals. Voracious appetite for high-end consumer goods spurred by moneylenders and hire-purchase schemes. The wide gap between people's aspirations and actual capabilities. The disintegration of traditional social support mechanisms as was prevalent in joint families. Emergence of a trend towards nuclear families, alcohol abuse, financial instability and family dysfunction. A growing population of the aged. Failure of crops, huge debt burdens, growing costs of cultivation, and shrinking yield.
Two years ago, the National Crime Records Bureau noted that out of every three cases of suicide reported every 15 minutes in the country, one involves a youth in the age group of 15 to 29. 'Youth and middle-aged (30 to 44 years) are the prime groups taking recourse to the path of suicide. Of the total suicide victims, around 37.6 per cent are youths in the age group of 15 to 29 years,' the Bureau said in a report. Interestingly, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, which have much higher populations and far lower levels of literacy, report fewer suicides. In 2002, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar accounted for 4.8 percent and 1.7 percent, respectively, of the total number of suicides in the country. But not everyone is convinced by these figures. "In northern Indian states, there is low level of registration of suicide deaths in police stations," says Sunder Rajan, a retired Tamil Nadu police officer. "Therefore, no figures about suicides in the country can be relied upon for any scientific analysis of the problem." On its part, the National Crime Records Bureau has one main reason for the increasing suicide rate in the country: 'Family problems.' Psychologist Mathew Kurien of the Southern Medical Centre, Bangalore, agrees. "In this modern age," Dr Kurien says, "children are not brought up peacefully. They are under pressure to deliver at school; they are under pressure to appear for competitive examinations. After they reach puberty, no one in the family gives them any advice about the meaning of life."
Dr Kurien's argument is borne out by the fact that every year, when the results of secondary and intermediate school examinations are announced, counselling centres across the country are flooded with distress calls from students. "I get hundreds of calls from students who are contemplating suicide because they could not achieve the good scores expected by their parents," says Elizabeth Vadakkekara, co-ordinator at Thrani, a counselling centre in Thiruvananthapuram. Vadakkekara says the only way to make India, especially the southern region, less suicide prone is "to make life easy." Of course, that is easier said than done.
find it extremely important to conceal the identity of the person seeking help. This allows for more people to reach out for help as often times one is not willing to admit there is a problem and aided by the scare of being identified. Keeping in mind their target group being youth they make their presence felt through online networking portals like Facebook.
SNEHA : SNEHA has been working in the field of suicide intervention for the past 22 years. It was setup in 1986 and since then over 150,000 people have utilised their services. It is open 24 hours a day for telephone calls. There are 50 volunteers working for SNEHA currently. They maintain a strict confidentiality code wherein the identity of every caller is carefully protected.
Connecting India : It is an NGO dedicated to suicide prevention in youth. Their work takes place through their various programs, seminars and mainly their Suicide Prevention helpline. Besides NGOs there are several websites that have been setup to prevent student suicides. These websites provide different kinds of information ranging from helpline numbers to good parenting. www.befrienders.org is a website that provides suicide helpline details across India. It provides details on how to read the warning signs of depression and suicidal tendencies while also offering active support by helping one connect online immediately and talk to a counsellor. Another website is www.goodparenting.co.in. It provides useful information on how to raise your kids, how to deal with your teens, how to tackle exam pressure, cultivating hobbies, dealing with child temperament and many other issues that concern parents, teachers and society in general. It
provides information for different people the children, parents covering the whole realm of effective parenting.
According to the suggestions put forth by SEARO/WHO, Life-skills education combined with a problem-solving approach to cope with and handle the problems of life in an optimistic and realistic manner, as opposed to adopting and following traditional wisdom and solutions would go a long way in preventing student suicides in developing countries. Further, proper supportive help and adequate buffer mechanisms need to be built into a childs life to handle the transformation crisis from childhood to adolescence effectively. Child abuse-an emerging problem in SEAR societies due to problems at home or in the environment; these victims require support in
overcoming their mental stress and learning coping mechanisms. This can be taken care of by bringing in the following structural and consequent qualitative changes in the functioning of the existing educational structures: Development of school-based counselling services, and to have skilled professionals to refer/offer counselling and referral services. Equipping SEAR teachers with adequate knowledge and skills, changing their attitudes and becoming more socially and psychologically adaptive to the changing realities. Imparting better quality training to enable them to act as agents of change and enabling them to identify crisis children and high-risk children at an early stage and involving parents and friends in the various measures to deal with them. Fostering a healthy environment for productive interaction among students and teachers through school integration would be very helpful. Children should be equipped with good social skills, confidence-building measures, sharing crisis situations with others, seeking advice while making choices, and being open to new knowledge. Promoting self-esteem among children and helping them to cope with stressful situations by sharing positive life experiences Exerting less school pressures and by communicating in a positive way with children will definitely be beneficial. Above mentioned are some of the measures as suggested by the SEARO/WHO reports to prevent the dismal rates of student suicides in developing countries including India. Since they are directed towards a specific group and sometimes towards specific individuals, if implemented well these could serve as Selective and Indicative intervention measures. Apart from the aforementioned, constant attempts to create awareness are required, for example 10th of September has been declared as the World Suicide Prevention Day since the year 2003. Each year the International Association for Suicide Prevention (IASP) collaborates with WHO on this day to draw attention to Suicide as a leading cause of premature and preventable death. Last but not the least, various studies conducted with regards to suicides in India also explored the interface between religiosity and suicide. It is seen that believe in God and religion acts as protective factor both at individual and societal levels. However, it is often debated whether it is the social network provided by religion that is protective or rather the individuals faith. Although debatable and very specific to theists, this aspect can be developed further to devise selective strategies to prevent suicides amongst people with faith if not for all.
Bibliography :
Links for reference :
http://articles.maxabout.com/society-culture/suicide-among-youth/article5896
http://www.thenewnewinternet.com/2010/12/28/indias-youth-warned-ofincreased-cyber-crime/
http://in.news.yahoo.com/crime-india-increased-4-9-percent-2010123053386.html
http://news.wikinut.com/Teen-Suicides-Increasing-in-India/.qwdj2ea/
http://www.befrienders.org
http://www.dnaindia.com/bangalore/report_bangalore-continues-to-beindia-s-suicide-capital_1616762
www.snehaindia.org
http://www.who.int/mental_health/prevention/en/index.html
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/pune/Youth-most-vulnerable-tosuicide-Report/articleshow/11330903.cms