Criminals out of Momentary Weakness

This is a temporary criminal urge, a special type of mental disease which suddenly appears in a certain type of environment and again subsides after a short time.

Kleptomania is an example of this kind of mental disease.

After committing a crime kleptomaniacs feel ashamed and are anxious to return the property that they have stolen to the owner. They have sudden fantasies about stealing, abducting people, becoming drunk or indulging in decadent activities. But analysis shows that they do not in fact have the slightest personal interest in such things.

Usually, weak-minded people who have witnessed larceny, murder or any other crime, are deeply affected by their experience. Due to the ensuing extreme agitation that occurs in their minds, they deviate from the path of common sense.

If the feeling of mental agitation recurs due to the influence of temporal, spatial or personal factors, they will immediately commit a crime.

If a person who is not actually a thief constantly thinks about stealing and about the various techniques that can be used to steal, it may happen that he or she will begin to talk in a way that will give people the impression that he or she is really a thief.

After witnessing a brutal murder, sometimes such weak-minded people begin to think of themselves as criminals, and under the influence of such thoughts, they conceal some clothing, a dead body or parts of a body, or some other items in their houses, and then start describing the modus operandi of the crime to others.

They will say, “I dragged the person away like this; I stabbed him like that;” etc.

In such circumstances it will not be surprising if the police regard the person as a criminal and if, after listening to the testimony of witnesses and seeing the evidence, the judge takes action against him or her.

In such cases if there is even the slightest defect in the confidential enquiries, the proficiency of the police or the insight of the judge – any of the three – in all probability an innocent person will be punished.

Poverty is the root cause of most crimes, but it is not the only cause. Even if the economic structure is sound, other factors which cause crimes may be present, jeopardizing social peace and discipline.

With the eradication of poverty, crimes caused by keeping bad company and by personal difficulties may to some extent decrease, but there will be little decline in the number of crimes committed by born criminals or habitual criminals.

The cause of crimes are ultimately:

• the variety of the propensities of the human mind and
• the weakness or strength of the mind according to changes in time, place or person.

As a result, those investigating the causes of serious crimes may become confused. The accused could be a criminal who does not fit the previously-established categories.

If the crime is grave, it will not be possible to pardon the person or disregard the crime on the grounds that it was committed accidentally or in a moment of weakness.

Crimes Involving Cruelty

Crimes involving cruelty are generally caused by the following factors:

• loss of judgement due to intoxication or extreme excitement
• jealousy over property or wealth
• a severe blow to one’s prestige or the influence of any of the ripus
• fights over women
• serious differences of opinion.

A good person who lacks mental straightforwardness might commit a crime due to any of these factors.

But not all crimes are committed in a moment of anger.

Even a cool-headed person may be influenced and overwhelmed by any of the factors listed above except the first, and these factors may have disturbed his or her mind for so long that the crime cannot be classified as a crime committed in anger.

A cool-headed person with no criminal background may even plan a serious crime as much as 6 months in advance.

The causes of these types of crime lie in the weaknesses of the human mind. The manifestation of malevolent propensities depends on the environment and is subject to differences in time, place or person. Sometimes it occurs after a few years and sometimes after a few minutes.

When a crime is committed within 5-10 minutes of provocation, the offence is generally viewed with leniency because it was committed in a moment of anger.

However, the offender to receive clemency rarely when:

• the thought of committing a crime gradually develops over a long period of time
• the offender deliberately becomes intoxicated in the hope of committing the crime with calm nerves, or
• the offender gets others intoxicated in order for them to commit a crime with calm nerves

In reality, the crimes of both groups are equal in magnitude. From the psychological point of view, there is only a slight difference between them.

Benevolent people wonder how much value corrective measures have for:

• criminals who do not show remorse
• first-time offenders
• non-mentally ill criminals

In such circumstances, experienced judges and social well-wishers would take penal instead of corrective measures.

• From the moral standpoint, we support this.

Weak-minded people are slaves to their lower propensities.

• They commit crimes due to circumstantial pressure created by temporal, spatial and personal factors

It is society’s duty to:

• make them aware of their wrongdoing
• help them to learn how to develop their higher propensities and strengthen their minds
• ensure that this awakening is a corrective rather than a penal process

It is necessary to retain tough penal measures as a part of the corrective system.

• Punishment has an important place in correcting behaviour
  • It prevents people from drifting along the inclinations of their lower propensities out of fear of being punished.

As a result of this environmental pressure, dishonest people will be compelled to live an honest life.

• Those who are aware of the influence of their own base propensities will also feel encouraged to keep striving to become internally civilized.

Crime and Politics

Calumny, jealousy, factionalism, indolence, grandiloquence, etc., are all social defects which, given a congenial environment, turn people into great criminals.

These human defects are glaringly apparent in the modern world because of the tendency to indulge in politics, which is nowadays concerned solely with the desire for power.

All connection with selfless service has been lost.

Unless the desire for power loosens its grip on the human mind, the unhealthy proclivity for politics will not be eliminated from modern society.

Seeing the way in which political involvement gradually transforms people into habitual criminals, benevolent people can no longer afford to stand by and watch.

All good people should now work together to formulate a comprehensive, well-thought-out plan for the all-round development of society. If the entire human race turns into habitual criminals, if people are no longer ready to listen with tolerance to the opinions of others, or if they sell their treasures of higher intellect to gain power and prestige, the age-old struggle to build human civilization, and all efforts to discover the value of human existence, will go in vain.