Childhood Crime

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Abstract

The study seeks to find out   how Bangladesh’s criminal organizations recruit street kids in criminal acts .It  borrows from studies undertaken by scientists from different parts of the world  and findings used to gain  an in-depth understanding of the nature of   emerging criminal activities involving street kids. The unique role of street kids in gangs is discussed in only a few research reports. But some studies relate street children’s ‘gang-like’ activity, to the cultural groups they establish and create, or the interaction among street children’s groups and the environments they occupy.

There exists a strong connection between Mafia groups, the governments and the policies in place affect distribution of resources. The criminal groups are protected by the government and their illegal business is highly guarded by the state. The design of the study is widely separated into three stages: observation of participants, adult practitioner interviews, and an embedded case study of street kids. The   success of this research is a clear indication that ethnographic case studies are the best method in analyzing the subject of street kids and gangs.

Key Words: Gang. Mastaan. Mafia. Case study.Bangladesh

 

 

 

Introduction

The concept encompasses young people up until the age of 17, according to the UNICEF definition. In Dhaka, the issue of  street kids is of particular importance. Ten million of the 16 million residents living in the provincial capital live in extreme poverty or even on the streets. Bangladesh’s street children live either on the sidewalks or in make-shift structures within the slums. They are oppressed, not respected and denied access to essential services like education. (Alenan L, 2009).

Organized crime is widespread in Dhaka .Street kids operate within the lower ranks of Bangladesh’s Organized Crime Network.. The “masters” as referred by the authorities own criminal organizations that exist in slums and primarily in the city. There is very little reliable information about the gangs, but analysis suggests the masters dominate the town’s nasty areas. Access to the urban poor’s   facilities relies on paying Mastaans inflated rates for accommodation, gas, water, and power. The researcher carried out a 3-year in-depth analysis of Dhaka in reaction to the challenge of lack of information about criminal gangs and street children’s. It involved the examination of participants, done throughout the system of criminal justice. (Alenan L, 2009). Besides, 80 adult professional surveys were performed and completed annually integrated test cases with the community of 22 street kids.

Why do we have street kids in Bangladesh?

 

It has been investigated that factors including; poverty, lack of food and basic needs of life are leading causes of children living on the streets. A modern approach to the study of street children’s problems has however argued that the reasons why a vulnerable child lives in the streets are much more related to the abuse they encounter in the home or even in their surroundings. In contrast, some children often prefer to be on the streets, fleeing violence, and collecting funds to provide for themselves and their households. Some children are compelled to live on the streets due to attraction by the care free life they enjoy without control from their parents.  It is important to understand the uniqueness of every child to unravel what results to being ‘street active’. (Andersson, 1994).

Street children and Gangs

The unique role of street kids in gangs is discussed in only a few research reports. But some studies relate street children’s ‘gang-like’ activity, to the cultural groups they establish and create, or the interaction among street children’s groups and the environments they occupy. In general, these findings are derived from research activities by different scientists. Scientific research findings have suggested that ethnic, gender, space, and personality problems highly contribute to gang crime participation. Even with the increasing population of families in the streets of Dakha, there are no reports on street kids and gangs in Bangladesh (Anderson, 1994).

Throughout the existence of street kids, aggression is a dominant aspect. They often normalize their experiences or perceive them to be dull. It is argued that some studies targeting street-involved children victimize them, leaving them feeling physically, psychologically, and emotionally exploited. However, it has been noted that stories of violence are very common among street kids. Violence contributes to increased cases of street children and the unwelcoming experience from society (Andersson, 1994). Several studies are investigating the identity of street children.  From social and cultural perspective the experiences children get while in the streets   can be viewed differently as contributing to their way of life. The distinguishing aspects of age and gender affect their interactions at both individual and group levels.

 

Organized Crime and Gang in Dhaka

The research was conducted in Dhaka, the country’s capital, of 16 million people, with the majority of the residents living in the country’s slums. There are vast numbers of street children in Dhaka; the Bangladesh Police Force predicted that by 2024, the number of sidewalk infants might exceed to 1.6 million. A World Bank study showed that 93% of slum dwellers had encountered some form of crime, and further argued that criminal activities have been standardized as a way of life. Statistics released by security officers in Bangladesh indicate that violence has been rising and that murder and robbery cases have been at their heightened since 2005. Street children in Dhaka are severely oppressed. Mastaan bosses employ individual street children to execute criminal offenses, drug trafficking, property grabbing, robbery, and contract killings. Rather than being perceived as gang members or even suspects, I supported the suggestion from one researcher who illustrated that these kids should be considered “illicit workers,” as a new way of approaching the connection between teens and organized crime. The definition of ‘illicit jobs’ reflects the real life of children in urban areas as well as the role of street children in the system of criminal organizations in Bangladesh which include being  the manual labor personnel of these illegal enterprises. (Aptekar,1998).

Therefore, it wasn’t easy to formulate specific hypotheses, especially for a country where the tiny psychological and sociological study was already carried out once. The interaction amongst children in the streets registered criminal gangs and organized crime organizations cover many fields and need the viewpoints between adults and street kids. Numerous street kids’ research often originates with a phenomenology viewpoint, specifically those concentrating on street kids’ role in the crime. The demographic of street children in Indonesia was analyzed through interpretive approaches, involving personal research, case study conversations, focus group, and baby games, particularly illustration and role-playing (Aptekar, 1998). “Youth Gangs and Street Children” research in Ethiopia, investigated the forms in which young people enter and commit crimes on the highways, was among the most in-depth anthropological analyses of street children and gangs.

Mafias: the state, protection, and violence

There exists a strong connection between Mafia groups, the governments and the policies in place which affect distribution of resources. The criminal groups are protected by the government and their illegal business is highly guarded by the state. There are varying perceptions of the existence and operations of mafia organizations. It is not easy to show difference between politics and abuse’ by associating with government agents, politicians, courts and cops, Mafiosi safe places of power, and individual cases.  Politicians work with criminal gangs to influence the voting patterns during election as they attempt to ascent to power  The economists argue in their theories that Mafias provide certain services that are not provided by the state hence, justifying their existence and control of certain sections of the country. However, it raises a question of whether the state is unable to provide these key services to its citizens or it is a way of colluding with criminals to oppress its own people. These criminal gangs are also blamed for smuggling illegal goods into the country while shielded by the state (Andersson, 1994).

Epidemiological academics have criticized these illegal gangs and claim that they don’t get only traffic in several illicit goods, but they also use aggression and coercion. Mafias indulge in influence and entrepreneurship; controlling some regions, and monopolizing illegal activities. There is also a general opinion that mafias are many sided, committing, controlling, and encouraging a broad spectrum of violence and corruption and engaging in the security.  Social researchers have also analyzed the issue of social networks in relation to the existence of the mafias. This viewpoint is frequently shared with historians and points out the issue of social connections that are instrumental in explaining how the mafia structures function (Aptekar, 1998).

Mastaans

Gangster research is flooded with conversations about the state’s effect on the growth and occasional collapse of mafia gangs. However, relatively few studies have been carried out to consider the influence of Bangladesh’s mafia state or within the context of Asian countries (Aptekar, 1998).  The Bangladesh state is not able to provide basic services to its citizens. In some situations, simple human services are given by NGOs or development agencies and are synonymous with poor governance. Non –state actors and development agencies have been   applauded for creating more impact in their participate in state-building. This suggests that social security distribution is weak and mostly supported by several players, opening holes for other suppliers to fill, particularly gangs (Alenan L, 2009). However, one can suggest that the eminent corruption and illegal deals between government officials and gangs have highly contributed to the inability to provide for its citizens.

The definition of the name mastaans is unknown, but insights from field work records confirm that the term is Hindi word that likely has its roots from India. Mastaans are often key chracters in Hindi movies where they will are represented within indigenous governments as regular old street thugs or feared persons.  It is not clear about the involvement of women mastaan groups as majority of the participants are young people. However, there have also claims that a woman takes a senior rank as second in command in a similar mastaan group in the region. Groundwork results show that mastaans are between the ages of 25 and 40 years. There are reports that claim  mustangs formerly helpless street kids, but made it to the top ranks after a period of time in the criminal activities.

Crime and politics in Bangladesh

Mastaans are gangs of mafia types who undertake a broad array of crimes. Mastaans recruit street children to carry out drug sales, kidnapping,’ land grabbing,’ contract killings, and domestic terrorism through a large-scale analysis in Bangladesh, showing a form of ‘illicit child labor’ and presenting a different perception about the role children undertake in criminal gangs. Criminal activities are prevalent and led by mastaans in Bangladesh who may have strong government and officials relations. The police receive funds from criminal organizations, which are issued with legal protection in exchange for political crime (Aptekar, 1998). When governments rely on violence supplied by criminal gangs to obtain and retain influence, organized crime is connected to politics. Mastaans work under the ‘front-men’ cover, mostly presidents, parliamentarians, and industry executives. Mainly on the premise of supplying voting banks in exchange for money, Mastaans can bind underserved people, populations, and societies with political officials. Therefore, they may have been perceived partially as the product of policymakers and insiders. But they can sometimes assume a far more systemic role, working on the right of the spectrum of violent intimidation and other types of abuse.

Mastaans work to win votes in partnership with politicians; they serve as commodity patronage and have access to public utilities such as sanitation, power, and gas for impoverished people. This is probably because the state, or NGOs, has been unable to provide help in vulnerable regions. Mastaans, moreover, may indeed carry out ransom as well as other forms of violence. An analysis of the report shows that mastaans show ‘gangster’ actions in several ways; they act in partnership with the state and as suppliers of social resources and manipulate their communities’ staff from disadvantaged children (Andersson, 1994).

Young gangs and child labor in Bangladesh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fig 01:  child labor in Action ;Bangladesh

There are millions of children   live on the streets in Bangladesh. The number is expected to increase to over 1.6 million by 2024 and per the Bangladesh Police Force. Seeing street kids as a heterogeneous community means that they can ignore the unique needs and misunderstand specific lives’ complexities (Andersson, 1994).  Besides the issue of street kids, we also have adolescents who live on the streets and have distinct features, histories, and attitudes.  Street kids can be described by the nature of their life, some street kids move to different locations, while others linger in a single location.

A helpful way of conceptualizing adolescent lives and the challenges they face is to take into account the ties children have on and with the streets. The research participants stayed on the highways, in shantytowns, and into make-shift houses. They still spent quite a bit of time away from the streets. Therefore, I recommend that, if the word street child is to be used, then it must be done with recognition of the essence of the life of crime and the ties children create when living there.

For millions of Bangladeshi children, work is a reality, especially for those who live in the streets. According to UNICEF, child labor is any work done by under- age children that causes danger to their health, education and well- being. This does not mean that children are not supposed to work at home. (Heinonen P, 2003).

Many children also work in violent professions. ILO (2009) defines exploitative child labor as:

• Both modes of selling or prostitution, indentured servitude, and servitude forced and compulsory labor, particularly the recruitment of bonded labor conflicts.
• The use, preparing, or tender of a child for illegal activity, particularly for the illegal drugs business, as defined in the obligations of the Treaty in question.
• Activity that is liable to impact children’s health, wellbeing, or morals by its life or the circumstances under which it has been carried out.

Surprisingly, while the ILO interpretation applies to child labor participation, it does not include any reference to youth forced to perform explicit acts by international crime gangs; this essay would contend that this is a significant absence.

According to research studies, aggression is a prominent component of street kids’ development. Secondly, there is shortage of research reports that give findings about existence of gangs and street youth. Finally, from the review of available literature, it is evident that further research is needed to dig deeper into the issue of street kids. It has also been noted that little has been written about street kids’ perceptions on gangs or organized crime, especially in Bangladesh (Andersson, 1994).

 

Research Design: Data and Methods

The complete literature review comes with various elements, widely separated into three stages: observation of participants, adult practitioner interviews, and an embedded case study of street kids. For the following purposes, the researcher planned three steps approach to this literature review. First, since Bangladesh was a foreign country to him; he did not have any understanding of the cultural, historical, political, and social aspects surrounding this thesis upon arrival in Dhaka. He initiated a series of observations of Bangladeshi culture and its system of criminal justice to resolve this. Step 2 was essential to discuss youngsters’ role, from an adult viewpoint, in organized crime. Once this phase of the analysis was finished, he then defined this very same problem, and from the perspective of children. The research required a lot of technical experience in case studies and thus other qualitative methods could not have been effective (Heinonen P, 2003).

1. Participants Observations

Participant observation was carried out for three years, much of which happened while working for global development agency in Dakha. This study was essential to ascertain the different dimensions that provide a framework understand gangs and organized crime in Bangladesh from a sociological and political perspective.

2. Interviews of adults

A maximum of 80 surveys (38 subs and 42 unorganized) and two ad campaigns were held, with six respondents and the other with five respondents. Service officials, high ranking prison staff, professional security people, actuaries, NGO employees, courts and police rehabilitation employees, reporters, delegates, and group members were among the attendees.

3. A Comprehensive Research Project of Street Children and the Helping Institution

Step 3 comprises of an interactive study conducted by an agency that shelters 22 street children and aids them. The complete literature review also included respondent analyses performed over 12 months while interacting the community; (b) five 1-hour presentations; and (c) partially-structured group discussion with 22 street kids. All three information collection phases were fed into each other, resulting in stable and accurate data consistent throughout all three tests, obtained over a long period (3 years), and continuously re-analyzed as the analysis proceeded. Documented and coding the details maneuvered across information from the other stages for each point, exposing any discrepancies and enabling the development of cross-cutting themes.

 

 

The case study method was selected based on a number of justifications;

1. One the researcher was not a resident of Bangladesh and therefore new little about the country. By interviewing adults, he was able to get their views concerning street kids.  The best and most effective approach as employed by the research was establishing good relationship with the children.

Research Findings

1. The issue about street kids Dakha. Ha not been researched before.
2. Gangs engage in illegal business with the government officers to protect their interests.
3. Street kids are innocently engaged in committing theft and robbery
4. The ability of the young gangs to survive in the streets has made them being labelled as illicit labourers.
5. Case study is the best ethnographic method on matters concerning gangs and street kids.

How did the researcher address Ethical issues?

1. Research code of conduct was adhered to as stipulated in the governing laws
2. The identity of the respondents was not revealed and they did not even mention the participants of crime.
3. Child protection was at the core of the study and the researcher ensured all protocols are adhered to
4. Informed consent was given by the beneficiaries.
5. Data from various primary sources was compared it proved there was consistency and it was valid.
6. Children actively participated in the research and their opinions were sought as opposed to relying on their parents.
7. The challenge of translating from English to native language was undertaken by the interpreter.

 

Limitations of the Research

1. Limited geographical scope of the study.
2. Language barrier since the researcher was a foreigner.
3. The research might be costly due to the nature of the information required.

 

Opportunities for further studies.

1. A similar research can be conducted in a different setting or city to compare the findings from Dakha .
2. Another research should be conducted to find out how young ladies are engaged in the criminal activities.

A future research can also be conducted to determine the impacts of crime on psycho-social welfare of the engaged kids.

 

 

 

 

 

Conclusion

This study sought to explain the relationship between homeless kids and criminal gangs. From the Bangladesh’s context, all three stages of this investigation have closely been intertwined and to play an essential part in interpreting this topic of study.  Data gathered from various sources was triangulated and cross-referencing assisted in validating the date. The coding and analysis was done for better understanding of research findings and draw hypothesis on matters concerning street children’s role in organized crime in Bangladesh.  The   success of this research is a clear indication that ethnographic case studies are the best method in studying the subject of street kids and gangs. It is unusual for children’s opinions to be used in organized crime debates, and there are reports to date on the role of street children in mastaans in Dhaka. Nevertheless, street children must be included more broadly in criminal research, even though the “adult world” of organized crime is the topic under consideration. It is essential to apply a range of child-friendly approaches to involve them and ensure that they feel considered active members in the study process.

 

 

 

 

References

Alenan L, K. K., 2009. Introduction to a childhood of street children in Bangladesh. Gangs in Streets, p. 60.

Andersson, E., 1994. The code of streets In Bangladesh. The Atlantic, may, p. 60.

Aptekar, L., 1998. Street children of Cali, Bangladesh , Mastans. p. 60.

Heinonen P, A. L., 2003. Methodological of gangs in Bangladesh. p. 56.

L., A., 2009. Introduction to childhood studies. In Bangladesh, p. 60.