Research On Reasons & Countermeasures For Pickpocketing Crimes Committed By Deaf-mute People On Public Transport Means

Deaf-mute people form a vulnerable group in today’s society. The situation that they can’t participate in various social activities in a normal way and even commit crimes is mainly caused by lack of communication and discrimination due to their disabilities. With physical disabilities, deaf-mute people don’t have equal opportunities in various aspects such as attending school, job hunting and involving romantic relationships compared to ordinary people, and they don’t enjoy appropriate social care and help after suffering setbacks in social interactions due to some reasons such as discrimination, which results in their psychological imbalance and increasingly less communications with ordinary people. Due to such situation, they have a unique way of thinking and recognition of the society and form their own value judgment and social circles. With social development and a continuously increased standard of living, deaf-mute people tend to be vulnerable to the psychological state that the society fails to satisfy their material benefits under the dual effects caused by psychological imbalance and expansion of material needs, which results in the phenomenon that crimes committed by deaf-mute people mainly include encroachments on personal belongings such as pickpocketing, theft and snatching. As for such crimes, the number of pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people has been increasing in recent years, which harm public security and people’s life and property safety and damage images of civilized cities in a severe way and thus become a social issue attracting much attention. If such crimes can’t be cracked down and suppressed, they will reduce people’s trust in governing abilities of the Party and governments.Pickpocketing has been a malady in modern civilized society, for which it is difficult to eliminate, and pickpocketing is also a fact of larceny clearly listed in Amendments to Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China(VIII)(hereinafter referred to as Amendments to Criminal Law(VIII)). As for pickpocketing crime, Amendments to Criminal Law(VIII) lowers the threshold of criminalization for pickpocketing behaviors in public places, and sentencing of criminal penalties for pickpocketing behaviors no longer requires three or more times of pickpocketing behavior or a relatively high value of stolen goods. Any pickpocketing behavior committed in public places or on public transport means should be sentenced to criminal responsibility. In addition, Article 3, Interpretation on Several Issues Concerning Application of Law in Handling Criminal Larceny Cases implemented from April 4, 2013 refines articles concerning larceny in Amendments to Criminal Law(VIII) and provides clear provisions on determination of pickpocketing crimes. Strict and improved legislation helps governments at all levels make a resolution to crack down on pickpocketing crimes and reflects tendentious protection on properties and personal rights and interests of citizens on public transport means by Criminal Law. For the purpose of analyzing underlying causes of pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people on public transport means and new situations and characteristics of such crimes, document research, comparative study and statistical data analysis method are used to grasp complicated and comprehensive causes, law and development trend of pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people on public transport means by investigation and research on typical cases in judicial practices, based on which an overall and systematic understanding on pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people on public transport means will be improved and enhanced.Main text of this paper comprises of four parts. In the first part, definition on scope of public transport means as well as definition and characteristics of pickpocketing crime were introduced. In the second part, the current situation and major characteristics of pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people on public transport means are introduced through research on new situations, trends and patterns of such crimes. In the third part, the dilemma faced in judicial practice concerning pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people on public transport means is described, for which causes of such dilemma and reasons why it is very difficult to eliminate such crimes are explained. In the fourth part, based on elaboration of outstanding characteristics of pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people on public transport means and reasons why such crimes were frequently committed, countermeasures for punishing and preventing such crimes and specific effective measures are analyzed and discussed, and reasonable suggestions are put forward. Characteristics of pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people on public transport means include the increasing number of such crimes year by year, well-organized criminal organization, the tendency to group formation, specialization and network formation, the increasing number of cases involving trans-regional committing of such crimes by deaf-mute people, increased awareness of counter-reconnaissance, covert crime-committing means, increased proportion of crimes committed by under-age and female deaf-mute people and both male and female deaf-mute people, in addition to which crimes committed by deaf-mute people mainly include crimes involving encroachments on personal belongings such as pickpocketing and snatching on public transport means. As for many factors causing pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people, social and environmental factors such as social and economic development level, difficulty in cracking cases, educational level and employment level of deaf-mute people and the current legislative and judicial situation should be taken into consideration, in addition to which family factors should also be considered, and attention should be paid to the influence of psychological characteristics of deaf-mute people on their unique way of thinking and cognitive ability. As for punishment and prevention of pickpocketing crimes committed by deaf-mute people as described in the third part of this paper, based on special features of deaf-mute people as subjects of crime, the needs to improve criminal legislation and enhance efforts to crack down on such crimes are sufficiently discussed, and the society should care for and understand deaf-mute people and treat this special and vulnerable group on an equal basis. Based on unique psychological features of deaf-mute people, communities, schools and families should enhance education and good influence on them, establish a systematic and complete preventive mechanism, enhance skill trainings for them, guarantee their right of employment, improve social security provided for them and enhance psychological counseling for them in order to guide them to fit into the mainstream society.