7. Globalisation and Crime - 3. Human Rights and State Crime

Question 1

State crime

Answer 1

An illegal or deviant act perpetrated by, or either the complicit involvement of state agencies - crimes committed by or on behalf of the state

Question 2

2 issues with state crimes

Answer 2

The scale of state crimes committed
States avoid accountability

Question 3

What does the Human Security Report say about the scale of state crimes committed?

Answer 3

State crimes committed during the last 100 ears have resulted in more people being killed by their own government than foreign armies

Question 4

What makes it possible for states to commit crimes are such large scales?

Answer 4

The wealth of resources available for states makes it possible for them to commit crimes on a much larger scale than corporate organisations and individuals

Question 5

How do states avoid accountability?

Answer 5

The state itself is able to shape and influence the judicial system, meaning they can define what counts as a crime
As a result, state crimes are rarely prosecuted and punished

Question 6

Who came up with the 4 types of state crimes and what are they?

Answer 6

McLaughlin:
Political crimes
Crimes by the police or security forces
Economic crimes
Social and cultural crimes

Question 7

Examples of state crimes (4)

Answer 7

Killing of innocent civilians (E.g. Hiroshima)
Use of torture
War on terror - invasion of Iraq by US-led forces was considered illegal as Iraq didn’t attack the US
Genocide

Question 8

Who came up with the culture of denial theory as an explanation of state crimes?

Answer 8

Cohen

Question 9

What does Cohen say about denial?

Answer 9

State crimes are normally kept hidden but if found out, attempts are made to normalise or rationalise the crimes by the use of denial

Question 10

What process does Cohan believed is used in an attempt to deny state crimes by the use of complicated language?

Answer 10

The spiral of denial

Question 11

3 components of the spiral of denial (Cohen)

Answer 11

1. It doesn’t happen here
2. If it did happen, it was something else
3. Even if it is what you say it is, it’s justified

Question 12

What did Cohen apply to the subject of human rights violations?

Answer 12

Corn applied Sykes and Matza’s 5 major neutralisation techniques (techniques with the aim of making unacceptable things seem acceptable) to the subject of human rights violations

Question 13

5 major neutralisation techniques

Answer 13

Denial of the victim - the victim is the real criminal (E.g. “they are a terrorist”
Denial of injury - the victim didn’t suffer
Denial of responsibility - individuals were following orders from a higher authority
Condemnation of the condemners - accusing those who make judgements as being hypocrites or behaving in a worse manner
Appeal to a higher cause - using an ideology as justification (E.g. it was in the name of God or communism)

Question 14

What situational theory can be used to explain state crimes?

Answer 14

Obedience theory

Question 15

Why was the obedience theory developed?

Answer 15

Because lots of individuals who commit crimes on behalf of the state use the excuse that they were just following orders

Question 16

Key research for the obedience theory and what did it show?

Answer 16

Social research studies (E.g. Milgram’s shock experiment) shows that atrocities are strongly influenced by situational factors (E.g. social environment)

Question 17

3 factors that make obedience to criminal orders more likely

Answer 17

Authorisation - you’re given permission to commit atrocities
Routinisation - killing/committing crime becomes a norm
Dehumanisation

Question 18

Positive evaluation of human rights and street crime: shift in focus for criminology

Answer 18

The degree of harm caused by state crime is far greater than that of street crime. Criminology no longer mainly focuses on street crimes

Question 19

Negative evaluation of human rights and state crime: cultural differences are ignored

Answer 19

Western countries have imposed their definition of what the standards of human rights should be on non-Western countries without taking into consideration cultural differences

Question 20

Negative evaluation of human rights and state crime: are state crimes necessary?

Answer 20

Some would argue state crimes violating human rights may be necessary for national interest, such as to maintain security