Crime And Deviance Detail Flashcards

Question

Marxist view on crime 2. The state and law making

Answer 1

- Marxists see law making and law enforcement as serving the interests of the capitalist class - Chambliss (1975) argues laws to protect private property are the cornerstone of the capitalist economy. This is because Britain needed labour on their colonies’ plantations but the local economy wasn’t one of money. To get workers, a tax payable by cash was made, and the only way to get cash was by working - therefore making the law serve the economic needs of plantation owners - Snider (1993) argues the state is reluctant to pass laws that would regulate the activities of businesses / threaten their profitability

Answer 2

- Marxists believe that the application of law is unequal, even though all classes commit crime - They argue that while powerless groups like ethnic minorities and the working class are criminalised, crimes of the powerful are ignored - meaning we can’t take official statistics at face value

Answer 3

- The law, crime and criminals perform an ideological function for capitalism - This means that laws may be passed to look like they benefit the working class instead of capitalists, like workplace health and safety laws - Pearce (1976) argues these laws do benefit capitalism by keeping us fit for work and giving capitalism a ‘caring’ face and ensuing false class consciousness - Health and safety laws aren’t rigorously enforced - the 2007 corporate homicide law had one prosecution in the first 8 years despite negligent employers being responsible for many deaths - Selective enforcement ensures false class consciousness by making crime a working class issue, where workers turn against criminals instead of capitalism

Answer 4

Strengths: - Completes what the labelling theory missed - puts it into wider structural context by discussing selective enforcement and why it happens - Explains the relationship between crime and capitalist society as well as how laws link to the interests of the ruling class Weaknesses: - Ignores the relationship between crime and other inequalities like gender / ethnicity - Deterministic - over predicts working class crime and ignores that not everyone in poverty turns to crime - Left realists - says they ignore intraclass crime where the offender and the victim are working class, and the harm this causes victims - The CJS has punished corporate crimes instead of ignoring it

Answer 5

Taylor et al agrees with Marxists that: 1. Capitalist society is based on exploitation and class conflict, its characteristic being extreme wealth and power inequality 2. The state makes / enforces laws in the interests of the capitalist class while criminalising the working class 3. We should replace capitalism with a classless society to reduce or even extinct crime

Answer 6

- This is a comprehensive understanding of crime and deviance to help change society for the better - It combines the Marxist idea about unequal wealth distribution and who makes law with interactionalist / labelling ideas about the meaning of the act to the deviant, societies reaction and how deviant labels affect people 1. Wider origins of deviant act - within the unequal distribution of wealth / power of a capitalist society 2. Immediate origins of the deviant act - the context in which the individual decides to commit the act 3. The act itself - the meaning for the actor —> was it to rebel against capitalism? 4. The immediate origins of social reaction - reactions of those around the deviant (police, family) to discovering the act 5. The wider origins of social reaction - in capitalist society, the issues of who has the power to define acts as deviant and label others, and why some acts are treated more harshly 6. The effects of labelling - on the deviants future acts —> why do labels sometimes cause a deviance spiral and other times not?

Answer 7

- Taylor et al argues Marxism is deterministic because it sees workers as committing crime out of economic necessity - Instead, Taylor et al rejects this and takes a voluntaristic view - This is where crime is a meaningful action and conscious choice of the actor - They argue that criminals aren’t passive puppets shaped by capitalism, but that they are deliberately striving to change society

Answer 8

- Feminists: call the approach gender-blind, it focuses excessively on male criminality at the expense of females - Left realists: theory paints the working class as robin hoods that fright capitalism by redistributing wealth to the poor, which ignores that these crimes pray on the poor - Left realists: argues Taylor et al don’t take such rime seriously and ignore how working class victims are effected - Burke (2005): critical criminology is too general to explain crime, and too idealistic to tackle crime Taylor et al - defences of their book looking back: - The book combated the ‘correctionalist bias’ of other theories (where sociology’s role is correcting behaviour), by calling for a greater tolerance of diversity in behaviour - The book set foundations for later theories seeking a more just society, like left realism and feminism

Answer 9

Sutherland defines white collar crime as one committed by a person of respectability and high status in the course of their occupation. Though his aim was to challenge the stereotype that only the working class commit crime, his definition doesn’t explain 2 types of crime: 1. Occupational crime - committed by employees for personal gain and often against their workplace, like stealing from the company 2. Corporate crime - committed by employees for the company and its goals, like mis-selling products on purpose to increase profit - Another problem is that crimes of the powerful may not break criminal law, like some being administrative offences such as not complying with government regulations - Pearce & Tombs (2003) overcome this issue by defining corporate crime as any illegal act / omission that is the result of deliberate decisions / culpable negligence by a business for their own benefit

Answer 10

Tombs (2013) - corporate crimes have enormous costs: physical (death / injury), environmental (pollution), and economic (to consumers / workers / taxpayers / governments). 1. Financial crimes - tax evasion, bribery, money laundering, illegal accounting. Victims - other companies, shareholders, taxpayers, governments. 2. Crimes against consumers - false labelling and selling unfit goods e.g. french government recommended women remove implants from a certain brand because they were dangerous. 3. Crimes against employees - sexual / racial discrimination, violating wage laws, union rights or health and safety laws. Tombs says 1.1k work related deaths are caused by employers breaking the laws. 4. Crimes against the environment - illegal pollution of air, water and land 5. State corporate crime - harms committed when government institutions and businesses cooperate to pursue their goals.

Answer 11

- Carrabine et al (2020) - we entrust professionals with our finances, health, security and personal info, but their high status means they can abuse this trust. - UK tribunal found a tax evasion scheme by accountants Ernst & Young for rich clients unacceptable - Health wise, Harold Shipman was found guilty for 15 murders across 15 years and is believed that to have 200 more victims, which used his status and trust to obtain lethal drugs.

Answer 12

Why crimes of the powerful are invisible / seen as not real: 1. The media - corporate crime has limited coverage, so crime is reinforced as a working class issue, and sanitise language like ‘accident’ instead of ‘negligence’ are used. 2. Lack of political will - when politicians say they’re tough on crime, they focus on street crime rather than corporate. 3. Complexity- law enforcers are under-funded, under-staffed and lack the technical expertise to properly investigate them. 4. De-labelling - corporate crime is filtered out of the criminalisation process, like offences being deemed civil instead of criminal, paying fines instead of being sentenced. 5. Under-reporting - these crimes’ victims are the environment or society at large, or someone may not know they are a victim or feel powerless against huge organisations. Partial visibility: - These factors remove corporate crime from the common definition of crime, as well as the law / order agenda, thus making it invisible - However, they’ve been made more visible since the 2008 financial crisis, where campaigns like Occupy are against corporate tax avoidance, and more journalism / whistle-blowers about this issue

Answer 13

- Box (1983) argues that if a company can’t reach it’s goals of maximising profit legally, they’ll do it illegally instead, and that difficult business conditions can make this more tempting

Answer 14

- Sutherland (1949) argues crime is behaviour learnt from others in as social context, so associating with those with a disregard for laws can make us more likely to behave in the same way - This means that if a companies culture justifies crime, employees will be socialised into this - Sykes & Matza (1957) argue these people can deviate more easily by applying the companies culture of ‘everyone’s doing it’

Answer 15

- Nelken (2012) de labelling where companies have the power / wealth for lawyers, accountants to get lesser charges or hide their involvement in tax avoidance schemes

Answer 16

- Argue corporate crime is a result of capitalism functioning normally - Box (1983) - capitalism creates mystification, the ideology that corporate crimes are less widespread or harmful as working class crimes

Answer 17

- Strain and Marxist ideas over-predict the amount of business crime, Nelken argues its unrealistic to think all businesses would offend with the risk of punishment - If capitalism causes corporate crime, how are the crimes of non-profit agencies like the army and police explained

Answer 18

- Wilson and Herrnstein (1985) - crime is caused by biological and social factors, such as those with traits like aggressiveness and low impulse control being more likely to offend - Herrnstein and Murray (1994) argue that the main cause of crime is low intelligence which they say is biologically determined

Answer 19

- Biological factors may increase the offending risk, but socialisation brings it down because we learn self control and morals of right / wrong - Right realists argue that the nuclear family socialises the best - Murray (1990) - crime rate is increasing because of a growing underclass who don’t socialise their children properly - He says they’re growing because of welfare dependency - causing a decline in marriage and a rise in dependent lone mothers / children and unemployed men that don’t support the family - Finally, Murray ties this into crime by saying law makers don’t socialise their children properly and children have no male role models, so they become street criminals

Answer 20

- This theory assumes that all individuals have free will and power of reason when making decisions - Clarke (1980) - the decision to commit crime is a choice based on a rational calculation of the consequences - The greater the cost, the less likely to commit, the greater the reward, the more likely to commit - Right realists belief the costs of the crime are too small, which is why crime rates have gone up - Routine activity theory - Felson (2002) argues for that a crime to happen, there must be a motivated offender, a suitable target and no capable guardian (like police)

Answer 21

- Ignores wider structural factors like poverty - Overcompensates offenders rationality (ignores effect of drug / alcohol abuse) and doesn’t explain impulsive / non-utilitarian crime - Contradicts themselves - clash between offenders freedom / rational choice and determined biological / socialisation factors

Answer 22

- Crime is a real problem in society - it destroys communities and undermines social cohesion. Right realists aren’t concerned with the causes of crime, they want realistic solutions to it - Views align with 1970 / 80s neoconservative governments

Answer 23

- It is a waste of time finding causes of crime, we need practical action that makes crime unattractive - Right realists focus on controlling, containing and punishing offenders. This means crime prevention polices should reduce the rewards / increase the costs of offending. Example - target hardening, where punishments are used more and much sooner after the offence has happened (this maximises the punishments deterrence) - Wilson & Kelling (1982) - zero tolerance policy needs to be in place. The police need to focus on controlling the streets so law-abiding people feel more safe, and signs of deterioration (crime) need to be dealt with immediately by harsh punishment

Answer 24

- Young (2011) argues the New York example of zero tolerance policy is a myth. The crime rate had been falling 5 years before the policy was introduced, and in the shortage of serious crime NY police widened their net and made arrest on minor offences that they normally wouldn’t acknowledge. This means the success was actually the police dealing with a decline that already happened. - Preoccupied with petty street crimes, ignore more harmful and costly crimes like corporate crime - Enables police to discriminate against minorities, homeless, youths etc. - Overemphasis on controlling disorder instead of fixing causes of neighbourhood decline. - Zero tolerance and target hardening lead to displacing crime to a different area.

Answer 25

- Lea & Young argue crime has its roots in deprivation, though it doesn’t directly cause crime e.g. high poverty and low crime rate in 1930s. But rise in crime and living standards by the 50s. - Relative deprivation is how deprived we feel in relation to others / compared to our expectations. People may resort to crime to get what they feel is theirs. - Lea & Young - society today is prosperous and crime ridden because though we are more well off, media and ads shows us our relative deprivation and raised our expectations of what we should have, which encourages crime.

Answer 26

- Left realists see this as a group response to relative deprivation - Groups have different sub cultural solutions to this problem, such as closing the deprivation gap through crime, or using religion / spiritual confort to explain their disadvantages - Left realists argue criminal subcultures still have mainstream values / goals like materialism and consumerism - Young (2002) - USA ghettos had the American dream culture, but used crime to achieve them

Answer 27

- Marginalised groups lack clear goals / organisation to represent their interests - E.g. workers have clear goals like better conditions / pay, and use organisations like trade unions to pressure employers / politicians - However, unemployed youths are marginalised because because they don’t have these things, only frustration and resentment, which they release through crime, violent behaviour and rioting.

Answer 28

- Crime is a real problem that especially effects disadvantaged groups as they’re main victims, left realists say other theorists don’t take crime seriously - Marxists are too focused on the crimes of the powerful, neglecting working class from and its effects. - Neo-Marxist romanticise the working class as robin hoods who steal from the rich / resist capitalism - ignoring that working class crime often victimises other working class people - Labelling theorists see criminals as victims to unfair labelling by social control agents - ignoring the real victims (working class people who criminals make suffer) - Taking crime seriously means recognising who is most effected by crime, like unskilled workers being 2x more likely to be burgled, and that equality will be achieved through gradual change

Answer 29

- Young (2002) - we’re in late modernity, where factors like instability, insecurity and exclusion have made crime worse. - Insecurity and exclusion started rising in the 70s, and de-industrialisation and loss of unskilled jobs has raised unemployment rates - People in these circumstances have to turn to crime to survive, which is why crime rates are up - Relative deprivation is also increasing - the poor resent the rich careers like bankers / footballers, and the middle class see the ‘underclass’ as idle and living off the state - This individualisation means society’s reactions to crime is varied, which blurs the boundaries of right and wrong behaviour - so informed control like the family is less effective, and the public is intolerant of crime and demand harsh punishments - Late modern society has high crime rates but a low tolerance of crime

Answer 30

- Kinsey Lea & Young (1986) argue police clear up rates are too low to deter crime, and say the public should be more involved in determining police priorities and style of policing - Military policing - police usually rely on the publics info in investigating crime, but this is declining because the public don’t support the police. Therefore they rely on military policing ‘swamping’ areas using random stop and search tactics etc. This loses them police support with youths and ethnic minorities especially. - Left realists argue policing must be made accountable by local communities and deal with local concerns and investigating crime and involving them in policing policy - There should be a multi agency approach in crime control, involving police, local councils, social services, housing, schools, the public, and voluntary organisations

Answer 31

- Left realists don’t see improved policing / control as the main solution, because crime lies on the unequal structure of society - This means major structural changes are needed to reduce crime, like dealing with the inequality of opportunity and unfairness of reward, tackle discrimination, give everyone a decent job, and access to facilities and housing - We also need to embrace diversity and stop stereotyping whole groups as criminal

Answer 32

- They have had more influence on policy than most theories of crime, and their ideas align with 1997-2010 new labour government - tough on crime, tough on the cause of the crime - New labours ASBOs and firmer policing of hate crimes / sexual assault / domestic violence are left realist ideas of protecting vulnerable groups from crime - Young says these policies are trying to recreate the golden ages of the 1950s as ASBOs addressed ‘symptoms’ like antisocial behaviour but didn’t recreate a sense of community

Answer 33

- Henry & Milovanovic (1996) - left realists accept the definition that crime is a WC issue rather than addressing crimes of the powerful - Interactionalists - left realists only rely on quantitative data from victim surveys meaning they can’t explain offenders motives - Relative deprivation can’t fully explain crime because not everyone turns to it

Answer 34

- A higher proportion of women are convicted of property crimes like burglary - Males are more likely to be repeat offenders, have longer criminal records, and commit more serious crimes - A higher proportion of males are convicted of violent / sexual offences - Some claim that even when women’s crimes are reported, they’re less likely to be prosecuted or the woman is let off lightly - ‘Female’ crimes are less reported, such as shoplifting going unnoticed compared to male violence - Sociologists / criminologists argue stats underestimate the amount of female crime - 3/4 convicted offenders in England and Wales are male - 9% of women have a conviction by age 40 compared to 32% of males

Answer 35

- Pollak says that men are socialised to be respectful and protective of women, and because men make up the CJS, women are treated leniently (like crimes not being in official stats and receiving lighter sentences) - Graham & Bowling (1995) - sample of around 1.7k 14-25 year olds suggest female offenders are treated more leniently - official stats show men 4x more likely to offend where as the study found they were only about 2x more likely to admit that they have committed one - Flood-Page et al (2000) - 1/11 self reported female offenders got a caution / were prosecuted, compared to 1/7 self reported males - Court stats - females more likely to get bail, or a fine / community service sentence instead of incarceration

Answer 36

- Double deviance thesis - women are treated more harshly by courts because they’ve deviates from both law and gender norms (e.g. Myra Hindley) - Hales et al (2009) - self report study shows men are more likely to be offenders in all major offence categories - Yearnshire (1997) - men’s crimes against women go unreported (women suffer 35 assaults before reporting domestic violence) - Sharpe (2009) - court has double standards, youth worker records show 7/11 girls referred for support due to being sexually active, compared to 0/44 boys - Stewart (2006) - magistrates view of female defendants is based on stereotypical gender roles, not their actual offence

Answer 37

- Argues women’s behaviour is conformist and that their patriarchal position in society makes their crime rates lower than men’s - Control at home - women’s domestic role involves constant housework and childcare: means they’re always in the house and have less opportunities to offend - Control in public - by the threats of / acts of male violence against them, means women fear staying out at night. They’re also controlled by fear of not being respected - will avoid pubs so they’re not seen negatively - therefore they avoid sites of crime and cannot commit crimes like sex work - Control at work - women’s behaviour is controlled by male managers / supervisors - sexual harassment keeping them ‘in their place’. This limits women from top positions that would enable them to commit white collar / corporate crimes - Evaluation: shows how patriarchal control prevents women from deviating, but ignores the agency women have in offending by determining their behaviour by external sources

Answer 38

- Used unstructured interviews to study 39 15-46 year old working class women who were convicted of crimes like theft, fraud, drugs, sex work etc. - Argues that working class women are lead to conform through 2 deals - Class deal - working women are offers material rewards, decent living standards and leisure opportunities - Gender deal - women conforming to traditional gender roles in return get material and emotional rewards from family life Carlen argues women turn to crime when the reward isn’t worth the effort of the deal / deal isn’t available - Women in the study who failed to get the class deal felt powerless and oppressed - 32 of them were always in poverty, some found that prison qualifications still didn’t get them a job - Women in study found gender deal to have disadvantages or never had the opportunities to make the deal, some were abused by their fathers / experienced domestic violence, others spent time in care which broke family bonds - Evaluations shows how patriarchal failing to uphold its ends of the deal lifts the control stopping women offending, but Carlen sample is small and therefore unrepresentative of non-serious offenders and other classes

Answer 39

- Crime differences come from the traditional gender roles we’re socialised into - instrumental and expressive - Girls = nurturing, gentle, in the home, grow up with a female role model so are less crime prone - Boys = taught to reject feminine role models, toughness etc that makes them crime prone - Walklate (2003): criticises Parsons for making biological assumptions, matching women to the expressive role just because they can bear children

Answer 40

- Women’s crime is on the rise because they are becoming more free from patriarchal society - Less discrimination paired with more work / education opportunities mean women now have traditionally male roles that give them access to illegitimate opportunity structures - This means women don’t just commit ‘female’ crimes like shoplifting and prostitution, but ‘male’ crimes too like violence and white collar crime - E.g. both female offending and share of offence rates went up in the second 1/2 of the 20th century - time where things like Equality Act were liberating women, women’s shift to crimes like embezzlement and rise of girl gangs in 2010s

Answer 41

- Female crime rates were rising in the 50s, women’s liberation emerged in the 60s - Even though women are now involved in ‘male’ crime, like drugs, its linked to prostitution which isn’t liberated - Most offenders are working class, the group least effected by liberation - Laidler & Hunt (2001) - little proof of illegitimate structure being opened to women - females in gangs still expected to conform to conventional gender roles

Answer 42

Hand & Dodd (2009) - between 2000-08, female arrests for violence rose by 177 per year - supports the liberation thesis

Answer 43

- The rise in arrests still doesn’t match victim surveys, as they don’t report a rise in attack by females - Net widening - there hasn’t been a rise in female crime, the justice system has just started arresting women for less serious offences than before This concern about rising female crime may just be a moral panic about girls behaviour, as media depictions showed them as drunk and disorderly / out of control / looking for fights

Answer 44

- Homicide - victims 70% men and women victims are more likely to know their killer as 60% of the time it was a partner / ex partner - Violence - overall men are mostly victims, but more women are victims of intimate violence (domestic violence, sexual assault, stalking) This suggests that even though men are the victims more, females have greater fear of being a victim

Answer 45

- He argues masculinity is a social construct / accomplishment that men constantly work towards constructing and presenting to others - Different masculinities exist in society, but hegemonic masculinity is defined via - work, heterosexism and driven / uncontrolled sexuality of men - Some men have subordinated masculinities, where they don’t have the resources to be dominant or have no desire to do so - White MC youths subordinate themselves to teachers to get middle class status. They have this accommodating masculinity in schools and an oppositional one outside where they engage in drinking / pranks / vandalism - White WC youths have less chance of education success, so have oppositional masculinity in and out of school - Black lower WC youths have less expectations of a reasonable job due to racism, so use gangs / violence to express masculinity, or use property crime for material success - Messerschmidt acknowledges that MC men may use corporate / white collar crime to accomplish hegemonic masculinity, while poorer groups use street crime for a subordinated masculinity

Answer 46

- Is masculinity an explanation of crime or simply a description of male offenders? Messerschmidt is making a circular argument where masculinity explains male crime (violence) because they are crimes committed by males (who have violent characteristics) - Theory doesn’t explain why not all men use crime to accomplish masculinity - Concept is overworked - using masculinity to explain crimes from joyriding to embezzlement

Answer 47

- In postmodernists, organised professional criminal subcultures emerged as a result of the new illegal business opportunities in the night time economy - The ability to use violence is not only a way to express masculinity, but a commodity to earn a living - Men must use their bodily capital to maintain employability and reputation e.g. bodyguards will improve their physicality with body building - Winlow says this is maintaining the value sign of their bodies to discourage people from challenging them. This reflects the postmodern idea that signs have a reality of their own independent of the thing they represent

Answer 48

- Winlow studies bouncers in Sunderland, where there’s a high unemployment and de-industrialisation - He found men here had opportunities for paid work, access to illegal business venture like drugs and a way to express masculinity through violence

Answer 49

- Globalisation has shifted us from a modern industrial society to a postmodern de-industrialised society - This has led to the loss of traditional manual jobs that WC men used to express their masculinity via hard physical labour and providing for the family

Answer 50

- While the traditional industry has declined, the service sector (night-time leisure, economy of clubs / pubs / bars) has expanded - Here some young WC men have found this provides them with legal employment, access to a criminal opportunity structure, and a way of expressing their masculinity

Answer 51

- Young (1993) argues ethnic differences in stats reflect real differences in the levels of offending by different ethnic groups - Left realists argue that racism led to marginalising and economically excluding ethnic minorities, who face more risk of poverty, unemployment and poor housing - The medias emphasis on consumerism leads to a sense of relative deprivation and many are unable to reach the materialistic goals legitimately - Lea & Young argue one response from unemployment black males is delinquent subcultures, which raises levels of utilitarian crime like theft in order to resolve relative deprivation - Because these groups are marginalised and have no one to represent their interests, they release their frustrations through non-utilitarian crime such as violence/ rioting

Answer 52

- Lea & Young acknowledge that the police act in racist ways which injustly criminalises authority groups. However, they don’t believe that discriminatory policing fully explains the differences in stats - E.g. 40% of crimes known to police are reported by public rather then police finding them themselves. Even if police act discriminatory here, this can’t account for the ethnic differences in the statistics - Lea & Young also argue that we can’t explain differences in minorities in terms of police racism. E.g. black people have higher rates of criminalisation than Asians - police would have to be very selective in their racism to cause such a big stat difference

Answer 53

- Therefore Lea & Young conclude that the stats represent real differences in the levels of offending in different ethnic groups, which are caused by different levels of relative deprivation and marginalisation in groups - However - Lea & Young are criticised for their role in policed racism. The differences in black and Asian offending are different because police stereotype them differently - blacks as dangerous. Asians as passive

Answer 54

Unlike left realists, Neo-Marxists argue that the differences in statistics are the outcome of a process of social construction that stereotypes minority ethnic groups as inherently more criminal than others

Answer 55

- Argues that black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes about African-Caribbean and Asian people - Minority ethnic groups come to be criminalised and appear more in official statistics all because of the police and CJS acting on these racist stereotypes - Gilroy argues that minority ethnic group crime is a form of political resistance against racist stereotypes. As most black / Asian people originated in former British colonies, their anti-imperialist struggles taught them to fight oppression through riots and demonstrations - which is what they do now when facing racism in Britain, though this time they’re criminalised for it Criticisms from Lea & Young: - First gen immigrants in the 50s-60s were very law-abiding, they’re not likely to have passed down a tradition of anti-colonial struggle - Most crime is intra-ethnic, so it can’t be a fight against racism. Lea & Young argues Gilroy romanticises street crime as revolutionary when its not

Answer 56

- They argue that the 1970s saw a moral panic over black ‘muggers’ which served the interests of capitalism - Capitalism at the time was in crisis, high inflation and rising unemployment provoked industrial unrest and strikes - The ruling class needed to use force to maintain control, but this force needs to look legitimate so further opposition isn’t provoked - The black muggers moral panic was media driven, highlighting this new crime ‘mugging’ - Hall et al note there wasn’t a significant rise at the time, though the media, police and politicians soon associated mugging with black youths - They argue that this made black people a scapegoat that distracted us from the true causes of problems like unemployment - capitalism in crisis. The WC were therefore divided and less pf a threat to capitalism - Hall et al argue the crisis marginalised blacks and raised their unemployment, which is why they turned to petty crime to survive. Criticisms: - Downes & Rock (2011) - Hall is inconsistent in saying black street crime isn’t rising, but was because of unemployment - Left realists argue the inner city residents’ fear isn’t panicky, its realistic

Answer 57

- Racist victimisation is where an individual is selected as a target because of their race, ethnicity or religion - This idea was brought to more attention after the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence and the 1999 Macpherson report Info on racist victimisation comes from victim surveys like CSEW and police recorded statistics which cover: 1. Racist incidents - any incident perceived to be racist by the victim or another 2. Racially or religiously aggravated offences - offender is motivated by hostility towards members of a racial or religious group

Answer 58

- In 2019 / 20, there were 76000 race hate crimes and 6800 religious hate crimes in England / Wales - Most incidents go unreported, the CSEW estimates there were actually 104000 racially motivated incidents and 42000 religious ones in 2019 / 20 - There are approx. 60000 racially motivated offences per year

Answer 59

- The risk of being victim to any sort of crime varies by ethnic group - 2019 / 20 CSEW showed those from mixed ethnic backgrounds have a higher risk (20%) of being a victim than anyone else (black 14%, white 13%, Asians 13%) - Differences can be for reasons other than ethnicity, such as violent crime victimisation being linked to being unemployed, young and male. Therefore young male ethnic minorities are most at risk of victimisation - Though stats record instances of victimisation, they don’t record people’s experiences - Sampson & Phillips (1992) - racist victimisation tends to be ongoing over time, with repeated minor instances of abuse being interwoven with violent crimes

Answer 60

- Members of ethnic minorities are often active in responding to victimisation - This includes situational crime prevention such as fireproof doors / letterboxes and self defence campaigns - These measures show the under protection of the police, who ignore the racial dimensions of victimisation and fail to record or investigate reported incidents properly - Macpherson Enquiry (1999) concludes the police investigation into the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence was marred by a combination of professional incompetence, institutional racism and failure of leadership by senior officers

Answer 61

- CSEW asks individuals what crimes they’ve been victims of, which tells us about ethnicity as victims will specify who committed the crime against them - E.G. black people are over represented by victims as offender of mugging - Victim surveys show us that crime is intra-ethnic (happens within groups rather than between them) LIMITATIONS: - Only cover personal crimes (1/5 of all crime) - Phillips & Bowling (2012) - white victims over-identifying blacks as offenders - Excludes crimes by / against organisations (telling us nothing about the ethnicity of white collar / corporate criminals)

Answer 62

- These ask individuals to disclose crimes they’ve committed. - Graham & Bowling (1995) found ethnic offending differences in 2500 people: white 44%, black 43%, Indian 30%, Pakistani 28%, and Bangladeshi 13%. - Sharpe & Budd (2005) - 2003 Offending, Crime and Justice survey found 40% of white and mixed ethnic origin admitted to crime, black 28% and Asian 21% - Self report study findings challenge the stereotypes that black people offend the most, and support the view that Asians offend very little.

Answer 63

- Police can use power of stop and search is they have ‘reasonable suspicion’ of wrong doing - minority ethnic groups are stopped and searched more - In 2020, blacks were 9x and Asians were 2x more likely to be stopped and searched than whites - Stats show Asians are searched under the Terrorism Act 2000 more than other people - In 2019, blacks were 4x more likely to have force used against them by Met Police officers, and 5x more likely to have taser-like devices used on them. - Phillips & Bowling (2007) - members of these communities therefore feel over-policed and under protected, having no faith in the police

Answer 64

- Police racism - the 1999 Macpherson report investigated the murder of Stephen Lawrence, concluded the Met Police is institutionally racist - Ethnic differences in offending - stop and search differences simply reflect the different levels of ethnic offending - Demographic factors - minority groups are over represented in groups who are often stopped, like unemployed, young and manual workers. Even though these are stopped regardless of ethnicity, they have a high proportion of ethnic minorities - therefore making minorities the ones who are stopped more

Answer 65

- Hudson & Bramhall (2005) argue racist attitudes in these reports can lead to higher conviction rates, like how the reports labelled Asians / Muslims as unremorseful after 9/11

Answer 66

- In 2021, blacks were over 4x more likely to be in prison than whites, with blacks and Asians serving longer sentences than them too - They are also most likely to be prisoners on remand due to being less likely to be granted bail

Answer 67

- 2019 England & wales figs show blacks arrests rates being 3x higher than whites - Black and Asian arrestees are less likely to just get a caution - This may be because minority groups are more likely to deny the offence and exercise their right to legal aid (as they don’t trust the police) - not admitting means you can’t get away with a caution

Answer 68

- The CPS decides if the polices cases can be taken to trial by judging the chance of prosecution and if its in publics interest - Studies suggest the CPS is more likely to drop cases with ethnic minorities - Phillips & Bowling (2002) - this is because CPS see police evidence as weak due to being based on racist stereotypes - Minorities are more likely to elect for the trial to be at Crown Court due to doubting magistrates impartiality

Answer 69

- This means blacks and Asians are less likely to be found guilty, which suggests discrimination - where the police / CPS bring in weak cases that are thrown out by court - Black offender have an imprisonment rate 1 percentage point higher and Asians 3.4 higher then whites - could be due to previous convictions or more serious sentencing

Answer 70

- Media over represents violent / sexual crime: Ditton & Duffy (1983) found 46% of media reports about this, but police recorded stats say they’re only 3% of all recorded crime. - Media portrays criminals / victims as older and MC: Felson (1998) calls this ‘age fallacy’ - Media exaggerates police success: in clearing up cases. This is because police uncover most crime stories and want to be portrayed well, and because media over-represents crime that have higher clear-up rates, like violence. - Media exaggerates the risk of victimisation: in women, white people & high status individuals - Media overplays extraordinary crimes: Felson calls this ‘dramatic fallacy’, as well as making us believe one has to be daring / clever to commit or solve crime (ingenuity fallacy).

Answer 71

- There’s been a shift in what crime the media covers, Schlesinger & Tumber (1994): ‘60s focus was murder and petty crime, but ‘90s reporting widened to drugs, child abuse, terrorism and more - Soothill & Walby (1991) found newspaper reports of rape cases went from under 1/4 of all cases in 1951 to over 1/3 in 1985.

Answer 72

- Distorted media reporting of crime shows that news is socially constructed, Cohen & Young (1973) argue news is manufactured, not discovered. - News values are the criteria by which journalists / editors decide if a story is newsworthy / deserves coverage: 1. Immediacy - breaking news 2. Dramatisation - action / excitement 3. Personalisation - human interest stories 4. Higher status - people / “celebs” 5. Simplification - eliminating shades of grey 6. Novelty / unexpectedness - a new angle 7. Risk - victim cantered stories about fear / vulnerability 8. Violence - visible and spectacular acts - News media gives crime so much coverage because its considered unusual and extraordinary

Answer 73

- Mandel (1984) - ≈ 10 billion crime thrillers were sold worldwide between 1945-84, while ≈ 25% of prime time TV are crime shows / movies - This tells us that fictional representations are an important source of our knowledge on crime. Surette (1998) - fictional representations of crime, criminals and victims follow the ‘law of opposites’ because they oppose what official stats tell us: —> Property crime is under represented while violence / drugs / sex crimes are over represented —> Real life homicides happen due to brawls / domestic disputes, while fictional ones come from greed / calculation —> Fictional sex crimes are committed by strangers / psychopaths, while in reality its acquaintances —> Fictional cops usually get their man Despite this, recent trends indicate a new genre of ‘reality’ infotainment shows that feature non-white, younger, underclass offenders. Increasingly, police are being portrayed as corrupt and brutal instead of successful.

Answer 74

There’s concern that the media negatively affects attitudes, values and behaviour in people, especially vulnerable groups like the young, lower class and undereducated. There are ways the media may cause crime and deviance: 1. Imitation - deviant role models lead to copy cat crimes 2. Arousal - though viewing violent / sexual imagery 3. Desensitisation - through repeatedly viewing violence 4. Transmitting knowledge of criminal techniques 5. As a target for crime, theft of TVs 6. Stimulating desires for unaffordable goods through advertising 7. Portraying the police as incompetent 8. Glamourising offending Studies investigating the effects of exposure to violent media actually concluded that any negative impact is small and limited, and Livingstone (1996) suggests our major concern about media impacting children is because we regard childhood as a time of innocence in the private sphere.

Answer 75

- The media exaggerate how much violent / unusual crime there is in society and exaggerate the risk of certain groups being victims. Therefore, the media is distorting the public impression of crime, giving them an unrealistic fear of it. - Gerbner et al found heavy users of TV (4+ hours) had higher levels of fear of crime - Schlesinger & Tumber (1992) correlated media consumption and fear of crime, as heavy TV users and tabloid readers had increased fears, especially of mugging / physical attack. - However, this doesn’t mean the media is causing an increased fear, as those already afraid of going out at night watch more TV simply because they’re home more. - Greer & Reiner (2012) studies of the effects of media ignore the different meanings viewers give to media violence, such as distinguishing between cartoon, horror and new violence.

Answer 76

- Lab based research has looked into if media portrayals of crime / deviant lifestyles leads to viewers to commit crime themselves. - Left realists argue that the mass media is increasing the sense of relative deprivation among marginalised groups. - In today’s society even the poorest groups have media access, where they see images of a materialistic ‘good’ life of leisure and consumer goods as the norm. - This stimulates marginalised groups sense of relative deprivation and social exclusion, which may be what pushes them to commit crime.

Answer 77

- Another feature of late modernity is the emphasis on consumption, excitement and immediacy —> Hayward & Young argues crime and its thrills are commodified - Corporations / advertisers use media images of crime to sell products, e.g. hip-hop combines images of street criminality with consumers success. - Fenwick & Hayward (2000) - crime is packaged and marketed to young people as an exciting, cool and fashionable cultural symbol. - Hayward & Young argue that mainstream products do this too, like car ads with pyromania / joy riding / street riots, ‘heroin chic’, imagery of the forbidden (brands Opium, Poison, Obsession).

Answer 78

- Cultural criminology argues that the media makes crime itself a commodity that people desire. - Instead of producing crime in their audience, media encourages them to consume crime. - Hayward & Young (2012) —> late modernity is media-saturated, with an ever-expanding tangle of fluid digital images, including of crime. - This causes the image and reality of crime to blur and be indistinguishable —> e.g. gang assaults aren’t caught on camera, they’re staged for it to be released as underground fight videos

Answer 79

- Cohen (1972) focused on the medias response to disturbances between the mods and rockers, 2 young WC groups who had different dress senses and modes of transport. - The initial confrontations were on Clacton beach in 1964, they were little more than scuffles. - In response, the media over-reacted to the minor disorder. Cohen argues they had an ‘inventory’ of 3 elements: 1. Exaggeration & distortion - the media exaggerated numbers involved and the extent of the violence / damage using sensational headlines like ‘Day of Terror by Scooter Gangs’. Non-events such as the ‘town held their breath’ for invasions that didn’t happen. 2. Prediction - the media regularly assumed and predicted further violence / conflict from the group 3. Symbolisation - the symbols of the mods and rockers (clothes, bikes and scooters, hairstyles, music, etc), were all negatively labelled and associated with deviance

Answer 80

- The media can cause crime and deviance through labelling, as moral entrepreneurs who disapprove of certain behaviour will use the media to pressurise authorities to ‘do something’ about it. - If they succeed, their campaigning will result in the negative labelling of behaviour, and even law changes, like the Marijuana Tax Act in the USA - By helping to label smoking weed as criminal (even though it was legal), the media helped to cause crime. - A part of this process is creating a moral panic - an exaggerated over-reaction by society to a perceived problem, often driven by the media.

Answer 81

- Media identifies a group as a folk devil / threat to societal values - Media presents the group in a negative, stereotypical way, exaggerating the scale of the problem. - Moral entrepreneurs, editors, politicians, police chiefs, and other respectable authorities condemn the group and their behaviour. - Here, a ‘crackdown’ on the group is called for, but this can create a self fulfilling prophecy that then amplifies the problem

Answer 82

- Cohen puts the mods and rockers moral panic into the context of chine during post-war British society. - He argues moral panics occur at times of social change, which reflect the anxieties people feel about accepted values being undermined. - Moral panics are therefore often the result of boundary crisis, and folk devils the media symbolises give a focus to worries about social disorder. - Functionalists —> moral panics are a way of responding to the sense of anomie / normlessness that change brings. Dramatising the threat as folk devil, the media raises collective consciousness and reasserts social control. - Hall et al (1976) —> takes a new-Marxist view, locating the role of moral panics in capitalism by using the 1970s media focus on muggings to distract from the crisis of capitalism. - Contemporary moral panics —> dangerous dogs, asylum seekers, child sexual abuse, AIDs, single parents and more.

Answer 83

- Assumes society over-reacts, but who decides whats disproportionate? - What turns the amplifier on / off? - why can the media cause some moral panics about things but no others? - Late modernity —> today’s audiences are used to ‘shock, horror’ stories, so McRobbie & Thornton (1995) argue moral panics are less impactful now as they’re routine. There’s also less consensus about whats deviant, so it’s harder for the media to create moral panics.

Answer 84

- Cohen argues that the medias portrayal of events causes a deviance amplification spiral by making it seem like the problem was spreading and getting out of hand. - This led to more calls for harsher responses from police / courts, but this only caused further marginalisation and stigmatisation of the mods and rockers. - The media emphasised their differences into 2 distinct identities, transforming 2 loose-knit groupings to tight knit gangs. - Here we can see how the call for more punishment and control of the situation actually caused a spiral of more deviance / calls for action instead of resolving the issue

Answer 85

- The emergence of new crimes is often met with moral panics, like horror comic, TV, cinema, video games and more being accused of corrupting the young and undermining public morality. - Thomas & Loader (2000) - define cyber crime as computer-mediated activities that are illegal / considered illicit, and are conducted through global electronic networks. - Jewkes (2003) - the internet gives opportunities for conventional crime like fraud, as well as new crime that use new tools, like piracy. - Wall (2001) defines 5 categories of cyber crime: 1. Cyber-trespass: crossing boundaries into others cyber property, including hacking, sabotage, and spreading viruses. 2. Cyber-deception and theft: identity theft, phishing and violation of intellectual property rights. 3. Cyber-pornography: includes porn involving minors and opportunities for children to access porn online. 4. Cyber-violence: psychological harm or inciting physical harm. Includes cyber-stalking, hate crimes and bullying. 5. Global cyber crime: policing cyber crime is hard because of the sheer size and globalised nature of the internet, which also causes issues of jurisdiction (where to charge the person)

Answer 86

- Held et al (1999) - there has been a globalisation of crime - increasing interconnectedness of crime across national borders. - This means there’s new opportunities for crime, as well as new means and new offences like cyber crime - The global crime economy has a supply side (source of drugs, sex workers and goods) and a demand side (rich West demanding these things). - Supply is linked to globalisation, as poor drug-producing countries like Peru have large populations of people in poverty. These groups see drug cultivation as needed little investment in technology and higher pay than traditional crops.

Answer 87

- Taylor (1997) - argues globalisation has led to changes in the pattern and extent of crime - creating more inequality and increasing crime. - Globalisation allows transnational corporations to switch manufacturing to low-wage countries - producing job insecurity, unemployment and poverty. - Deregulation means governments have less control over their own economies - to create jobs or raise taxes, as well as decreasing whats spent on state welfare. - Social cohesion is undermined by marketisation, which causes people to see themselves as individual consumers who calculate the person costs / benefits / of each action. All these factors create insecurity / inequalities that will push people, especially poorer groups, into crime. A lack of legitimate jobs drives the unemployed to look for illegal opportunities, like the lucrative drugs trade. - Globalisation also creates criminal opportunities for elite groups. E.g. deregulating financial markets give opportunities for insider trading and moving funds around the world to avoid tax. - Globalisation has also changed patterns of employment, which brings new opportunities for crime, like using subtracting to recruit ‘flexible’ workers who often work illegally or in illegal health / labour conditions. Evaluation - though Taylor links global trends in the capitalist economy to changing crime patterns, it doesn’t explain how these changes make people turn to crime. (As not every poor person turn to crime).

Answer 88

Argues that there’s a global criminal economy worth £1 trillion a year that takes several forms: 1. Arms trafficking - to illegal regimes / groups / terrorists. 2. Trafficking in nuclear materials 3. Smuggling illegal immigrants - Chinese Triads $2.5B/year 4. Trafficking women / children - links to prostitution / slavery 5. Sex tourism - Westerners travel for sex, often with minors 6. Trafficking body parts - organ transplants 7. Cyber crimes - identity theft, child pornography 8. Green crimes - illegally dumping toxic waste 9. International terrorism 10. Smuggling of legal goods - alcohol / tobacco to avoid tax 11. Trafficking artefacts / endangered species 12. The drugs trade - approx. $300-400B per year at street prices 13. Money laundering - approx. $1.5T per year

Answer 89

- Globalisation produces a new mentality of ‘risk consciousness’ - where risk is seen as global instead of tied to certain places - E.g increased movement of people (economic migrants / asylum seekers) has worried Western populations about the risk of crime and the need to protect borders - Our knowledge of risks comes from the media, who have created moral panics in the case of immigrants - showing terrorists and scroungers - The consequences of this is countries increasing social control, like the UK fining airlines for brining in undocumented passengers

Answer 90

- They focus on the role of international financial organisations like International Monetary Fund and World Bank in crimes of globalisation - World was dominated by major capitalist state - had 188 members but only USA, Japan, Germany, Britain and France had voting rights. - Rothe & Friedrichs argue that these bodies impose capitalist ‘structural adjustment programmes’ on poorer countries - These programmes make neo-liberal economic changes, where government spending on health and education are cut and publicly owned services like water supply are privatised. This allows western corporations to expand into these countries, creating conditions for crime. Rothe et al (2008) found the programme in Rwanda caused mass unemployment

Answer 91

- Winlows study of bouncers showed how de-industrialisation and globalisation created new criminal opportunities. - Hobbs & Dunnigham - found the way crimes organised is linked to economic changes caused by globalisation. It involves individuals with contacts being a ‘hub’ that a loose network forms around. The network involves more individuals seeking opportunities, which often link legitimate and illegitimate opportunities. ‘Glocal’ organisation - where crime is rooted in a local context but has international links. E.g. the drugs trade may vary from place to place in local conditions, as well as being influenced by global factors such as drugs available abroad McMafia - Glenny (2008) uses this to refer to organisations that emerged in Russia / Eastern Europe after communism fell. Glenny traces the origins of transnational organised crime to the break up the Soviet Union after 1989, while aligned with the de-regulation of global markets. The Russian government de-regulated many sectors after communism fell, so wealthy former officials bought diamonds, gas and oils for cheap and sold it on the world market for astronomical prices.

Answer 92

- These are crimes that result directly from destroying and degrading the Earths resources. South explains 4 types: 1. Crimes of air pollution: burning fossil fuels from industry / transport adds 6B tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere every year, and Walters (2013) says 2x as many die from air-pollution breathing problems than 20 years ago. Criminals - governments, businesses, consumers. 2. Crimes of deforestation: 1/5 of the world’s tropical rainforest was destroyed between 1960-90, some through illegal logging. The war on drugs in the Andes has caused destroyed crops and and contaminated water due to trying to kill drug plants with pesticide spray. Criminals - the state and those who profit from destruction, like logging companies. 3. Crimes of species decline / animal abuse: 50 species a day are becoming extinct, and 70-95% of earths animals like in the rainforests that are under threat. There’s also trafficking of animals / body parts. 4. Crimes of water pollution: 1/2B people lack clean water, and 25 million per year die from contaminated water. Marine pollution threatens 58% of the earths oceans reefs, and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill cause harm to marine life / coasts. Criminals - businesses dumping toxic waste, and governments that discharge untreated water into rivers / seas.

Answer 93

- These are crimes that grow from flouting the rules that aim to regulate / prevent environmental disasters, something the government often does. 1. State violence against oppositional groups: - Though states condemn terrorism, they use other illegal methods themselves. E.g. in 1985 the French secret blew up the greenpeace ship in New Zealand that was there to prevent green crimes like the French nuclear weapons testing in the South Pacific 2. Hazardous waste and organised crime: - Disposable of toxic waste from chemical / nuclear / other industries is highly profitable. - Businesses may dump waste illegally because it’s cheaper, such as eco-mafias in Italy profiting from illegal dumping. This process is global in nature, like the tsunami of 2004 washing up illegal waste from European companies on the shores of Somalia. Western businesses may also ship waste to be processed in poor countries because it’s $3 per tonne rather than $25000 in the USA. - Illegal dumping shows the issue of law enforcement in a globalised world. The existence of laws regulating disposal in developed countries gives companies an incentive to illegally dispose waste in poor countries, where they are less developed and therefore lack the laws that make it illegal. - Environmental discrimination - how South (2020) describes how poorer groups are worst affected by pollution.

Answer 94

- Some ask: if the pollution that causes global warming / acid rain is legal and no crime has been committed, is it a matter for criminologists?

Answer 95

- Not concerned with this because no laws have been broken. - The beginning of this approach comes from national / international regulations about the environment. - Situ & Emmons (2000) - define environmental crime as ‘an unauthorised act / omission that violates the law’ - Advantages of this approach include a clearly defined subject matter, and disadvantages include accepting definitions of crime from powerful groups who serve their own interests.

Answer 96

- Takes a more radical approach by starting from the notion of harm instead of criminal law. - White (2008) - argues the subject of criminology is any action that harms the physical environment / person, no matter whether it breaks the law or not. - This could be a global approach to environmental harm, as traditional criminology is limited to what different state laws perceive as a crime against the environment

Answer 97

1. Anthropocentric - White says nation-states and transnational companies assume humans’ right to dominate nature for their benefit and put economic growth above all else. 2. Ecocentric - views humans and environment as interdependent, meaning environmental harm also harms us. Ecocentrism also sees both humans and the environment liable to exploitation, especially by global capitalism

Answer 98

- Environmental crimes such as Chernobyl shows us how threats to humans and nature are often man made instead of natural, like droughts and famines. - Beck (1992) - we’re in late modern society and can now provide adequate resources for all. However, the increase in productivity and the tech that sustains it have created ‘manufactured risks’, such as green house gas emissions from industry.

Answer 99

- Shows how the global nature of human-made risk can cause crime / disorder, as global heating in Russia caused the hottest heatwave in a century, destroying their grain belt - The shortage led to Russia imposing import bans as well as pushing up the world price of grain - This had a knock on effect on Mozambique, where the 30% rise in bread caused rioting and looting of food stores, which resulted in deaths

Answer 100

- Recognises the growing importance of environmental issues and the need to address the harms and risks of environmental damage to humans and otherwise - However —> focusing on this broader concept of harms instead of legally defined crime makes it hard to distinguish what is a green crime and what isn’t - political / moral statements should be made to address this

Answer 101

- Green and Ward (2012) define state crime as illegal or deviant activities perpetuated by or with the complicity of state agencies - This includes all forms of crime controlled by / on behalf of states and governments in order to further their policies, but does not include acts that merely benefit individuals who work for the state like police officers

Answer 102

1. Political crimes: like corruption and censorship 2. Crimes by security & police forces: like genocide, torture and disappearances of dissidents 3. Economic crimes: like official violations of health & safety laws 4. Social & cultural crimes: like institutional racism

Answer 103

- The UN defines genocide as ‘acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group.’ - In 1994, Rwanda went through whats described as the 20th century’s fastest genocide - Rwanda became a Belgian country in 1922, and the Belgians used the minority Tutsis to mediate their rule over the Hutu majority - Despite these people very similar, being more like just social class differences, the Belgians ethicised the 2 groups with racial ID cards and separate schooling - Rwandas independence in 1962 brought the Hutus into power, which escalated in the 90s by the government trying to cling to power by fuelling race hate propaganda against Tutsis. The genocide was triggered by the Hutu presidents plane being shot down, where in 100 days, 800,000 Tutsis people were slaughtered

Answer 104

State crimes are often committed in conjunction with corporate crimes. Kramer & Michalowski (1993) - there’s state-initiated and state-facilitated corporate crime: 1. State-initiated corporate crime - where states initiate, direct or approve corporate crime. E.g. challenger space shuttle disaster 1986, where negligent, cost-cutting decisions made by state agency NASA and corporation Morton Thiokol caused an explosion that killed 7. 2. State-facilitated corporate crime - where states fail to regulate / control corporate behaviour, making crime easier. In the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, the right leased by BP (British petroleum) exploded and sank, killing 11 and causing the biggest accidental oil spill in history. Official enquiry found governments failed to notice cost-cutting decisions and industry inadequacy that led to this.

Answer 105

State crime is the most serious form of crime for 2 reasons: 1. The scale of state crime - A states enormous power means they can harm on a huge scale - Green & Ward (2012) - cite a fig of 262M people murdered by governments during the 20th century. 2. The state is the source of law - The state has the role of defining what is and what isn’t criminal, uphold the law, and prosecute offenders - This power means they can conceal its crimes, evade punishment and even avoid defining their own actions as criminal - All types of state, including democracies like Britain, have been guilty of crime, but the principle of national sovereignty (that states are the supreme authority in their borders) stops external authorities like the United Nations from intervening.

Answer 106

We can distinguish between 2 war related crimes: 1. Illegal wars: - International law means that apart from self-defence, only the UN Security Council can declare war. - This means many see the US-led wars in Afghanistan / Iraq as illegal - Kramer & Michalowski (2005) - argue that to justify the 2003 Iraq invasion as self defence, the USA and UK falsely claimed that Iraqis had weapons of mass destruction 2. Crimes committed during war or in the aftermath: - Whyte (2014) describes US’s neoliberal colonisation of Iraq, where the constitution was illegally changed so the economy could be privatised. Iraqi oil revenues were seized to pay for ‘reconstructions’ and in 2004 $48B went to US firms - Other crimes committed in this war include the torture of prisoners, and an inquiry into Abu Ghraib prison found many instances of sadistic, blatant and wanton criminal abuses but US soldiers - Kramer (2014) - terror bombing has been normalised, as the American fire-bombings of 67 Japanese cities and atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had no trials for war crimes

Answer 107

- Chambliss (1989) defines it as ‘acts defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials in pursuit of their jobs as representatives of the state’. - Using the states own domestic law as definition is inadequate because it ignores that the state themselves make the laws and can avoid criminalising themsleves

Answer 108

- Michalowski (1985) - defines it as illegal acts as well as legally permissible acts whose consequences are alike those of illegal act in harm caused. - Hillyard et al (2004) - we need to take a wider view of state wrongdoing by replacing the study of crime with zemiology: the study of harms whether they break the law or not, like state-facilitate poverty - This definition means the state can’t rule themselves out of court by making laws that allow their actions, as well as making a single standard we can apply to states to see which are most harmful - Critics say that these ‘harms’ are very vague - what level of harm must happen before an act is defined as a crime? And who decides what counts as harm?

Answer 109

- Labelling theory argues that whether something is a crime depends on whether the social audience defines it as such - This recognises that the state crime is socially constructed and will change over time / culture - This definition is even vaguer than harms, as Kauzlarich’s (2007) study of anti-Iraq war protesters found the war harmful / illegitimate, but couldn’t label it as criminals. - Theory is also unclear about who the audience is and that they can be manipulated by ruling-class ideology

Answer 110

- Some sociologists base their definition on law created through treaties and agreements between states, like the Geneva Convention on war crime - Rothe & Mullins (2008) define it as any action by / on behalf of a state that violates international and / or state law - This definition is strong because it doesn’t rely on the sociologists own definition of state crime or the relevant audience, instead using internationally agreed-upon definitions - However, international law is also a social construction involving those in power. Another disadvantage is that this definition looks at war crimes / crimes against humanity and not other state crimes like corruption.

Answer 111

Sociologists may use human rights to define state crimes. Human rights include: - Natural rights: that we have dimply by virtue of existing, like right to life and freedom of speech. - Civil rights: to vote, privacy, a fair, trial, education etc. - Schwendinger (1975) define it as a violation of peoples basic human rights by the state / its agents. - This would mean states that practise imperialism, racism, sexism, economic exploitation are committing crimes by denying people of basic human rights. - Risse et al (1999): advantage of this definition is that almost all states care about their human rights images because rights are a global social norm. This causes ‘shaming’ to arise and can encourage states to treat citizens properly. - Disadvantage: differing opinions on what human rights are, some may include life / liberty, some may exclude freedom from hunger

Answer 112

- Adorno et al (1950) identifies this personality, which includes a willingness to obey the orders of superiors without question - They argue many Germans in WW2 has this due to the disciplinarian socialisation patterns happening at the time

Answer 113

- Crimes are usually defines as deviating from social norms, but state crimes a crime of conformity because they require obedience to higher authority. - E.g. an officer accepting a bribe from a higher up is conforming to his units norms as well as breaking the law. - Green & Ward (2012) - to overcome norms against using cruelty, people who became torturers were often re-socialised, trained and exposed to propaganda about the ‘enemy’, and such acts were often set up as a 9-5 where torturers can see the crimes as part of their job. Kelman & Hamilton (1989) identify 3 general features producing crimes of obedience: 1. Authorisation - acts ordered by those in power replace our normal moral principles with a duty to obey. 2. Routinisation - once the crime is committed, there’s a pressure to turn the act into a routine we can perform in a detached manner. 3. Dehumanisation - the enemy is portrayed as sub-human, so normal moral principles don’t apply.

Answer 114

- Some argue that the holocaust represented a breakdown of modern civilisation as a regression into pre-modern barbarism Zygmunt (1989) - takes the opposite view, arguing that there were key features of modern society making the holocaust possible: 1. A division of labour - everyone responsible for 1 small task, so no one felt personally responsible for the atrocity 2. Bureaucratisation - normalising the killing by making it a routine, rule governed ‘job’, as well as dehumanising people as ‘units’ 3. Instrumental rationality - using rational, efficient methods to achieve a goal, regardless of what the goal is. For a business its profit, for the holocaust it was murder. 4. Science & technology - railways transporting people to death camps, industrially produced gas used to kill them. Evaluation: - Not all genocides occur through an organised division of labour that allows individuals to distance themselves from the killing, for instance the Rwandan genocide was carried out directly by marauding groups. - Ideological factors also have an influence e.g. nazi Germany stressed a single monolithic German racial identity that excluded Jews, Roma and Slavs, who were defined as inferior / subhuman. This meant they didn’t need to be treated according to normal moral standards. - Even though a modern, rational division of labour supplied the means for the holocaust, it was racist ideology behind the motivation to carry it out, as well as the preceding decade of anti-semitic propaganda that help create willing participants and sympathetic bystanders.

Answer 115

- Alvarez (2010) - recent years have seen the growing impact of the international human rights movement, such as the work of Amnesty International pressuring states. - Cohen (2006) - this means states now make effort to conceal or justify their human right crimes, or even re-label them as not crimes. Though dictatorships may flat out deny human rights abuses, democratic states often follow the spiral of state denial: 1. Stage 1: ‘it didn’t happen’ - like the state denying a massacre while human rights organisations / victims / media shows that it did happen via graves and photos. 2. Stage 2: ‘if it did happen, it was something else’, like self defence 3. Stage 3: ‘even if it is what you say it is, its justified’, like the ‘war on terror’ Cohen - state techniques of neutralisation: - Denial of victim - they’re exaggerating, they were terrorist, they’re use to violence etc. - Denial of injury - we’re the victims not them - Denial of responsibility - I was only obeying orders / doing my duty - Condemning the condemners - they only condemn us because of their antisemitism (Israeli version) - Appeal to higher loyalty - a self-righteous claim to be serving a higher cause: the state, Islam, Zionism, or defence of the ‘free world’

Answer 116

- Clarke (1992) - situational crime prevention is a pre-emptive approach that reduces opportunities for crime instead of improving society / institutions. - This theory is based in rational choice, assuming that offenders weigh up costs / benefits before committing a crime. - 3 measures of crime prevention- aimed at specific crimes, involves managing / altering the immediate environment, and increasing the effort / risk of crime while reducing the reward. - e.g. target hardening measures like locking doors / windows increases the effort a burglar has to put in, so they’re less likely to commit the crime - Felson (2002) - study found NYC bus terminal toilets were a hotspot for crime, until they designed crime out of the environment, like replacing basins with small sinks so the homeless can’t bathe in them