crime and deviance topic 8 - globalisation, human rights, green crime and state crime

Question 1

how do Held et al define globalisation

Answer 1

the widening, deepening and speeding up of world wide interconnectedness in all aspects of life from the cultural to the criminal, the financial to the spiritual

Question 2

factors which have caused globalisation

Answer 2

• rapid spread of ICT
• global mass media
• deregulation of financial markets
• cheap air travel

Question 3

explain the globalisation of crime

Answer 3

the same processes which have enabled the globalisation of legitimate activities have also facilitated the transnational organised crime globally

Question 4

what does Castells argue

Answer 4

as a result of globalisation, the global criminal economy is worth over £1 trillion per annum

Question 5

examples of the activity in the global criminal economy

Answer 5

• smuggling of illegal immigrants: the Chinese Triads make an estimated £2.5 billion annually
• trafficking of body parts: for organ transplants in developed countries. For example around 2000 organs are taken annually from condemned or executed criminals in China
• international terrorism: spreading ideology through the internet to induce terror

Question 6

how do the forces of demand drive the global criminal economy

Answer 6

• the rich West demand the goods and services provided by transnational organised crime

Question 7

how do the forces of supply influence the scale of transnational organised crime

Answer 7

• for emerging or developing countries, working in these industries are an attractive option as they require little initial investment in tech and command higher prices compared to traditional crops for e.g.

Question 8

Colombia…

Answer 8

• around 20% of the population are dependent on cocaine production for their livelihood
• cocaine outsells all exports

Question 9

what is global risk consciousness

Answer 9

Beck coins the term to describe how globalisation has increased causes for concern amongst people as thehy no longer see risk as tied to one particular area, but is now globally linked. this is especially due to the media coverage of incidents at a heightended scale, causing moral panics to arise e.g. the media portrays migrants in a negative light, causing individuals to believe migration is a bad thing = violence against migrants etc
- gloval risk consciousness now means governments impose more regulations in terms of migration for example such as border controls

Question 10

what is another result of globalised risk

Answer 10

the increasing global crimes
- Taylor argues that glob has given way to a new path for crime to emerge as crime no longer stays within one country but is connected globally e.g. MNC’s relocating to areas with lower labour regulations and wages/lower taxes
- moreoever the portrayl of success in the media causes individuals to seek out that lifestyle especially if they face ineqaulity so are more likely to engage in crime: in LA deindustrialisatin has led to the growth of drug gangs

Question 11

example of global crime amongst the elite

Answer 11

large scale white collar crime is occuring due to globalisation e.g. deregulation of financial markets and 24 hour transactions has created wider opportunities such as insider trading, money laundering and tax evasion

Question 12

evaluate Taylor’s view of globalisation causing crime

Answer 12

does not explain how globalitsation causes people to engage in crime as not all people turn to crime

Question 13

an example of crimes of globalisation (IMF and World Bank)

Answer 13

Rothe and Friedrichs examine the role of large institutions such as IMF and World Bank in their role of encouraging ‘crimes of globalisation’
- as most member countries are capitalist, the economic policies imposed on less developed, poorer countries are pro-capitalist. if governments cannot afford to meet such standards, they must cut public spending which causes further poverty and ineqaulity and lowered standards of living
- such enables MNC’s to develop in such countries leading to further crime opportunities

Question 14

what has happened to criminal organisations due to globalsiation

Answer 14

• Hobbs and Dunningham note that where there were large scale, hierarchal organisations, they now act as hubs where legitimate and illegitimate activity coincides
• this leads to ‘glocal’ orgnaisations where the crime is relatively rooted in local communities but works with global connections

Question 15

criticse hobbs and dunningham

Answer 15

though there have been changes to criminal gorups and their structures due to glbolaisation, it is not to say hierarchal structures do not still exists within glocal organisations

Question 16

McMafia as an example of how criminal organisationshave been inlfunced by glboailsation

Answer 16

• following the fall of communism in the Soviet Union, the Russian government deregulated prices of many goods except commodities which remained at their relatively low prices (compared to world (prices only 1/40 th) which enabled those with funds such as the KGB or former communist officials to buy commodieities such as oil and gas and sold them abroad making astronomical profits
• in order to maintain their wealth, they joined forced with crinimal organisations eventually forming hte McMafia
• this is different to old Italian mafias which were based on ethinicity or family ties, this was simply for economic profit

Question 17

define green crime

Answer 17

crimes against the environemnt
- this has been exacerbated due to globalisation as the pollution released in one country can ebcome acid rain in another

Question 18

global risk society and the environemnt

Answer 18

• in today’s late modern society, mass production to meed global eneds and wants has caused more manufactured risks rather than natural risks such has harms to the envrionment leading to global warming

Question 19

Bhopal disaster as an example of green crime and globalisaiton

Answer 19

• in 1984 as US owned pesticide plant in Bhopal started leaking releasing large amounts of cyanide gas due to failure to maintain the plant was no longer in active use
• 30 tons of gas spread across the ciry leading to 20,000 deaths which the company denied and underplayed to 3800
• traditional criminology focuses on the breaches of safety laws but green criminology focuses on how Western corporations can benefit from emerging economies with less regulation

Question 20

trad criminology vs green criminology

Answer 20

• focuses on the law and regulation behind any events so invvestigates patterns of law breaking
• green focuses on the harm to the physical envrionment and its habitants and is known as zemiology. as it widens the boundaries for what is considered as green crime, it also investigates more harmful crimes which are not illegal. it is more useful as diff ocuntries have diff laws and regulations

Question 22

two views of harm

Answer 22

• White notes that nations and TNC’s hold an anthropocentirc view whcih assumes that humans have a right to dominate nature
• ecocentric view sees humans and the environment as interdeoendednt which is the view green criminologists adopt

Question 23

primary green crimes

Answer 23

• crimes of air pollution: burning fossil fuels increases carbon emissions by 6bn tonnes each year
• deforestation: destrcution of tropical rainforests and the use of pesticide sprays destroy natural habitats and food crops
• crimes of species decline: 50 species a day are becoming extinct

Question 24

secondary green crimes

Answer 24

arise due to the lack of rigid regulation:
-state violence against oppositional groups where the state prioritises its commitment to nuclear weapons, it views anyone agaisnt this commitment enemies of the state such as the blowing up of the Greenpeace ship by the French secret service
- hazardous waste such as the disposal of toxic waste from chemical and nuclear industries is increaseing due to the higher costs of doing so legally - Walters notes how the ocean has been radioactive dumping ground for yeats
- environemental discrimination: South describes it

Question 25

eval green criminology

Answer 25

- it is difficult to define the boundaries of its study as it largely subjective andi nvolves morals so such boundaries will be difficult to define if not for the law

Question 26

why is state crime the most serious from

Answer 26

- the states enormous power enables it to inflict harm and cause crime on a large scale - the state is the source of the law which means it can conceal its crimes and evade anny consequences

Question 27

what are the 4 categories of state crime according to McL

Answer 27

McLaughlin identifies: - political crimes - crimes by security and police forces - social anc cultural crimes - economic crimes

Question 28

Genocide in Rwanda

Answer 28

influecned by their colonisers the Belgians: the hutus and Tutsi's who lived in harmony were ethinicsed and treaded different racially by the Beligans so became to see eachother as dofferent groups - after independence, the Hutu's came into power causing further tensions leading to the genocide of Tutsi's with around 800000 killed in 100 days

Question 29

example of state corporate crime

Answer 29

- Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster: in the Gulf of Mexio,an oil rig leased by BP leaked leading one of the largst oil spills in history and was both due to the negligence of the corporation who engaged in cost cutting activies as well s nation states overooking te importnce of regulation

Question 30

defining state crime: domestic law

Answer 30

Chambliss: acts defined as criminal by law in pursuit of their jobs by state officials - however the power the state has to conceal its crimes means that such definitions overlook large scale crimes that are not necessarily illegaal but have vast harmful impacts

Question 31

defining state crime: soical harms and zemiology

Answer 31

michalowski: much harm commited by states is not illegal so we must take a wider view - however it leads questions to arise such as what level of harm must occur for it to be defined as crime and who decides this

Question 32

defining state crimehuman rights

Answer 32

The Schwendingers argue that state crime should be defined as breaches human rights both natural and civil rights. States which engage in imperialism, racism, sexism or economic exploitation are commiting crimes as tehy are breaching basic human rights - useful as couintiries care about their human rights image and the S siblings argue thta this it is necessary sociologists uphold this standard against the state - however Cohen notes that human rihts violations such as torture are not self-evidently criminal and there are disagreements as to what counts as a huan right