Green Crime, Human rights and State Crime Flashcards
What is transgressive crime?
What do Marxists point out about the transgressive behaviour of companies?
What do some feminists argue we should focus on that is transgressional in society?
-Crime which causes harm rather than crime that is illegal.
-Some Marxists point to harmful behaviour by companies(e.g. low pay and exploitation, or setting up business in countries where they can get away with minimal health and safety protections or worker’s rights.)
-Some feminists argue that feminists criminology should not focus on the laws made by a patriarchal society and instead focus on all behaviour that causes harm to women, regardless of legality.
Who created the term Green criminology?
What type of crime is it?
What two types of green crime did White identify?
-M J Lynch.
-It is transgressive.
-White identified green crime as Anthropocentric and Ecocentric.
According to White what is Anthropocentric green crime?
What is ecocentric crime?
-Considers harm to the environment from the perspective of humanity. Pollution is a problem because it damages human’s water supply or causes disease that are expensive to overcome; climate change is a problem because of its impact on people and the economic costs of dealing with it.
-Does not distinguish between humans and the ecosystem; sees harm to any aspect of the environment as harm to all of it. Therefore, crimes like animal cruelty or the destruction of habitats are green crimes, regardless of whether or not there is any specific human cost.
According to Nigel South what is primary and secondary green crime? Regarding environment
-Primary involved direct harm to the environment.
-Secondary was crimes that arose from avoiding environmental protections(e.g. bribing officials or violence against environmentalists).
Why is transgressive criminology problematic?
What is useful about focusing on law breaking crimes?
Why is not having a consensus for green crime problematic?
-It is problematic. By focusing on all harm(rather than law-breaking) it becomes a topic that is too big to study.
-Law-breaking is an objective definition, whereas ‘harm’ becomes a political or moral judgement. Most green criminologists would see animal cruelty as green crime, but some might consider all meat production a green crime.
-If green criminologists are unable to reach any kind of consensus on what is a green crime, it is hard for them to reach useful conclusions or produce comparative date.
What legal and moral entitlements should all people have? After WWII how was human rights brought into international law?
-Human rights.
-After WWII, international bodies such as the UN decided to codify human rights in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the European Convention of Human Rights.
Who can commit human rights abuses?
What crimes are most associated with gov’ts?
-Individuals, companies or governments.
-Torture,oppression of minorities,ethnic cleansing, Genocide. Can include less crimes the European Court of Human Rights has regularly criticised the UK for not allowing prisoners to vote.
While there are examples of gov’ts breaking their own laws what is more likely?
What 4 types of state crime did McLaughlin identify?
Why might some state crimes be considered ethnocentric?
-Gov’ts are more likely to break international law or be viewed as transgressive criminology.
-McLaughlin identified 4 state crimes as:
-Economic
-Social and cultural (Institutional racism)
-Crimes by security/police forces
-Practical crimes(e.g. corruption)
-Some state crimes are considered ethnocentric because it applies Western norms to the developing world. Although they cause harms wherever they occur.
What did Cohen identify states do when accussed of human rights?
What is the process?
-They complete a ‘spiral of denial’.
-‘It didn’t happen’. The first reaction is often to deny anything occurred at all. This lasts until international bodies produce evidence it did occur.
-‘It’s not how it looks’. Once such evidence is provided, the next stage is to question a particular version of events, instead claiming other carried out the atrocity or the evidence pointed to something different.
-‘It had to be done this way’. The final stage of the spiral of denial is to admit that the abuse occurred but to justify it. To suggest that it was the fault of the victims, or that there was no other way.
Who’s theory is Cohen’s ‘spiral of denial’ similar to?
-Matza’s ‘techniques of neutralisation.’
