MT4 - Globalisation and crime Flashcards
Transnational crime
Transnational organised crime
Transnational crime: Any crime that crosses national borders
Transnational organised crime: Criminal organisations that form business networks to commit ctime that crosses national borders for mutual bennefit i.e profit
Examples of global organised crimes
People trafficking - prostitution, forced labour and illegal organs
Drugs trafficking - manufacture, distribution and sale of substances which are subject to drug prohibition
Trafficking in endangered species and cultural artefacts e.g. ivory
How globalisation has impacted w/c crime
W/C: Globalisation has enabled large transnational corporations to relocate their factories to LEDCs where wages are lower which has caused widespread unemployment and poverty among the in the MEDCs which cause rel-dep
C: not everyone suffers r/d
How globalisation has impacted m/c crime
M/C: Taylor Principles free market economy (choice, competiion and no government intervention) as a result of globalisation has increased crime. The unregulated global free market enables the elite to commit WCC and corporate crime such as insider trading, tax evasion, fraudulent claims for subsidies, etc.
C: Taylor fails to explain why only some people turn to crime, when the majority are still law abiding.
Who commits environmental/green crime and how?
Individuals
dumping of waste, littering, picking protected wild flowers, shooting of birds of pray, hunting
Businesses (corporate environmental crime)
disposal of toxic waste - example = gas explosion in Bhopal 1884 in which 10,000 died + 20,000 injured
Governments
pollution and transport and dumping of waste material - example = sinking of the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior protesting against the french government for nuclear testing in the pacific ocean
Primary environmental crime
Environmental issues (legal under international law) rather than crimes
Examples:
Crimes of air pollution
Crimes of deforestation
Crimes of water pollution
Secondary environmental crime
Actions that are illegal under international law but are not enforced includes:
State violence against oppositional groups (French government’s secret agents blew up a Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior protesting against French nuclear weapons testing in the Pacific ocean)
Hazardous waste and organised crime (disposal of toxic waste illegally to save costs)
Bribery / organised crime to avoid environmental regulations
Sociological approaches to environmental crime (10 marks)
- Traditional criminology
2. Green criminology
Traditional criminology
concerned with environmental crimes as defined by national and international laws and regulations concerning the environment.
Situ and Emmons define environmental crimes as acts that violate the law.
Therefore, traditional criminology examines national laws to see if a crime has been committed against the environment.
+C: The government can sometimes be under the pressure from lobbying (large donations to political parties) thus environmental laws are created in the interest of the groups rather than society’s benefit
Green criminology
More radical approach to traditional criminology as it looks at any action that harms the environment, even if it is not criminal that seeks to overstep national laws by focusing on the damage which is being done, therefore adopting a global perspective
White argues that many of the worst environmental harms are not illegal because different countries have different laws so that the same action may be a crime in one country, but not in another; however these actions must still be studied by green criminology as they are harmful to the environment.
+C It is difficult to define the boundaries of right and wrong - no pragmatic solutions towards solving issues such as fossil fuel dependency.
Different types of state crime
War crimes – include deliberate targeting of civilians by states in times of war
Genocide – refers to violent crimes committed against national, ethnic or religious groups.
Torture – e.g. UK and USA using extraordinary rendition in the Iraq war – taking prisoners from a country where torture is banned to a country where it is allowed.
Why state crime is the most serious?
The scale - its universal (happening in every country)
State is the source of the law the state that defines what if criminal so it can avoid defining its own actions as criminal e.g nazi germany - 1933 sterlisation law
State have sovereignty - state has supreme authority which makes it difficult for international organisations, such as the UN, to intervene
Definitions of state crime
Domestic law definition of state crime
Zemiology (study of harm) definition
Labelling theory
Domestic law definition of state crime
Chambliss argues state crime is any act defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials in pursuit of their jobs as representatives of the state.
+C: gnores the fact that the state has the power to avoid criminalising its own actions and they can pass laws allowing them to carry out harmful acts, e.g. Nazi Germany sterilisation
Zemiology (study of harm) definition
Michalowski argues that state crime should be any act committed by the state that causes harm, regardless of whether that act is illegal or not e.g. cutting bennefits
+C: too vague - what makes something harmful and how harmful does it need to be to count as a crime?
Labelling theory
argues an act only becomes criminal when the audience (e.g. the public) define it as criminal. Therefore, state crime is socially constructed and depends on societal reaction to the act.
+C: the labelling theory’s definition of state crime ignores the fact that the state has the power to influence public opinion, e.g. Nazi Germany used propaganda
Explanations of state crime (obediance)
Adorno et al define authoritarian personality as the willingness to obey orders of superiors without question. They argue that during WWII many Germans had such as personality as a result of disciplinarian socialisation that was common at the time.
State crimes are crimes of obedience as they require obedience to higher authority and Milgram’s research shows many people are willing to obey authority even when it involves harming others as a result of the role they are socialised into.
How states deny and legitimate their crimes
Denial of victim - they are terrorists
Denial of responsibility - i was only following orders
Appeal to higher loyalty - act for a greater cause
Sociological perspective on state crimes
Marxists would tend to focus on state crimes motivated by money, which would include most cases of corruption and state-corporate crime
Radical feminists would condemn state crime as man made, as men head most government departments and business corporations worldwide. They would point out that rape is commonplace in times of war as male invaders impose their power on the most vulnerable
News values:
Immediacy - breaking news (live coverage of events)
Simplification - of the story e.g stabbings are easier to report than white collar crimes
Dramatisation - how exciting the theory is
Why cant you trust fictional representation of crime?
media representations of crime follow the law of opposites e.g. criminals are protayed as clever and glamorous when in reality this is not true
Property crime is underrepresented, while violent and sex crimes are over-represented
Police clear up rate is high so the police are presented in positive light
Why cant you trust factional representation of crime?
The media over-represent violent and sexual crime when in reality only a minority includes violence and most crimes are non-violent e.g. vandalism
Media coverage exaggerates clear up rates - police success in solving crimes.
The media exaggerates the risk of victimisation, especially to women, middle class and the elderly. In reality the elderly are the group least likely to be attacked.
The media as a cause of cyber crime
Cyber deception and theft – identity theft, phishing (obtaining bank account details online through deception) and illegal downloads.
Cyber pornography – such as child pornography.
Cyber violence – such as online bullying.
How the media create an increase in crime (10)
Left Realists - media can cause crime through their portrayal of ‘normal’ lifestyles which create a sense of relative deprivation and marginalisation = crime
+C: trust OCS which ignores WWC (selective enforced)
Deviancy amplification:
2 youth subcultures in the 1960s = A small fight between mods and rockers was exaggerated
Media created moral panic - which led to negative stereotypes and thus more crime
+C: Thornton argues increasing moral pan outdated bc they arent rare
