MT4 - Globalisation crime

Question 1

Types of globalised crime

Answer 1

Transnational crime – refers to crime that crossed international borders.

Transnational organised crime – refers to people coming together in a criminal enterprise to exploit illegal opportunities for economic gain

Question 2

Examples of global organised crimes

Answer 2

Arms trafficking
Money laundering - money made through illegal activity has to be ‘cleaned’
Drug trafficking

Question 3

Global causes of crime - Taylor

Answer 3

Working class crime -  globalisation has enabled large transnational corporations to relocate their factories to LEDCs where wages are lower.
Middle class crime – the unregulated global free market enables the elite to commit WCC and corporate crime

Question 4

CRITICISMS OF TAYLOR

Answer 4

Fails to explain why only some people turn to crime, when the majority are still law abiding.

Question 5

Global causes of crime - Hobbs and Dunningham

Answer 5

Argue that the way crime is organised has changed. This change to the organisation of crime was caused by the changes globalisation is creating to the economy.
Past crime organisations were localised but now, criminal organisations have international links, yet the actual crimes are still committed on a local level.

Question 6

Effects of globalised crime

Answer 6

Global risk consciousness - refers to increased awareness and insecurity felt by people on a global scale.
Increased migration across the world has created a fear in the MEDCs (more economically developed countries) about the crimes immigrants may commit.
One consequence of such moral panics is the strengthening of formal social control, e.g. at border controls such as airports or national land borders.

Question 7

Environmental crime and globalisation - Beck

Answer 7

Manufactured risks - environmental threats to human well being and the ecosystem are human-made rather than naturally occurring.

Question 8

Sociological approaches to environmental crime - Traditional criminology - Situ and Emmons

Answer 8

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.

Question 9

CRITICISMS OF TRADITIONAL CRIMINOLOGY

Answer 9

Accepts the official definitions of environmental crime which are often created by the powerful groups in society in their own interest.

Question 10

Green criminology - White

Answer 10

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

Green criminology adopts an ecocentric view of environmental crimes. (humans and the environment are interdependent so that anything that harms the environment harms humans too)

Question 11

Types of environmental crime - Primary environmental crime - South

Answer 11

South argues that they should be analysed by criminologists because of the extent of damage and environmental uncertainty they cause.

Question 12

Types of environmental crime - Secondary environmental crime

Answer 12

Secondary environmental crime includes: dumping of hazardous waste.
It includes:
Hazardous waste and organised crime – safe and legal disposal of toxic waste is highly expensive so many companies seek to dispose of it illegally.
Environmental discrimination – poorer groups are worst affected by pollution

Question 13

CRITICISM OF SECONDARY ENVIRONMENTAL CRIME

Answer 13

As it focuses on harmful actions, rather than on clearly defined illegal actions, the scope of its study is too broad.

Question 14

State crime

Answer 14

Any illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by, or with the consent of, state agencies.

Question 15

Types of state crimes

Answer 15

Torture – e.g. waterboarding
Genocide – refers to violent crimes committed against ethnic or religious groups
State-initiated crimes – occur when the state approves or directs corporate crimes

Question 16

State crime - Green and Ward

Answer 16

Argue that state crime is one of the most serious forms of crime because of the:
Scale of state crime – the power of the state enables it to commit extremely large-scale crimes with widespread victimisation
National sovereignty – the state has supreme authority within its borders which makes it difficult for international organisations to intervene

Question 17

Definitions of state crime - domestic law - Chambliss

Answer 17

Argues state crime is any act defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials.

Question 18

CRITICISM OF CHAMBLISS

Answer 18

It ignores 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.

Question 19

Definitions of state crime - domestic law - Zemiology - Michalowski

Answer 19

Zemiology should be used as a basis for defining state crime as state crime should be any act committed by the state that causes harm, regardless of whether that act is illegal or not.

Question 20

CRITICISM OF ZEMIOLOGY

Answer 20

It is too vague

Question 21

Labelling and societal reaction definition

Answer 21

Labelling theory argues an act only becomes criminal when the audience define it as criminal. Therefore, state crime is socially constructed.

Question 22

CRITICISMS OF LABELLING

Answer 22

Ignores the fact that the state has the power to influence public opinion.

Question 23

The authoritarian personality - Adorno et al

Answer 23

Define authoritarian personality as the willingness to obey orders of superiors without question.

Question 24

Crimes of obedience - Green and Ward

Answer 24

In order to overcome the norms against the use of cruelty, those involved in torture have to be re-socialised and trained.

Question 25

Modernity - Bauman

Answer 25

Argues that it is the features of modernity that cause genocide
Division of labour – each person was responsible for one small task so no one felt responsible
Bureaucratisation – normalised the killing by making it repetitive
Instrumental rationality – Rational efficient methods were used to achieve the goal (kill as many people as possible)
Science and technology – trains used to transport people to concentration camps

Question 26

CRITICISMS OF MODERNITY

Answer 26

Not all genocide occurs through a highly organised systematic way that allows the participants to distance themselves from what they are doing.

Question 27

Spiral of denial - Cohen

Answer 27

argues states use the spiral of denial to conceal their crimes.
It didn’t happen – the state denies the crime so charities and media produce evidence it did happen.
If it did happen, it was something else – not a crime, but self-defence
Even if it is what charities and the media say it is, it is justified – the fight against the war on terror