state crime Flashcards
examples
war crimes - deliberate targeting of civilians by states in times of war, torture, inhumane treatment of prisoners, using civilians as shields
torture - e.g waterboarding - UK and USA using extraordinary rendition in iraq war - taking prisoners from country where torture is banned to where it’s allowed
genocide - violent crimes committed against national, ethnic or religious groups
state crime as most serious form of crime - green and ward
scale of state crime - how widespread crimes committed by gov agencies are
state is source of the law - state can legalise criminal actions it has performed
national sovereignty - state has supreme authority within its borders, making it difficult for international organisations to intervene
domestic law definition
chambliss - 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
domestic law definition criticism
ignores fact that state has power to avoid criminalising its own actions
zemiology definition
michalowski - zemiology (study of harm) should be used as basis for defining state crimes as state crime should be any act committed by state that causes crime, regardless of whether it’s illegal or not
hillyard et al - even state facilitated poverty should be considered a state crime as it harms the public
zemiology definition criticism
too vague - doesn’t explain what makes something harmful and how harmful something has to be to count as a crime
explanations for crime - authoritarian personality
adorno et al - authoritarian personality - willingness to obey orders of superiors without question. WW2 - many germans had authoritarian personality as result of disciplinarian socialisation which was common at the time. often thought that people who commit acts of genocide are psychopaths
authoritarian personality criticism
research shows little psychological difference between them and ‘normal’ people
explanations for crime - crimes of obedience
state crimes - crimes of obedience - they require obedience to higher authority
green and ward - in order to overcome norms against use of cruelty, those involved in torture have to be re socialised, trained and exposed to propaganda about ‘the enemy.’ to do this, state prepares torturer to regard torture as normal job where they can return to normal life.
kelman and hamiltion - 3 features that produce crimes of obedience:
authorisation - authority figure
routinisation - act is turned into a routine
dehumanisation - ‘enemy’ portrayed as sub-human so normal morality doesn’t apply to them
how states deny and legitimate their crimes
it didn’t happen - state denies 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’s what charities and media say it is, it’s justified - fight against war on terror
