State crime Flashcards
Define state crime
is defined by Green and Ward as any illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by, or with the consent of, state agencies.
4 types of state crimes
McLaughlin – four categories of state crime:
Political crimes – corruption and censorship.
Crimes committed by the security forces – genocide, torture.
Economic crimes – violations of H&S laws.
Social and cultural crimes – institutionalised racism.
Example of state crime- War crimes
War crimes – include deliberate targeting of civilians by states in times of war, inhumane treatment of prisoners and illegal wars
Targeting of civilians = USA dropping the atom bombs on Japan
Inhumane treatment of prisoners=Iraqi prisoners were tortured in Abu Graib prison by US forces.
illegal wars=Kramer and Michalowksi - the US-led war in in 2003 wasn’t and was declared on the false claim that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction
Example of state crime - Genocide and Torture
Torture – e.g. waterboarding. Examples are the 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.
Genocide – refers to violent crimes committed against national, ethnic or religious groups. It is also referred to as ethnic cleansing. Example include Turkish genocide against 1 million Armenians, the Holocaust of 6 million Jews and other groups, ethnic cleansing in Bosnia and Rwanda.
example of state crime- State corporate crime
state crimes are often committed in conjunction with large corporations. Michaelowski and Kramer categories these crimes into:
State-initiated crimes – occur when the state approves or directs corporate crimes, e.g. the Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986 was caused because NASA approved budget cuts for the private company that made parts for the shuttle which led to negligence.
State-facilitated crimes – occur when the state fails to regulate the private industries, e.g. Deepwater Horizon BP oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 – BP’s cost cutting caused the oil rig to collapse and the US government was found to have failed to properly oversee the dig.
Green and ward argue that state crime is the most serious form of crime because…….
Definitions of state crime
Domestic law
Zemiology
Labelling
International law
Human rights
Domestic law definition and +c of it
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
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, e.g. Nazi Germany passed laws allowing it to forcefully sterilise disabled people
Zemiology def and +C
Zemiology – the study of harm.
Michalowski argues that 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 on not.
Hillyard el al agree and say that even state facilitated poverty should be considered a state crime as it harms the public (e.g. the UK government cuts to welfare spending force people into poverty
This definition ensures states can not legitimate their crimes by passing laws which make their actions legal
+c=it is too vague – what makes something harmful and how harmful does it need to be to count as a crime?
Labelling and societal reaction and +C
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.
For example, some would say that the US and UK invasion of Iraq in 2003 is a state crime while others disagree. Kauzlarich studied the anti-Iraq war protesters and found that even though they were opposed to the UK starting a war against Iraq, they didn’t see it as criminal.
ignores the fact that the state has the power to influence public opinion, e.g. Nazi Germany used propaganda to turn the public against Jewish people so the state’s persecution of Jews was not seen as criminal by the public.
International LAws and +C
Rothe and Mullins argue that an action is a state crime if it goes against international laws made by UN.
Using this definition ensures the sociologist’s personal opinions do not affect their research into state crime.
+C =International laws are a social construct and powerful countries can influence the passing of international laws in their favour. For example, Japan offered aid to poor countries in return for them voting against the ban on whaling
Human rights definition and +C
Human rights include:
Natural rights – life to life, liberty and freedom of speech
Civil rights – the right to vote, education and a fair trial.
Schwendinger and Schwendinger argue state crime should be defined as a violation of these rights by the state or its agents
+C=S Cohen argues that not all state action can be seen as criminal even when they are morally wrong, e.g. cuts to welfare spending.
Sociologists have put forward 3 explanations for why ordinary, law-abiding people become involved in atrocities such as genocide, etc.
what are they?
Authoritarian perosonality
Crimes of obedience
Modernity
Authoritarian Personality
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.
It is often thought that people who commit acts of genocide are psychopaths. However, research shows there is little psychological difference between them and ‘normal’ people.
Crimes of obedience
