STATE CRIME

Question 1

Definition

Answer 1

Illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by, or with the complicity, of state agencies. (Green and Ward)

Question 2

Examples

Answer 2

Genocide
War crimes
Torture
Imprisonment without trial
Assassination

Question 3

Four categories of State Crime - McGlaghlin

Answer 3

• Political Crimes (corruption, censorship)
• Crimes by the police or security forces (genocide, torture and disappearance of dissidents)
• Economic Crimes (official violations of health and safety laws)
• Social and Cultural Crimes (institutional racism)

Question 4

Why State Crime is so serious

Answer 4

1) The Scale of State Crime - Green and Ward - 262 million people have been murdered by the government, has monopoly of violence
2) The State is the Source of Law - they can hide their crimes and make it seem like it isn’t a crime

Question 5

Monopoly of Violence

Answer 5

the ability to inflict massive harm whilst its power means it is able to conceal its crimes or escape punishment for them.

Question 6

Case Studies of State Crime - Genocide in Rwanda

Answer 6

• In 1944 Rwanda was colonised by Belgium, Belgium’s then ‘ethnicised’ the two groups (Tutsis and Hutus, who were equal and civil before)
• When Rwanda gained independence, Hutus rose to power and by 1990 there was a civil war.
• Hutus clung to power by fuelling racial hate towards Tutsis.
• In 100 days, 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered (widespread)
• This was legitimised by describing them as rats and cockroaches (justifying their actions, also dehumanisation).
• Hutus were encouraged to act out the killings, often being killed themselves if they didn’t comply

Question 7

Cohen - Neutralisation Theory

Answer 7

-examination of the way the state will deny or justify their crimes
1) Denial of the Victim - ‘they exaggerate, they are terrorists…’
2) Denial of Injury - ‘we are the real victims not them’
3) Denial of Responsibility - ‘i was only obeying my orders’ (death camp guards)
4) Condemning the Condemners - ‘everyone is picking on us’ (anti-semitism)
5) Appeal to Higher Loyalty - ‘it’s a free world’ self-righteous justification

not deny the event but meant to impose a different construction of the event from what might appear to be the case.

Question 8

Cohen - Neutralisation Theory - Example

Answer 8

• The USA and the ‘war on terror’ publicly justified its coercive interrogation practices, including hooding, sleep deprivation, use of stress positions and water boarding.
• USA claimed it wasn’t torture because they merely induced stress and were not psychologically or physically damaging.
• This is normalising torture.