state crime Flashcards
GREEN AND WARD - defining state crime
illegal activites perpetrated by, or with the complicity of state agencies to further state policies
- 262 million murdered by government in 20thC
- state makes the law, so it is difficult for united nations to intervene
MCLAUGHLIN - four types of state crime
- political crimes - corruption
- security and police - e.g. genocide
- economic crimes - violation of health and saftey
- social/cultural crime - e.g. institutional racism
KRAMER AND MICHALOWSKI - two types of corporate crime
- state initiated crime - states initiate, direct or approve corporate crimes (e.g. challenger space shuttle)
- state facilitated crime - when states fail to regulate/control corporate behavior (e.g. deepwater horizon)
KRAMER - normalising war crimes
- terror bombings of civilians has been normalised
- most recent case is syria
CHAMBLISS - domestic law used to define state crime
’ acts defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials in pursuit of their jobs’
- ignores that states have the power to create laws, so can avoid criminalising their own actions
- e.g. nazi germany passed law to sterilize disabled people etc
MICHALOWSKI - social harms and zemiology to define state crime
- state crime should include illegal AND legal acts when the consequences cause harm
- this creates a single standard that can be applied to all states - all take responsability
- problem: harm is a vague concept
ROTHE + MULLINS - international law used to define state crime
- laws that are created through treaties and agreements between states e.g. geneva convention should define crime
- globally agreed definitions on crime - designed to deal with state crime
- problem: too much focus on war
SCHWENDINGER - human rights to define state crime
- natural rights: life, liberty, free speech
- civil rights: vote, privacy, education
- state crime should be defined as the violation of human rights (racism, sexism, economic exploitation)
ADORNO - authoritarian personality
- willing to obey orders without question
- e.g. Nazi Germany disciplinarian socialisation
KELMAN + HAMILTON - three features of crime and obedience
- authorisation - duty to obey
- routinisation - detached manner
- dehumanisation - enemy is sub-human
BEAUMAN - four features of modern society that made the holocaust possible
- division of labour - production line
- bureaucratisation - normalised, repetitive killing
- instrumental rationality - efficient methods
- science/technology - production advancements
COHEN - the spiral of denial
- dictatorships often deny committing state crimes
- “all actions were justified to protect national security”
