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Contemporary Crime - Coggle Diagram
Contemporary Crime
Global Crime
globalisation
Giddens
intensification of worldwide social relations
Held
greater interconnectedness of social life
global criminal economy
Castells
economy worth over 1 trillion
major forms of crime
Drugs trade
people trafficking
cyber crime
international terrorism
accounts for 15% of global trade
effects of globalisation of crime
reduce the power of a country
due to crimes occurring in multiple countries
e.g. internet fraud - where the offender is in a different country then the victim
New opportunities for committing crime
criminals can take advantage of different laws between countries and move countries to avoid arrest
e.g. investment fraud - many of Bernie Madoff's associates attempted to flee the country to avoid arrest
but treaties between countries can stop this - extradition treaties
New awareness of risk
idea of risk society - Beck
results in global or international systems of justice
or amplifies fear of outsiders
Effect of Capitalism
Taylor - economic globalisation has led to more crime committed by elites
problem of tax havens
ability to move money around the globe with little control
2012 estimate - global super rich have $21tn in offshore banks
tax havens like the Cayman Islands allow organised crime gangs to launder money
problem of TNCs
TNCs have begun shifting production to developing countries with fewer environmental regulations
Union Carbide - Bhopal - American owned TNC
pesticide plant in Bhopal - take advantage of cheap labour
1984 - leaked deadly gas fumes - 3500 dead
caused by inadequate safety procedures - criminal case of negligence
problem of inequality
poverty in the developing world creates supply of criminal products and services
some countries - providing illegal goods can be more worthwhile than producing legally
Columbia - 20% of the population depend on the Cocaine trade - more profitable than growing coffee
Local and Global crime
Hobbs and Dunningham - criminal organisations work through local connections
Columbian drug barons use glocal systems to deliver globally
State Crime
Types of State Crime - Mclaughlin
crimes by security forces
genocide / torture / imprisonment without trial
Genocide - The Holocaust
committed by the state - Nazis led to death of over 6mn jews
Guantanamo Bay - US owned overseas prison- holding prisoners without trial and torture by US soldiers
political crime
censorship / corruption / rigging elections
North Korea - face extreme censorship
clientism - government place needs of corporations above population e.g. allowing environmentallly destructive practises
Leader Mbasogo - Equatorial Guinea
one of wealthiest heads of state - worth $600mn whilst country is one of worlds poorest
economic crime
violation of health and safety law / illegal cooperation with TNCs
Grenfell Towers - building company have not been presecuted as government have excused them
social and cultural crime
Vandalism of cultural sites / institutional racism
US racial segregation
Dependency Perspective
Frank
view state crime as linked to colonialism
e.g. theft of resources / violent conquest / slavery
state crim against the powerless is a systematic part of development
rich counties make and maintain wealth at expense of poor
Western countries accept human rights abuse if they support Western interests
Culture of Denial
Cohen - states develop a culture of denial to respond to accusations of abuse
Matza and Sykes - techniques of neutralisation
Denial of responsibility
used by Nazi’s to excuse behaviour - ‘just following orders
Denial of injury
Denial of victim
Condemnation of condemners
appeal to higher loyalties
9/11 bombings - work of god
religion used to discriminate against LGBT+ community
Zemiological approach
state crime should include any crime that causes great harm to a lot of people
this should include acts that violate human rights - even if they don’t break a countries laws
but - can be seen as imposing Western values on others
e.g. crime excuses by religion in other countries
Green Crime
definition of green crime
broadly - crime against the environment
Traditional - any activity which breaches a law which protects the environment
only accounts for illegal acts
Transgressive - any action that harms the physical environment
Zemiology - approach that argues something should be an offence if it harms humans / creatures / environment
Primary and secondary green crime
South - distinguishes between primary and secondary green crimes
Primary - actions that harm the environment but are not yet illegal
four main categories - air pollution / deforestation / species decline / water pollution
Secondary - actions that are illegal under national or international law
hard to enforce so harm may happen regardless
perspectives on green crime
Postmodernism
Beck - risk society
new technology has manufactured new environmental risks
e.g. nuclear power - creates risk of hugely toxic waste - Chernobyl
but - ‘smog is democratic’ - so will effect everyone regardless forcing action to happen
Giddens - Green Movement
emerged as response to environmental problems
predicts we will see more laws to protect the environment
Marxism
biggest cause of green crime is industrial capitalism
argue that selective law enforcement occurs - so green crime is often ignored to protect economic growth
general approaches
Anthropocentric - considers harm to the environment from human perspective
assumes humans have the right to dominate nature
Ecocentric - sees humans and environment as interdependent
role of criminal gangs
Media Crime
media representations of crime
exaggeration of types of crime
30% of all reported crime is homicide - despite making up only 0.007% of actual crime
street crime is more prominent than white collar
tabloids devote a high proportion of content to crime - the Sun - over 30%
exaggeration of types of criminal
32% of stories featuring young people were related to crime
over half of stories about teen boys were about crime
words commonly used to describe them - yobs / thugs/ feral
black people often over reported on in crime
simplification of crime
underlying causes are not reported on
don't hear from criminals perspective
focus only on violence
G20 protests - cause of protests was unreported - only showed violence
sensationalism of crime
many programmes glorify crime
video games - portray crime as fun and easy
news value - overreport on interesting crimes
evaluations
Pluralists - argue the content of media reflects the interests of the public
there are other outlets catering for minority viewers
BBC - by law have to give balanced coverage
consequences of media
moral panic
media creates moral panics - by creating folk devils
exaggerates then extent to which crime is occuring
Cohen - Mods and Rockers - 1960s
Hall - Policing the Crisis - 1980
criminogenic
Greer and Reiner - media causes crime
encouraging consumption - relative deprivation
reduces effect of social control
glamorise crimes and cause copycat crime
gives people expertise and imagination to commit crime
hypodermic syringe model - behaviour is directly affected by watching crime media content
Bandura Bobo Doll experiment
new opportunities
large amounts of crime being committed through the internet
fraud / identity theft / child pornography
fear
media causes an irrational fear of crime
those reading newspapers - more likely to be afraid of becoming a victim
Gerbner and Gross - Mean World Syndrome
people who watch more TV think society is more dangerous than it actually is
positive effects of media
shows like Crimewatch - help to solve crime
alerts public to dangers
media campaigns raise awareness and pressure police into action
helps define moral boundaries