Crime Flashcards

Question

Theories (left realism)- Relative Deprivation

Answer 1

how deprived someone feels in comparison to other people, leads to crime when people resent others and get frustrated and goes to crime to obtain what they want media exacerbates this by showing off material goods

Answer 2

Cyber crime arisen due to growth of internet, leads to moral panics as older people dont get new tech and cannot control is well enough. can cause crime or new media can prevent crime as more surveillance

Answer 3

-global cyber crime -cyber violence (causing harm) -cyber pornography -cyber deception and theft (identity theft) -cyber trespass (hacking and spreading viruses)

Answer 4

overrepresents violent and sexual crime- Duffy, 46% of media reports about them but only make up 3% of all crimes exaggerates police success exaggerate risk of victimisation

Answer 5

criteria that editors decide if a story is news worthy -immediacy: breaking news -dramatisation: action and excitement -personalisation: human interest stories abt people -higher status: celebs -novelty or unexpectedness: new angle -risk: victim centred stories abt fear -violence: visible acts

Answer 6

imitation arousal desensitisation transmits knowledge stimulating desire for unaffordable goods

Answer 7

media causes unrealistic fear of crime by exaggerating amount of violent crime Tumber- more media consumption means people had greater risk of becoming a victim. correlations doesnt prove that viewing media causes crime criticism- ignores meanings viewers give to media violence (interpretivist)

Answer 8

mass media increases sense of relative deprivation, pressure to conform can cause deviant behaviour when legit means are blocked (Merton)

Answer 9

media turn crime into commodity that people desire, encourage to consume crime through images Hayward and Young- crime and its thrills become commodified. corporations use crime to sell products especially to youths, street hustler criminality w images of success crime marketed to young people to seem cool and exciting (music videos)

Answer 10

media causes crime through labelling. creates moral panic through labelling group as folk devils and presents them in a way that exaggerates the problem, often leads to self fulfilling prophecy Criticisms- assumes the societal reaction is a disproportionate overreaction Thornton- little consensus abt what is deviant, what used to be 40 years ago is not today, moral panics are also more routine now and have less imapct

Answer 11

how deprived someone feels in relation to another, leads to crime when people resent others for having more than them and obtain things through crime. Young- bad combo is RD and individualism, encourages pursuit of self interest at expense of others

Answer 12

-based on stats which exaggerates picture as many crimes go unreported, dark figure -assumes society has shared norms and values -doesnt take into consideration the effect of agents of social control

Answer 13

shows how behaviour is result of mainstream goals, most crime property crime bc american society values material wealth so highly, lower class crime rates higher bc of lack of opportunity overemphasises the role of social class- rich people commit white collar crime yet they dont have strain bc they have rescources not all crime have a goal to comply with societys expectations like rape

Answer 14

provide explanation for diff types of wc deviance in terms of different subcultures ignore wider power structure and crimes of the wealthy, draw boundaries too sharply between diff types of deviance- some retreatist users are professional dealers and make a good living assume everyone starts off sharing the same mainstream goals

Answer 15

officers have typifications on what a typical deliquent looks like and will concentrate on these types of people, law enforcement shows class bias as in WC areas people fitted the typifications more, policed patrolled these areas more and so found more crime which reinforced their original bias other agents reinforce this like justice system- if didnt fit typifications then less likely to get sentences means that justice can be negotiated

Answer 16

process in which attempt to control deviance leads to an increase in level of deviance, so more control so more deviance Young- hippies smoked weed and labelled as criminals so internalised and did hard drugs Cohen- folk devil and moral panic, press exaggeration of mods and rockers and distortion began moral panic and had more entrepreneurs calling for crackdown, police arrested more people and so confirmed original media reaction so more public concern- DAS

Answer 17

labels act but not actor, did a bad thing but not a bad person, avoids stigmatising them as evil while making aware of negative impact on other people, avoids pushing them into secondary deviance crime later lower in places where this happens

Answer 18

deterministic- deviant career inevitable emphasis on negative effects of labelling gives the offender a victim status and ignores real victims of crime focuses on less serious crimes fails to explain while people commit crime in the first place before labelled uc people that label people as deviant so seen more that wc people commit more crime as they do not want to label their own

Answer 19

shows link between law making and enforcement and interest of capitalist class, puts into wider structural context the insights of labelling theory ignores relationship between crime and non class inequalities like gender too deterministic and over predicts crime in wc not all capitalist societies have high crime rates like Japan ignores intra class crime- left realists

Answer 20

focuses too much on male criminality left realists- romanticises wc criminals who are fighting capitalism but most acc prey on the poor

Answer 21

Taylor et al- comprehensive understanding of crime and deviance that would help change society for the better, two sources: marxism abt the unequal distribution of wealth, labelling theory abt meaning of deviant act for actor societys reaction and effect of label a complete theory combines: wider origins of deviant act, immediate origins, of act act itself, immediate origins of reaction, wider origins of reaction and effect of labelling

Answer 22

Taylor argues marxism is too deterministic and think crime is caused by other external factors like anomie subcultures or labelling instead they see crime as a meaningful action and often argue crime has a political motive and they are deliberately trying to change society

Answer 23

a subculture is a groups collective response to problem of relative deprivation diff groups produce diff subcultural solutions- some commit crime to close deprivation gap still subscribe to values and goals of mainstream society

Answer 24

Young- unemployed youth are marginalised, no organisation to represent them and no clear goals only frustration, being powerless to use politics to improve position they turn to crime to express frustration

Answer 25

fails to explain corporate crime cannot explain offenders motives as they rely on quantitative data from victim surveys- interactionists use of subcultural theory assumes a value consensus exists and crime only occurs when this breaks down

Answer 26

official stats are accurate- ethnic minorities do commit more crime young black men more likely to be unemployed, feel marginalised, want things bc of consumerism but cannot afford, relatively deprived, causes utilitarian crime Lea and Young- police often act in racist ways but does not fully explain differences in stats- over 90% of crimes known to police reported by public not police asian ppl also less criminalised so would have to be selective in their racism

Answer 27

stats exaggerate amount of crime committed by ethnic minorities, they are a social construction the media criminalise ethnic minorities by labelling them Gilroy- black criminality is a myth created by racist stereotypes and that these groups are no more criminal than any other, however due to justice system acting on racist stereotypes they are more criminalised and bigger in official stats. minority ethnic group crime is a form of political resistance against a racist society

Answer 28

Hall- 1970s moral panic over black muggers that served interest of capitalism, opposition to capitalism in this time was growing due to inflation and rising unemployment so the ruling class needed a force to maintain control, mugging was new name for street robbery and there was no evidence of increase at that time, was soon associated by media police and politicians with black youth, served as scapegoat to distract attention from true cause of problems, set apart wc and stopped opposition to capitalism

Answer 29

masculinity is a social construct and men have to constantly work at presenting it to others, in doing so some men have more resources than others to draw upon hegemonic masculinity- dominant form of masculinity that men seek to accomplish crime and deviance is a resource that diff men use to accomplish masculinity criticism- description of male offenders not an explanation, circular argument, doesnt explain why not all men use crime, over works concept of masculinity

Answer 30

men used to use manual jobs to show masculinity, decline of these but increase of night time clubs has provided employment where men can show masculinity Winlow- bouncers in sunderland, provided young men w employment and opps for illegal businesses and opps to show masculinity through violence

Answer 31

black people- 13% of prison pop 3% of total pop 7x more likely than white people to be stopped, 3x more likely to be arrested and 5x more likely to be in prison white victims over identify black suspects- say theyre black even when theyre not sure

Answer 32

stop and search- ME more likely to be stopped and searched, 9x more likely in 2020, asian people more likely due to terrorism act of 2000, stephen lawrence- institutional racism in met police prosecutions- bowling and philips: more likely to drop cases against EM bc evidence is weaker and normally based on stereotypes sentencing- less likely to be found guilty: police bring in weaker cases that are thrown out by courts prison- over a quarter of prison population were EM, 4x more likely to be in prison than white people

Answer 33

Clarke pre-emptive approach that relies on reducing opportunities for crime, directed at specific crimes, involve managing or altering environment of crime, aim to increase effort and risk of crime includes: more cctv, locking doors and windows. crime is opportunistic so need to reduce opportunities criticisms: causes displacement, ignores white collar crime, assumes criminals are rational, ignores root cause of crime

Answer 34

Kelling broken windows- absence of formal and informal control, only focused on serious crime and ignore petty crime so situation deteriorates and the area becomes magnet for deviants zero tolerance- tackle any bad behaviour before it gets worse evidence- cars taken out of service if they had any graffiti and returned once cleaned, largely removed all graffiti from the subway as a whole. however could have been the extra 7000, the general decline of crime or the rise of employment

Answer 35

Mathiesen- everybody monitors everybody Thompson- powerful groups fear medias surveillance as may uncover damaging info on them public monitoring public through dashcams widespread phones means citizens can control controllers by filming police wrongdoings feeley and simon argue a new technology of power is emerging in the justice system Actuarial justice- aim is to control groups of people more likely to commit crime, prevent these people from committing crime, based on risks apply it to surveillance, like airport security where they will check you based on risk factors, seeks to predict and prevent future offending criticisms- puts people at risk of self-fulfilling prophecy, can lead to more crime as labelled as criminal before theyve even done something

Answer 36

Durkheim- punishment created social solidarity and strengthens value consensus retributive justice- modern era, little specialisation and solidarity is based on similarity to each other and produces strong collective conscience which when offended responds w vengeful passion to repress wrongdoing restitutive justice- post modern, extensive specialisation and solidarity based on interdependence between ppl, crime damages interdependence so necessary to repair damage, aims to restore things back to societys equilibrium

Answer 37

punishment helps to maintain capitalism as part of repressive state apparatus imprisonment- hard for ppl to have a revolution if people most likely to are in prison, america not allowed to vote if convicted felon

Answer 38

sovereign power- control over body and visible punishment disciplinary power- control over mind through surveillance, more effective in controlling people panoptican- prison where each prisoner had own cell visible to guards from central watchtower, prisoners didnt know if they were being watched so have to behave at all times in case carceral archipelago- prison islands where wider society takes on practices and uses surveillance over the population criticisms- shift from sovereign to discipline is less common than he suggests, exaggerate extent of control and some people resist it, cctv cameras part of panoptican but people arent put off by them (Gill)

Answer 39

prison used to hold criminals until real punishments, prison is now the punishment itself recidivism- tendency for criminals to reoffend, becomes master status so cant earn honest living, prison is crime school so people use tricks when they get out and get caught again penal populism- political parties compete to be tougher on crime, right realists- prisons should be use as deterrent and for serious offenders, people like to see results, like tough prisons bc people responsible for own actions prison population rocketed in america bc of Reagan who was mass right realist then Clinton made three strikes policy which made the problem worse

Answer 40

Cohen- net of control still allows capitalism to control people deeper into society, anti social behaviour order, community service, electronic tag

Answer 41

place emphasis on potential offender and their social context, aim is to remove conditions that predispose individuals to crime in the first place, longer term strategies since they tackle root cause, aims to improve employment and poverty to stop people offending Perry preschool project- 3-4 year old black disadvantaged children offered two year enrichment program and they had signif less arrests for violent crime drugs and property crime, they also graduated and had jobs

Answer 42

Sutherland- wanted to challenge idea that crime is a lower class phenomenon, many crimes committed by powerful are ignored and do not break criminal law fails to explain between crime against corporation and for corporation

Answer 43

Tombs- powerful companies can influence law so their actions are criminalised, has enormous physical, environmental and economic costs, arguably worse than street crimes accountants and lawyers hired to put criminal actions into business and get away with it, it is an abuse of trust media give little coverage, politicians dont care as much, crimes are complex, offences are not labelled to same extent as street crime and is often underreported as people not often aware theyre a victim

Answer 44

strain- Box- if company cannot maximise profits then it will do it through illegal means differential association- Geis- if companys culture justifies committing crimes then employees will think same as they will be socialised into it Labelling- have the power to avoid labelling and cannot afford expensive defence, reluctance of law means less reported so people who reply on stats will underestimate the extent of these offences Marxism- normal function of capitalism, ideology that corporate crime is less widespread or harmful, can control laws that are not in interest of the state evaluation: strain and marx overestimates amount of business crime, not all companies would risk it, doesnt explain crime in non profit agencies like police

Answer 45

Young- instability in todays society makes crime worse deindustrialisation led to less jobs, problems in family and heldback welfare spending, led to more exclusion for ppl at bottom relative deprivation increased as poverty gap increases cultural inclusion- even poor have access to media economic exclusion- poor people denied opps to gain prizes of wealth society boundary between good and bad behaviour now blurred so makes public more intolerant and leads to higher demands for harsher punishments late modern society is a high crime society with a low tolerance for crime

Answer 46

Lea and young- police dont spend enough time investigating crime, public needs to be more involved in determining polices priorities and style of policing police depend on public for 90% of crimes known, police need to improve relationship with communities by investigating more, changing priorities and involving public multiple agencies needed in order to work like council and schools

Answer 47

causes of crime lie in unequal structure of society and major structural changes needed to reduce crime, must deal with unfairness, provide jobs and housing and cease stereotyping whole groups as criminals

Answer 48

3/4 convicted in England and Wales are men by the age of 40, 9% of females convicted and 32% of men are higher proportion of females are convicted of property offences men more likely to reoffend

Answer 49

comes from victim surveys and police recorded statistics 76,000 hate crimes in England and wales but most incidents go unreported 60,000 racially aggravated offences a year mixed ethnic more likely to be a victim of crime- 20% young male and unemployed also contribute to probability of being a victim, ethnic groups younger so more likely to be victim responded from situational crime prevention to organised self defence campaigns

Answer 50

as result of globalisation, Castells argues there is now a global criminal economy worth over £1 trillion per annum: arms trafficking, smuggling of illegal immigrants, trafficking women and children, sex tourism, trafficking body parts, green and cyber crime, drugs trade, money laundering GCE has a demand and supply, part of the reason for scale of transnational organised crime is demand for its products and services in rich west however GCE could not function without a supply side that provides the source of the drugs demanded in the west this supply linked to globalisation process, poor drugs producing countries like colombia has large populations of impoverished peasants so drug cultivation is attractive option that requires prices little investment

Answer 51

Beck- globalisation created mentality of risk consciousness where risk is seen as global rather than tied to particular place, increased movement of ppl as migrants has caused anxieties in western countries abt risk of crime and need to protect their borders whether fears are rational of not is different matter, lot of knowledge abt risk comes from the media which is exaggerated and create moral panics, leads to hate crimes one result is intensification of social control at national level, uk has toughened border control regulations like fining airlines if they bring in undocumented passengers, many have introduced fences and cctv to prevent illegal crossings. another result is increased attempts at international cooperation and control in various wars on terror drugs and crime

Answer 52

Taylor- socialist, globalisation has led to changes in pattern and extent of crime, free rein to market forces so has caused more inequality and so more crime created crime at both ends of social spectrum, allowed transnational corporations to switch manufacturing to low wage countries making job insecurity unemployment and crime. deregulation means govs have little control over own economies like job creation while state spending on welfare has declines. marketisation encouraged ppl to see selves as individual consumers and create costs and benefits, as left realists note the increasingly materialistic culture promotes by global media portrays success in terms of a lifestyle of consumption creates insecurity and crime in the poor and gives opportunities for elite to commit crimes

Answer 53

Rothe and Friedrichs- examine role of international financial organisations like the role of the International Monetary Fund and world bank in crimes of globalisation, these organisations are dominated by major capitalist states, they argue these bodies impose pro capitalist neoliberal economic structural adjustment programmes on poor countries as a condition for the loans they provide, these programmes often require govs to cut spending on health and education and to privatise publicly owned industries and natural resources this allows western corporations to expand into these countries but also creates conditions for crime, the program imposed on Rwanda in 80s caused mass unemployment and created the economic basis for the 1994 genocide

Answer 54

new forms of organisation have international links esp w drug trade but crime still rooted in its local context, individuals still need local contacts and networks to find opportunities and to sell their drugs, Hobbs and Dunningham- conclude crime works as glocal system, its still locally based but w global connections, means the form it takes will vary from place to place according to local connections even if it is influenced by global factors such as availability of drugs abroad they argue changes associated w globalisation have led to changes in patterns of crime- change from hierarchical gang structure to loose networks of flexible entrepreneurial criminals

Answer 55

Glenny- refers to organisations that emerged in russia and eastern europe following the fall of communism, he traces the origins of transnational organised crime to breakup of soviet union after 1989 which coincided w deregulation of global markets, under communism the soviet state regulated prices of everything but following fall of communism the russian gov deregulated most sectors of economy except natural resources, commodities remained at old soviet prices often only a 40th of world market price so anyone w access to funds could buy oil and gas for next to nothing, selling them abroad at large profit meant these ppl became russias new capitalist class-oligarchs meanwhile collapse of communist state heralded a period of increasing disorder, to protect their wealth capitalists turned to the mafias that has begun to spring up, these new russian mafias were purely economic organisations formed to pursue self interest, they built links w criminal organisations in other parts of the world

Answer 56

many threats to human wellbeing and ecosystem are not human made rather than natural Beck- in todays late modern society we can now provide adequate resources for all, but the massive increase in productivity and technology that sustains it has created new manufactured risks, many of these involve harm to environment and its consequences for humanity like global heating caused by GG emissions from industry example- global heating caused hottest heatwave in century and caused wildfires that destroyed parts of russias grain belt so resulting shortage led russia to introduce export bans and pushed up world price of grain, knock on effect in mozambique which relies on food exports and caused 30% rise in price of bread, sparked extensive rioting and looting of food stores that left at least a dozen dead

Answer 57

what if pollution that causes global warming or acid rain is perfectly legal and no crime has been committed- is this a matter for criminologists

Answer 58

not concerned w such behaviour bc its subject matter is defined by criminal law and no law has been broken, starting point for this approach is national and international laws and regulations concerning the environment, Situ and Emmons- define environmental crime as unauthorised act of omission that violates the law, investigates patterns and causes of law breaking advantage is that it has a clearly defined subject matter disadvantage is it accepts official definitions of environmental problems which are often shaped by powerful groups to serve own interests

Answer 59

takes more radical approach and starts from notion of harm rather than criminal law, White- proper subject of criminology is any action that harms physical environment and/or the human and non human animals within it even if no law has been broken, form of transgressive criminology as it oversteps boundaries of trad criminology to include new issues, also known as zemiology which is the study of harm, diff countries also have diff laws so same harmful action may be crime in one country but not the other so legal definitions cannot provide consistent standard of harm bc they are the product of individual nation states, can develop a global perspective on environmental harms, this approach is like marxist view of crimes of the powerful- powerful interests like nation states can define in their own interest what counts as unacceptable environmental harm

Answer 60

Anthropocentric- nation states and tncs adopt this which is a human centered view of environmental harm, assumes humans have a right to dominate nature for their own ends and puts economic growth before the environment Ecocentric- sees humans and their environments as interdependent so that environmental harm hurts humans also, sees both humans and the environment as liable to exploitation esp by global capitalism in general green criminology adopts ecocentric view as basis for judging environmental harm

Answer 61

crimes that result directly from the destruction and degradation of the earths resource, South identifies 4 types: Crimes of air pollution-Walters- 2x as many ppl die from air pollution induced breathing problems as 20yrs ago Crimes of deforestation- criminals include state and those who profit Crimes of species decline and animal abuse- 50 species a day become extinct, 95% of earths species live in rainforests which is at severe threat Crimes of water pollution- 25m die annually from drinking contaminated water,Deepwater Horizon oil spill caused mass harm to marine life and coasts, criminals are businesses and govs

Answer 62

crime that grows out of flouting of rules aimed at preventing or regulating environmental disasters- govs often break own regulations and cause environmental harm State violence against oppositional groups- states condemn terrorism but have been prepared to resort to similar illegal methods themselves, 1985 the french secret service blew up greenpeace ship in auckland harbour killing a crew member, vessel was there to prevent a green crime (french nuclear weapons testing in south pacific) Hazardous waste and organised crime- disposal of toxic waste from industry is highly profitable, safe and legal disposal is high so seek to dispose illegally, Brigland- after 2004 tsunami hundreds of barrels of radioactive waste that were illegally dumped by europe washed up on somalias shores, many western businesses ship waste to poorer countries

Answer 63

strengths and weaknesses of green criminology arise from its focus on global environmental concerns, recognises the growing importance of environmental issues however by focusing on much broader concept of harms rather than legally defined crimes it is hard to define boundaries of its field of study clearly, defining these boundaries involves making moral or political statements abt which actions ought to be regarded as wrong, critics argue that this is a matter of values and cannot be established objectively

Answer 64

Cohen- argues states now have to make a greater effort to justify their human rights crimes, hes interested in the ways states do this, democratic states have to legitimate their actions and so follow a three stage spiral of denial: 1- state claims there was no massacre but then its shown that it did happen, 2- if it did happen then it was something else, 3- even if it was you say it is, its justified techniques of neutralisation- cohen examines the ways states deny or justify their crimes, draws on the work of Sykes and Matza who identify 5 neutralisation techniques: denial of injury- we are the real victims, denial of victim- they exaggerate, appeal to higher loyalty- self righteous justifications that claim to be serving higher cause, condemning of condemners- condemning us bc of their racism, denial of responsibility- i was obeying orders these techniques do not deny that the event occurred but seek to impose a diff construction of the event from what might be the case

Answer 65

Marxists and critical criminologists argue trad criminology focuses too much on the crimes of the streets and ignored the crime of the suites committed by big businesses Green and Ward define state crime as illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by or with the complicity of state agencies, includes all forms of crimes committed by or on behalf of states and govs in order to further their policies, most serious form of crime for two reasons: - Scale of the crime, states enormous power gives it potential to inflict harm on huge scale -State is source of the law, states role to define what is criminal and uphold the law, its power means it can conceal its crime, it undermines the system of justice and public faith in it

Answer 66

McLaughlin: Political crimes- corruption and censorship Crimes by security and police forces- like genocide, torture and disappearances of dissidents Economic crimes- official violations of health and safety laws Social and cultural crimes- institutional racism

Answer 67

UN defines genocide as acts committed with intent to destroy a national, ethnic or religious group, Rwanda became belgian colony in 1922 and belgians used the minority Tutsi to mediate rule over Hutu majority, were not separate ethnic groups and spoke same language, they were more like social classes where Tutsis owned livestock and Hutu did not, belgians ethnicised two groups issuing them w racial identity cards gained independence 1962 and elections brought Hutus to power, by 90s an escalating economic and political crisis led to civil war w Hutu hardliners in gov attempting to cling on to power by fuelling race hate propaganda against Tutsis, shooting down of Hutu presidents plane triggered the genocide in 94 and in hundred days 800,000 Tutsis were slaughtered

Answer 68

state crimes often committed in conjunction w corporate crimes, Kramer and Michalowski distinguish between state initiated and state facilitated corporate crime Challenger space shuttle disaster- in 86 and is example of state initiated, occurs when states initiate or approve corporate crimes, in case of Challenger risky and cost cutting decisions by state agency NASA and corporation Morton Thiokol led to explosion that killed 7 astronauts Deepwater horizon oil rig disaster- gulf of mexico 2010 is state facilitated, occurs when states fail to regulate and control corporate behaviour which makes crime easier, the rig leased by BP exploded and sank killing 11 workers and causing largest accidental oil spill in history, official enquiry found that while disaster resulted from decisions by companies involved, gov regulators had failed to oversee the industry adequately

Answer 69

Illegal wars- under international law, war can only be declared by the UN Security Council, many see the US-led war in Iraq in the name of the 'war on terror' as illegal Crimes committed during war or its aftermath- Whyte- describes USAs neo-liberal colonisation of Iraq, in which the constitution was illegally changed so the economy could be privatised, Iraqi oil revenues then seized to pay for reconstruction, 2004 has 48b go to US firms, poor oversight by the occupying powers meant it is unclear where much of this went Kramer and Michalowski identify other crimes committed during iraq war like torture of prisoners

Answer 70

Chambliss- defines state crime as acts defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials in pursuit of their jobs as representatives of the state, however using states own domestic law to define state crime is inadequate, ignores the fact that states have the power to make laws and so they can avoid criminalising their own actions, they can make laws allowing them to carry out harmful acts

Answer 71

recognises that much of the harm done by states is not against the law, Michalowski defines state crime as including not just illegal acts but legally permissible acts whose consequences are similar to those of the illegal Hillyard- we should take much wider view of state wrongdoing, should replace study of crimes with zemiology, the study of harms, whether or not theyre against the law, harms would include state faciliated poverty this definition prevents states from ruling themselves out of court by making laws that allow them to misbehave, creates a single standard that can be applied to diff states to identify which ones are most harmful to human or environmental wellbeing

Answer 72

argues whether an act constitutes as crime depends on whether social audience for that act defines it as a crime, may witness it directly or indirectly through media reports, this definition recognises that state crime is socially constructed and so what ppl define as state crime can vary over time between groups, prevents sociologist imposing own definitions of state crime, definition even vaguer than social harms

Answer 73

base definition of state crime on international law, law created through treaties and agreements between states like Geneva convention, Rothe and Mullins- any action on behalf of a state that violates international law and or a states own domestic law, doesnt use sociologists personal definitions of harm but international law is social construction involving use of power

Answer 74

natural rights that ppl have by virtue of existing like right to life and civil rights like the right to vote and to a fair trial Schwendinger- we should define state crime as violation of ppls basic human rights by the state of its agents Risse- virtually all states care abt their human rights image bc these rights are now social norms, makes them susceptible to shaming for the Schwendingers the definition of crime is inevitably political, if we accept a legal definition we become subservient to the states interests Cohen- criticises their view, some acts like economic exploitation are not self evidently criminal disagreements over what counts as a human right, some would not include freedom from hunger

Answer 75

Adorono- identify an authoritarian personality that includes a willingness to obey the orders of superiors without question, argues that at the time of ww2 many germans had this personality due to the disciplinarian socialisation patterns that were common at the time, often thought that ppl who carry out torture and genocide must be psychopaths but research suggests there is little psychological difference between them and normal people

Answer 76

state crimes are crimes of conformity since they require obedience to a higher authority, many people are willing to obey authority even when this involves harming others, sociologists argue that such actions are part of a role into which individuals are socialised, they focus on the social conditions in which atrocities become acceptable or even required Green and Ward- in order to overcome norms against the use of cruelty, individuals who become torturers need to be resocialised and exposed to propaganda abt the enemy, torture turned into a job from which they can return to everyday life Kelman and Hamilton- three general features that produce crimes of obedience, authorisation routinisation and dehumanisation

Answer 77

some commentators argue that Nazi holocaust represented a breakdown of modern civilisation and a reversion to premodern barbarism, Bauman takes opposite view that it was certain key features of modern society that made holocaust possible: division of labour- each person was responsible for just one small task so no one felt personally responsible for the atrocity bureaucratisation- normalised killing by making it a repetitive rule governed job instrumental rationality- where rational efficient methods are used to achieve a goal, regardless of what the goal is science and tech- from the railways transporting victims to the death camps, to the industrially produced gas used to kill them Holocaust was a modern industrialised mass production factory system where product was mass murder

Answer 78

not all genocides occur through a highly organised division of labour that allows participants to distance themselves from the killing ideological factors important, nazi ideology stressed a single monolithic german racial identity that excluded minorities such as jews, meant they did not need to be treated according to normal standards or morality thus, while the modern rational division of labour may have supplied means for the holocaust, it was racist ideology that supplied the motivation, decade of anti semitic propaganda preceeded the mass murder

Answer 79

Garland- Usa and Uk moving to era of mass incarceration, been rising rapidly since the 70s and is now 1.4m state and federal prisoners in prisons like rikers island plus 750,000 in local jails, once figures reach these numbers its more incarceration of whole groups instead of individual offenders like young black males, black americans on 12% of us population but 33% of prison population, 6x more likely to be in prison, may have ideological function as US prison system soaks up 40% of the unemployed making capitalism look more successful argues the reason for mass incarceration is the growing politicisation of crime control, change from reintergration consensus to one based on more punitive and tough on crime policies leading to rising numbers in prison

Answer 80

growth in the range of community based controls like curfews and community service, Cohen- argues the growth of community controls has cast the net of control over more people, increased range of sanctions enables control to penetrate ever deeper into society, may divert young ppl into criminal justice system

Answer 81

Miers- defines it as having three features: aims to identify the factors that produce patterns in victimisation, focuses on interpersonal crimes of violence, aims to identify victims who have contributed to their own victimisation the earliest positivist studies focused on victim proneness, sought to identify the social and psychological characteristics of victims that make them more vulnerable to being a victim Hentig- identified 13 characteristics of victims like theyre more likely to be female or mentally subnormal identifies certain patterns of interpersonal victimisation but ignores wider structural factors, can easily tip over into victim blaming, ignores situations where victims are unaware of their victimisation

Answer 82

based on conflict theories and shares same approach as critical victimology focuses on two elements: structural factors- like patriarchy and poverty which place powerless groups at greater risk of victimisation states power to apply or deny label of victim- victim is a social construct, through criminal justice system process the state applies the label of victim to some but withholds it from others Tombs and Whyte- show that safety crimes where employers violations of the law lead to death or injury to workers are often explained away as the fault of accident prone workers disregards the role victims may play in bringing victimisation on themselves through their own choices

Answer 83

class- poorest groups most likely to be victimised, Newburn and Rock- homeless people 12x likely to be victim of violence age- younger people more at risk of victimisation, most at risk of being murdered are infants under one ethnicity- minority ethnic groups at greater risk gender- males at greater risk of being violent attack, 70% homicide victims are male repeat victimisation- likely to be a victim again

Crime Flashcards

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