Global crime

Question 1

What is globalisation

Use PECS to remember the different types of interconnectedness’s

Answer 1

Globalisation refers to the increasing social, cultural, politicaland economic interconnectedness of societies whereby what happens in one part of the world affects many other parts.

Question 2

Globalisation has been caused by

Answer 2

The development of technology, e.g. Internet
The influence of the mass media
Affordable and fast air travel
Free market economy

Question 3

Held et al and definition of globalisation of crime

Answer 3

as all other aspects of life have become globalised, so has crime.

Globalisation of crime – refers to increasing interconnectedness of crime across international borders

Question 4

Castells et al

Answer 4

Castells argues that there is now a global criminal economy worth over £1 trillion per year.
This is very much the result of the demand for illegal goods and services such as drugs, etc. in MEDCs. The supply side of the transnational crime is in LEDCs where those goods are produced.

Question 5

Transnational crime

Answer 5

refers to crime that crosses international borders, e.g. smuggling legal goods such as cigarettes or alcohol to avoid tax

Question 6

Transnational organised crime

Answer 6

refers to people coming together in a criminal enterprise to exploit illegal opportunities for economic gain. This group of people can come together as a hierarchical structure (e.g. the Mafia, Yakuza) , but increasingly it is a flexible network of many different people. They commit crimes such as drug trafficking, people trafficking, smuggling of weapons, stolen art and cars, espionage and terrorism.

Question 7

Examples of global organised crimes

Answer 7

People trafficking
Drug trafficking
Cyber Crime
Arms trafficking

Question 8

what is people trafficking

Answer 8

people are trafficked for:
Prostitution and forced labour – e.g. working as servants in people’s homes. Over half a million people are trafficked into Western Europe each year for prostitution and slavery. Children are trafficked for prostitution, illegal adoption, forced marriage.

The removal of organs – for transplant into patients in Western countries who pay for the organs. An estimated 2000 organs are taken from condemned criminals in China each year.

Illegal immigrants – traffickers make money by charging people to help them get into a country, e.g. providing fake documents,

Question 9

Drug trafficking

Answer 9

Drugs trafficking - the drug trade was the first illegal sector to maximise profits in a globalised world. Drugs grown in South American countries such as Colombia or in Asian countries such as Afghanistan, make their way to the UK via well established routes. Many people in those countries rely on growing of the crops which produce drugs for their livelihoods. Globalisation has made drug trafficking much quicker and easier, and detection less likely

Question 10

Arms trafficking

Answer 10

Arms trafficking includes the illegal sale of weapons to guerrilla groups, terrorists and dictatorial regimes not recognised by the UN. For example, during the civil war in Sierra Leone, rebel forces illegally bought guns from other countries in exchange for diamonds

Question 11

Cyber crime

Answer 11

one of the fastest growing criminal activities in the MEDCs. It covers a wide range of illegal activities such as financial scams, computer hacking, virus attacks, creating websites that promote racial and religious hatred, identity theft, child pornography, etc. It has been made possible by the increasing reliance on computers in homes and businesses and by the spread of internet. A new cyber crime is committed every 10 seconds in the UK, most of which goes undetected and unreported.

Question 12

Explanations of the causes of crime

Answer 12

Taylor- both w/c and m/c crimes have increased due to globlisation

Rothe and Friedrichs - IMF and World Bank explanation

Glenny- McMafia

Hobs and Dunningham- Glocal crimes

Question 13

Criticisms of each explanation

Answer 13

For Taylor:
Taylor fails to explain why only some people turn to crime, when the majority are still law abiding.

For Hobs and Dunningham :
There is no evidence that older forms of criminal organisations have disappeared.

Question 14

Global risk consciousness

Answer 14

refers to increased awareness and insecurity felt by people on a global scale.

For example, the increased migration across the world has created a fear in the MEDCs about the crimes immigrants may commit. Much of this fear is created by the media’s exaggerated reporting of immigration which makes the fear irrational.

One consequence of such moral panics is the strengthening of formal social control, e.g. at border controls such as airports or national land borders