Globalisation And Crime

Question 1

The global economy

Answer 1

Castells argues that there is now a global criminal economy worth over one trillion per year. This includes things such as arms trafficking, smuggling, trafficking of women and children, sex tourism, and money laundering. One reason for the massive scale of transnational crime is the demand for products and services in the west as we import drugs such as cocaine from Columbia which depend on drug money

Question 2

Evaluation of the global economy

Answer 2

Due to technological advancements we can now detect crime through surveillance

Question 3

The global risk consciousness

Answer 3

Globalisation has resulted in new insecurity and produced a mentality of risk consciousness where risk is seen as a global issue rather than a local one. Western countries are worried about the risk of crime and feel the need to protect their borders due to moral panic created by the media and politicians. Due to this there is a increase in hate crime causing an increase in social control

Question 4

Evaluation of the global risk consciousness

Answer 4

Despite the fact that this is seen as a global issue rather than a local one, the principle of national sovereignty prevents any attacks

Question 5

Globalisation, capitalism and crime

Answer 5

Taylor argues that globalisation has led to changes in the pattern and extent of crime. There is free rein given to market forces which has created greater inequality and rising crime at both ends of the social scale . Transnational corporations now use cheap Labour in developing nations which creates job insecurity and poverty

Question 6

Evaluation of globalisation capitalism and crime

Answer 6

This is too deterministic and does not adequately explain how changes in society means people behave in criminal ways as not all poor people turn to crime

Question 7

Patterns of criminal organisation

Answer 7

Hobbs and Dunningham argue that economic changes brought by globalisation have changed the way crime is organised. A loose network of individuals seeking criminal and non-criminal opportunities has replaced the previous hierarchy’s mafia-style criminal organisations. Now due to global connections we don’t need to rely on someone at the top of the hierarchy to provide supplies. This is global crime where crime is influenced by global factors such as the availability of drugs from other countries

Question 8

Evaluation of patterns of criminal organisation

Answer 8

This conclusion may not be gerneralizable to other criminal activities elsewhere