Green Crime Flashcards
(20 cards)
What does transgressive mean in green crime?
Looking beyond laws to include actions that cause harm to the environment or living things.
What does anthropocentric mean?
A human-centered view where harm is judged based on the impact to humans (e.g. pollution affecting water supplies).
What does ecocentric mean?
A view that any harm to the environment is wrong, regardless of whether it impacts humans directly (e.g. animal cruelty).
Why is green crime difficult to police?
Jurisdictional differences, global impact from local actions, and difficulty assigning blame.
How does globalisation link to green crime?
Environmental harm in one country can affect the entire planet (e.g. CO₂ emissions), making green crime a global issue.
What is the traditional criminology view on green crime (Situ & Emmons)?
Only acts that break state/national laws are crimes—so legal but harmful acts like CO₂ emissions may not count.
What is the transgressive criminology view on green crime (White, 2008)?
Any act causing environmental or animal harm is a crime, even if it’s not against the law.
What does Beck mean by ‘manufactured risks’?
Modern technology creates new, man-made environmental risks like climate change from industrial emissions.
What are the two types of green crime according to Nigel South?
→ Primary (direct environmental damage) and Secondary (breaches of environmental regulation).
Give examples of primary green crimes:
Air pollution, deforestation, species decline, water pollution, animal cruelty.
Give examples of secondary green crimes:
Illegal waste dumping, state violence against environmental activists, breaking environmental laws.
Who are the key victims of green crime (Wolf)?
Poor, ethnic minorities, and people in developing countries—often can’t escape polluted environments.
How are individuals perpetrators of green crime (Wolf)?
Through cumulative actions like littering or fly-tipping that cause long-term harm
How are businesses perpetrators of green crime?
Through corporate pollution, environmental neglect, illegal waste disposal—typical white-collar crime.
How are governments perpetrators of green crime (Santana)?
Through military pollution (e.g. toxic chemicals, unexploded bombs), neglect of environmental laws.
How is organised crime involved in green crime?
Often work with businesses/governments for illegal waste disposal or environmental exploitation.
What is environmental discrimination?
When poorer or minority communities suffer more from pollution or environmental hazards.
Why is green crime hard to define?
No global agreement on what counts as a crime—varies by country, ideology, and legal systems.
Why is green crime hard to study?
Impacts can take decades, definitions vary, and research relies heavily on isolated case studies.
Why is green crime prone to value judgements?
Because legality and morality don’t always align—e.g., legal pollution vs. harmful pollution.
