State Crime Flashcards
(19 cards)
Definition of State Crime (Green and Ward, 2005):
“Illegal or deviant activities perpetrated by, or with the complicity of, state agencies.”
Domestic Law Definition (Chambliss):
Acts defined as criminal by the state and committed by officials while doing their job.
Zemiology (Hillyard):
The study of harm, regardless of legality—focuses on wider social harms.
Legally Permissible Harm (Michalowski):
Harms similar to illegal acts should count as crimes, even if not against the law.
International Law Definition (Rothe & Mullins):
State crime includes actions that break international or domestic law.
Human Rights Definition (Schwendinger, 1975):
Any state act that violates basic human rights is a crime—even if it’s legal
Four Types of State Crime (McLaughlin)
Political, Security/Police, Economic, Social/Cultural.
Examples of Political Crime
Censorship, corruption (e.g., MP’s expenses, low Corruption Index countries like Somalia).
Security/Police Crime Examples:
Genocide (Rwanda, Cambodia), torture (Guantanamo), disappearances (China, Russia).
Economic Crime Examples
Chernobyl (health violations), austerity policies causing social harm.
Social and Cultural Crime Examples:
Institutional racism, ethnocentric curricula, destruction of native cultures (e.g., USA, ISIS).
Why is State Crime Serious?
Large-scale harm, concealment by powerful states, national sovereignty blocks intervention.
Cohen’s Culture of Denial – 3 Stages:
It didn’t happen.
If it did, it’s something else.
Even if it is, it’s justified.
Sykes and Matza: 5 Techniques of Neutralisation:
Denial of victim
Denial of injury
Denial of responsibility
Condemn the condemners
Appeal to higher loyalties
Green & Ward’s Integrated Theory:
→ State crime arises from
Motivation
Opportunity
Lack of controls (like street crime)
Bauman – Modernity & State Crime (4 Features):
Division of labour
Bureaucratisation
Instrumental rationality
Science & technology
State Crime vs. Street Crime:
State crimes are often crimes of obedience, not deviance.
Kelman & Hamilton – Crimes of Obedience (3 Conditions):
Authorisation – orders from above justify actions.
Routinisation – becomes routine/detached task.
Dehumanisation – victims are seen as less than human.
Corruption Index (Transparency International):
Countries in conflict/poverty tend to be more corrupt. Least corrupt = Scandinavia + Canada.
