State Crime Flashcards
(17 cards)
1
Q
What is state crime?
A
Green and Ward define state crime as ‘illegal or deviant perpetrated by, or with the complicity of, state agencies.’ It includes all forms of crime committed by or on behalf of states and governments in order to further their policies. State crimes don’t include acts that merely benefit individuals who work for the state, e.g. police officer who accept bribes
2
Q
Why is state crime the most serious form of crime?
A
- The state’s enormous power gives it the potential to inflict harm on a huge scale
- It’s the state’s role to define what’s criminal so its power means that it can conceal its crimes, evade punishment and avoid defining its own actions as criminal in the first place
3
Q
What are the 4 categories of state crime?
A
McLaughlin identifies:
- Political crimes (corruption and censorship)
- Crimes by security and police forces (genocide, torture)
- Economic crimes (official violations of health and safety laws)
- Social and cultural crimes (institutional racism)
4
Q
Give example of an economic crime (China)
A
- Linfen in China is the most polluted city, the production of coal has fuelled China’s economy but at the cost of their air quality and people health. Linfen’s residents suffer from cancers, chronic lung problems etc, due to their thick air pollution
- But it wasn’t a state crime because it was within their legal framework so they’re not violating any health and safety. Despite international laws on pollution brackets, they’re not obliged to follow
4
Q
Give an example of a crime by security and police forces
A
- In Rwanda, 2 ethnic groups were involved, Hutus and Tutsis. The Tutsi refugees in Uganda formed the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) to overthrow the president
- When he was killed, Hutus responded by murdering the Tutsi political opposition and the genocide began (acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group’
- Around 800,000 Rwandans were killed in 100 days
5
Q
Describe the 2 types of state-corporate crime
A
- Kramer and Michalowski distinguish between ‘state-initiated’ and ‘state-facilitated’ corporate crime
- The Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986 is an example of state-initiated corporate crime. This occurs when states initiate, direct or approve corporate crimes. In the case of Challenger, risky, negligent and cost-cutting decisions by NASA led to an explosion
- The Deepwater Horizon oil rig disaster in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 is an example of state-facilitated corporates crime. This occurs when states fail to regulate and control corporate behaviour, making crime easier. The rig, leased by BP, exploded and sank, killing 11 workers and causing the largest accidental oil spill in history. It was found that the government failed to notice the cost-cutting decisions
6
Q
What are the 2 kinds of war-related crime?
A
- Illegal wars: Under international law, in all cases other than self-defence, war can only be declared by the UN Security Council. On this basis, many see the US-led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq in the name of the ‘war on terror’ as illegal
- Crimes committed during war or its aftermath: Whyte describes the USA’s ‘neo-liberal colonisation’ of Iraq, in which the constitution was illegally changed so that the economy could be privatised
7
Q
Describe the domestic law definition of state crime
A
- Chambliss defines state crime as ‘acts defined by laws as criminal and committed by state officials in pursuit of their jobs as representatives of the state
- But using a state’s own definition is inadequate as it ignores the fact that states have the power to make laws and so they can avoid criminalising their own actions
8
Q
Describe zemiology
A
- This 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 also ‘legally permissible acts whose consequences are similar to those of illegal acts’ in the harm they cause
- This definition prevents states from ruling themselves ‘out of court’ by making laws that allow them to misbehave. It also creates a single standard that can be applied to different states to identify which ones are most harmful to human or environmental wellbeing
9
Q
Describe the labelling theory of the definition of state crime
A
- This definition recognises that state crime is socially constructed, so what people regard as state crime and vary over time and between groups.
- This prevents the sociologists imposing their own definition of state crime. But it’s also ignores that audiences’ definitions may be manipulated by RC ideology. (Marxism)
10
Q
Describe the international law definition of state crime
A
- Some sociologists base their definition of state crime on international law (law created through treaties and agreements between states) such as the Geneva and Hague Conventions on war crimes. e.g. Rothe and and Mullins define a state crime as any action by or on behalf of a state that violates international law and/or a state’s own domestic law
- An advantage of this is that it doesn’t depend on the sociologist’s own personal definition of harm or who the relevant social audience is, as it’s using a globally agreed definition. However international law focuses largely on war crimes
11
Q
Describe the human rights definition of state crime
A
- State crimes are those that harm human rights. This includes harming ‘natural rights that we have by virtue of existing (life, liberty etc.) and civil rights (the right to vote, education etc.) (Schwendinger & Schwendinger)
- An advantage of this is that virtually all states care about their human rights image, as these rights are now global social norms. This makes them susceptible to ‘shaming’.
- However there are disagreements about what counts as a human right. While most would include life and liberty, some wouldn’t include freedom from hunger.
12
Q
Describe the authoritarian personality as an explanation of state crime
A
- Adorno et al identified the authoritarian personality (a willingness to obey the orders of superiors)
- They argue that at the time of WWII, many Germans had the authoritarian personality due to disciplinarian socialisation patterns that were common at time
13
Q
Describe state crime as a crime of obedience
A
State crimes are crimes of conformity as they require obedience to a higher authority. Many people are willing to obey authority even when this involves harming others e.g. the My Lai massacre in Vietnam
14
Q
Describe modernity as an explanation of state crime
A
- Zygmunt argues features of modernity made the Holocaust possible:
- Division of labour: Each person was responsible for just one small task, so no-one felt personally responsible
- Bureaucratisation: normalised the killing by making it a repetitive, rule-governed and routine ‘job’. It also meant that the victims were dehumanised
- Instrumental rationality: where rational, efficient methods are used to achieve a goal, regardless of what the goal is (profit)
- Science and technology: railways transporting victims to industrially produced gas used to kill them
15
Q
Describe the culture of denial
A
- Cohen argues states now have to make a greater effort to conceal or justify their human rights crimes, or re-label them as not crimes. He’s interested in how states do this
- Stage 1: ‘it didn’t happen’; e.g. state claims it didn’t happen but victims and media show it did
- Stage 2: ‘if it did happen’, “it” is something else; e.g. self-defence
- Stage 3: ‘Even if it’s what you say it is, it’s justified
16
Q
Describe the techniques of neutralisation
A
- Cohen examines the way in which states deny or justify their crimes
- Denial of victim: removers sufferer status by dehumanising them
- Denial of injury: makes it seem like the inflictors suffer more than victims
- Denial of responsibility: suggests they were following orders
- Condemning the condemners: makes it seem as if bad behaviour is justified due to the fact that the opposition judges of disproves
- Appeal to higher loyalty: justifies behaviour for a greater good
