Globalisation
and
Crime
Globalisation and Crime: The
Issues
Crime and
globalisation
Patterns of
criminal
organisation
Green Crime
State Crime
What does globalisation mean?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJ0nFD19eT8
Interconnectedness of societies.
What happens locally is shaped by global forces.
Globalisation
Definition: The way in
which we seem to live in an
increasingly ‘shrinking
world’, where societies are
becoming more
interconnected and
dependant on each other.
Global crime (1 trillion)
 Arms trafficking
 Smuggling immigrants
 Trafficking women
and children
 Sex tourism
 Cyber-crimes –
identity theft and
child porn
 Drugs trade
 Money laundering
Transnational crime
Risk consciousness
Greater communication and
travel have made the drugs
industry extend beyond
national boundaries. Often
involving many countries the
supply comes from south
America (Colombia) and its
demand from western
countries.
Increased terrorism has
increased our awareness
of the international risks
we face and increased
security at our national
borders, airports, ports
and train stations.
Globalisation
and crime
Changing crime
Hobbs and Dunningham say
crime is now longer local but
‘Glocal’ meaning it involves
networks of people across the
globe. Gleeny (2008) argues
even the mafia has gone global,
it has franchised its businesses
to different parts of the globe –
McMafia
Increased crime
Ian Taylor (1973) Marxist
argues that globalisation
has allowed capitalism
to create more crime by
exploiting workers abroad
and creating fraud on a
larger scale.
manufacturing products
abroad has led to a lack of
jobs and opportunities for
the working class, which
leads them to crime.
Globalisation and Crime
Globalisation refers to the way in which
the world is becoming much more
interconnected and the barriers between
countries are disappearing
As a result there are new opportunities for
crime and even new crimes being
invented.
Castells (1998) Global Criminal Economy
Transnational organised crime
£1 trillion per annum
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
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Arms trafficking
Nuclear materials trafficking
People trafficking – smuggling illegal immigrants (often
for prostitution)
Cyber Crimes
Sex tourism – transporting westerners to sex hot spots in
developing countries
Terrorism
Drugs
Money laundering
Castells (1998) Supply & Demand
A lot of this is supply led by the developing
countries and demand led by the western world.
Such threats have led to many countries wanting
to tighten borders as fear of problems being
imported is heightened by the media reporting of
such crimes
Global Sex Trade
21st Century Sex Slaves
Stacey Dooley Investigates: Sex
Trafficking in Cambodia
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJzI1_jX5RI
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWeY5lETpqU
Drug-related deaths (England and
Wales 2004)
Cocaine
575
Amphetamine
384
Ecstasy
227
Solvents
246
Opiates (heroin, morphine & methadone)
4,976
Alcohol
25,000 - 200,000
Tobacco
500,000
Drugs...the scale of the problem:
Illegal to
produce
Impoverished
people act as drug
mules (traffickers)
Addiction may lead to
crime (funds a habit) or
because the addict cannot
support themselves
Illegal to
sell
Illegal
to take
Cocaine in Central/South America
What could these numbers represent?
17,000
31
43%
$10,000,000,000
$12,000,000,000
90%
• 17,000 Columbians die every year as a result of Cocaine
related murders.
• 43% of the worlds Cocaine originates from Columbia
• $10,000,000,000 is the estimated profit made from
Cocaine each year in Columbia.
• 31 is the age at which one in 50 men in the Central
American region will be murdered before.
• $12,000,000,000 is how much the Columbian
government invests in the war against Cocaine each
year.
• 90% of the Cocaine used in the US is from Columbia.
Shocking statistic
• A new UN report says that one in 50 Central American
20-year-old men will be murdered before they turn 31.
Unsurprisingly, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime says
the situation is nearing a "crisis point."
• The report places much of the blame on violence
between drug trafficking groups in the last five years,
• The murder rate in Central America had fallen between
1995 and 2005, before heading sharply upward
beginning in 2007. It's now "several hundred times
higher than in some parts of Asia,"
Columbia
• South American country
• By far the worlds biggest producer and (illegal,
obviously) exporter of cocaine (43% world
share, worth billions per year)
• Manufactured by impoverished farmers under
the instruction of drug lords/barons.
• A gram of cocaine sells on the Colombian
streets for just £1.00
• Cocaine is the cause of 17,000 murders every
year in Colombia.
Global Risk Consciousness
Increased movement of people –
Western fear of importing more crime
and deviance
Risks are informed by the media –
exaggerate the dangers – moral panic
about threat
Toughened border controls at airports
and sea ports
Global risk consciousness
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eEE5IPxv-O4
Taylor (1997) Globalisation, K and Crime
Globalisation = growth of transnational
companies.
Deregulation of government powers =
global market (wages, taxes)
Marketisation – people see themselves as
individual consumers – growth of
materialism – lack of social cohesion.
Greater job insecurity, widening
inequalities – encourage poorer people to
commit crime.
Taylor (1997) Crime at both ends of the spectrum
Higher social groups
Globalisation of the money
markets has led to more insider
dealing, tax evasion and financial
fraud.
Lower social groups
Lack of legitimate jobs (due to
multinationals moving production
to cheaper countries) means that
illegal options become more
enticing to lower social groups
Taylor (1997) Globalisation and K.
New Patterns of
Employment.
Use of ‘flexible work’ –
increase in
subcontractors.
More likely to flout
minimum wage and H&S
laws.
CRITIQUE:
Useful link between
global trends and K.
 Free will – not all poor
people turn to crime.
Hobbs and Dunningham (1998) “GLOCAL”
•
Use the phrase ‘glocal organisation’ to show how
new types of gang structures have arisen to cope
with the new global markets, especially for drugs.
•
New gangs do not have the old rigid hierarchies of
the past.
•
•
GLOCAL
Locally based crime
with
international
They are much more fluid and flexible: They often
runconnections
crime in a particular local area – but also have
international connections.
However, critics argue that such gangs have always
existed alongside the more structured ones.
Glenny (2008) – McMafia
•
•
•
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Uses the example of new Russian gangs to illustrate
a new order since the changes in Eastern Europe.
Many former officials bought up such things as coal,
gas, steel, diamonds at low prices after the changes
and have made mega millions as they sold them on
to the West. These are referred to as ‘oligarchs’.
Old style KGB were enlisted to provide protection
and have become world famous e.g. Chechen Mafia.
Like with glocal organisations above these are fluid
structures and very unlike traditional Italian and US
mafia which have deep seated family linked
hierarchy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XO1Me-MY-Q0
Criticisms
• Is the world really becoming that
interconnected?
• Maybe, but it clearly benefits some
more than others.
• Is globalisation a positive thing?
Question
1. Which perspective would agree with
Taylor’s views about how
globalisation causes crime ‘at both
ends’? Explain your answer.
Key ideas
Traditional criminology
Green criminology
Defined as crimes against the
environment such as toxic
waste dumping and
deforestation. Green crime is
linked with globalisation as
the world is one single ecosystem. Ulrich Beck reminds
us that many environmental
issues are manufactured
rather than natural.
If pollution that causes
global warming is legal and
no real crime has been
committed then traditional
criminology is not
interested.
Less bound by laws but by
harm caused to the
environment or people.
Green criminology is a
much wider field and so
called Transgressive
Criminology – goes
beyond traditional
criminology.
Environmental/
Green crime
Harm
Secondary crimes
Crimes that result from flouting
rules aimed at preventing an
environmental disaster.
 State violence against
oppositional groups – despite
opposing terrorism states have
used the method themselves.
Hazardous waste and
organised crime –illegal
dumping.
Primary crimes
Crimes that result directly
from the destruction of the
earth: Crimes of air pollution.
 Crimes of deforestation.
 Crimes of species decline
and animal rights.
 Crimes of water pollution.
Anthropocentric is a human
centred approach which
assumes humans have the
right to dominate nature for
their own ends. The
Ecocentric view sees
humans and their
environment as
interdependent, so harming
one is harming another.
Green criminology takes the
ecocentric approach.
A Global Risk Society?
• Ulrich Beck (1992) in Late Modern Society –
the risks to humanity are made made and
have global consequences.
• Global Warming?
Green Crime
This is essentially crime against the environment and
can be very subjective. This is because with
globalisation we can no longer think and do things
as separate countries because we all share the
same globe and all the bits are inter- connected.
Pollution from factories in one country affect the rain
falling in another etc.
Traditional Criminology
Looks at criminal law to see if any have been
broken.
However this approach is criticised for accepting
too readily the ‘official definitions’ sponsored
by big business and interest groups who do a
lot of the damage.
Green Criminology
•
Takes a more radical approach and focuses on the
‘harm’ being done.
•
As different countries have different laws Green
Criminology has to overstep these boundaries –
referred to as ‘transgressive’ criminology.
•
Green criminology therefore adopts a global
perspective on crimes relating to the environment.
•
Similar to Marxist approaches it looks at the powerful
groups in the world and how often unacceptable
practices are defended as legitimate actions
Activity: Bhopal
• How would traditional and green criminology
Traditional
criminology
view the Bhopal
disaster– breach of H&S
legislation.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NaWVsa0dv9k&feature=player_embedde
d
30 tons of cyanide gas.
20,000
dead.criminology – wider perspective – the
Green
120,000 continue to suffer.
company locates dangerous work in poorer
countries with weak health & safety
legislation.
Anthropocentrism V Ecocentricism
White (2008)
• The anthropocentric
view states that
mankind has the right
to dominate nature for
its own ends
• Economic growth
before the
environment.
• The ecocentric view
sees humans and their
environment as
interdependent.
• Harming the
environment = harms
humans !
• Green Criminology is
ecocentric
Nigel South (2008) Two views of harm
Primary
Crimes
Secondary
crimes
Species decline
State violence
against opposition
(Greenpeace)
Air & Water
Pollution
Hazardous waste
Deforestation
Organised crime
Types Of Green Crimes
Nigel South (2008) divides green crimes into 2
categories
Primary Crimes – those that destroy the earth’s resources
Water Pollution
Contaminated drinking water, marine pollution, toxic
dumping and untreated sewage.
Air Pollution
Burning fossil fuels, carbon emissions = global
warming
Governments, big business and ourselves as consumers can all
be considered criminals
Species Decline
Many species are becoming extinct. Illegal
trafficking in animals and parts is increasing.
Deforestation
Clearing the rain forests has had a big effect on
the world’s eco system. Criminals here are
loggers, governments and other big organisations
Secondary Crimes – these are crimes resulting
from rules being flouted by governments and big
business.
•In 1985 the Greenpeace ship ‘Rainbow Warrior’ was
blown up in New Zealand by the French Secret Service
•Governments oppose terrorism but will resort to it to
protect their interests!
Hazardous waste and organised crime.
Disposing toxic waste has become a big business
in itself.
But economic profit has been placed above safety
on many occasions
Developing countries are often used as dumping
grounds as they can make money out of it.
Green Crime – An evaluation:
 Green crime has helped to focus on the global
ramifications of many illegal and legal (but morally
suspect) actions.
 However, because of its very global concerns it is
hard to define the boundaries of right and wrong –
and many argue that this whole debate is one of
ethics, values and subjectivity.
Definition
Case studies
Crimes or deviant activities
perpetrated by or with
permission of state agencies.
Pol Pot – Leader of the
Communist party in
Cambodia. Slave
labour, malnutrition,
poor medical care
resulted in the death of
21% of the population
(1.7 -2.5M).
Examples:Genocide (deliberate and
systematic destruction of
an ethnic, national or
religious group).
War crimes
Torture
Imprisonment without trial
Assassination
State crimes
The problem of national sovereignty
States are the supreme authority
within their borders.
The problem is the state is the source of
law meaning it decides what crimes are,
manages the criminal justice system
and prosecutes offenders, meaning it
can evade its own law.
Eugene McLaughlin (2001)
Four types of state crime: Political crimes corruption or censorship
(controlling what the media
says).

Crimes by security and police
forces – Genocide and torture.

Economic crime - violations of
health and safety.
 Social and cultural crimes
- institutional racism.
Abu Ghraib
A prison in Baghdad
Controlled by US led
coalition forces.
Accusations of abuse in
2004 – 11 soldiers
charge and convicted
for mistreatment.
Nazi Germany
Hitler started the T4 –
euthanasia program
from 1939 – 1941.
275,000 terminally ill
and mental patients
were killed.
Scale of the problem?
• Potentially – large Pol Pot – 2 million people.
• State has a monopoly on violence and can
easily conceal their activities.
• Media focus on Third World dictators.
• Crimes of the West – USA and UK not often
explored (What about military use of torture?)
• Principle of National Sovereignty.
State defines the laws
• State can define what is
criminal and direct the
criminal justice system.
• 1938 – Nazi
Government made
sterilisation of disabled
people legal.
Abu Ghraib
•
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rz7UNxnOI3M
Human rights
Problem
Solution
The right to life, liberty
and free speech.
States create laws which
make their actions legal
and free them from
criminal charges.
Three ways dictators deny
human rights violations:-
Herman and Schwendinger
(1970) argue we should
define crime as a violation of
human rights rather than law
breaking. States that deny
humans their rights are then
seen as criminals. This new
approach has been called
Transgressive criminology
as it transgresses (goes
beyond) the traditional
boundaries of criminology
(criminal law).
Stage 1: ‘It didn’t happen’,
this works until the media
uncover evidence that it did.
New problem
Civil rights
The right to vote, to
privacy, fair trial and
education.
The social conditions
of state crimes
Three features which
produces state crimes:Authorisation –
obedience.
Routinisation –
pressure to continue.
Dehumanisation –
Enemy is a monster.
Human rights
Stanley Cohen – The spiral of
state denial (1996)
Stage 2: ‘If it did happen, it
is something else’.
Stage 3: ‘Even if it is what
you say it is, its justified’ we
had to do it.
Not everybody agrees on
human rights. Is freedom
from poverty a human right?
Could states be charged as
criminals for not making its
members wealthy?
Human Rights & State Crimes
Human rights involve:
•
Civil rights – rights to vote, a fair trial etc
•
Natural rights – life itself, freedom, free
speech etc.
A ‘right’ means that you are entitled to
something…
H and J Schwendinger (1970)
•
Believed that all crimes should be defined in relation
to these ‘rights’ rather than breaking rules
•
Any state can make rules to suit any purpose
•
Eg. Nazis passed laws making it ‘legal’ to persecute
Jews
•
As sociologists we should hold up human rights as
the bottom line when defining deviant acts. –
TRANSGRESSIVE criminology.
Criticisms of Human Rights Approach
• Critics argue that there is no overall
agreement on what counts as ‘human
rights’
• Some things like ‘a right to life’ being a
basic right is virtually agreed on but
what about death penalties?
• Economic exploitation can be seen as
immoral by some but is it criminal?
S. Cohen (2001)Spiral of Denial
Dictatorships often deny and democratic states
use complex forms of legitimisation
•Cohen says that there is a 3 stage spiral of
denial
1.Denying that anything has happened.
2.It looks bad but it is not what it looks like – ‘we
didn’t mean to bomb the school’ in war
collateral damage happens!
3.It is unfortunate but justified – eg self defence
– war on terrorism war etc
Techniques of neutralisation….
Cohen borrows from the work of Matza to show how
states use the same techniques as individuals to
explain/excuse their actions
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
Denial of victim – They are terrorists…etc
Denial of injury – they started it…..it is self defence
Denial of responsibility – I was following orders…
Condemning the condemners – they are picking on us
Appeal to higher loyalty – there is a bigger cause and
sacrifices are inevitable…Protecting freedom,
protecting Islam, protecting Judaism..etc
Kelman and Hamilton (1989)
Looked at how social conditions
in modern society can lead to horrific
crimes being carried out.
They studied the case of My Lai –
an infamous incident during the
Vietnam war where 400 civilians were
massacred by US soldiers.
They identified 3 features that
produce such ‘crimes of obedience’
1. Authorisation
• This is where acts are ordered by
someone in charge. Milgram famously
showed this principle in action in his
electric shock psychological study.
• Normal moral principles are over ruled
by the need to obey authority
2. Routinisation
• There is pressure to turn the act into
a routine so it can be performed again
and again in a detached manner.
3. Dehumanisation
•
•
•
•
The enemy is made to look as non human as
possible
Jews having heads shaved, prisoners given
numbers etc.
This makes it easier to do unpleasant things to
them
Bauman (1989) – argues that the features of
modernity – science, technology, the division
of labour etc – all help to create the
conditions where such acts have become
more common.
Drone attacks
Globalisation – Assessment Questions
1. Examine the relationship between crimes against the
environment and the process of globalisation (21 marks).
2. Assess the view that the process of globalisation has led to
changes in both the amount of crime and the types of crime
committed. (21 marks) Jan 2012
3. Examine the claim that we live in a global risk society. (21 marks)
1. Explain how state crimes can be hidden crimes. (21 marks)
2. Assess sociological contributions to our understanding of the
nature of environmental crime. (21 marks)