Types of State Crime

What is state crime?

• Crime is a social construct and as such varies from state to state

• Many state crimes are legal in that nation, at the time they are committed

• Sociologists have often adopted a zemiological approach- based on the consensus of Western norms and values

• State crimes can be defined as actions taken by the state or its agents against its own citizens that break national or international law

• Other sociologists argue that we should look at acts that violate an individual’s human rights- regardless of whether a nation considers the act to be legal

What are the types of state crime suggested by McLaughlin in 2001?

• Political criminality

• Crimes of state security or police

• Economic crimes

• Criminality at social and cultural levels

What is political criminality?

• Corruption and censorship of dissenting voices are examples of political criminality

• Forms of clientism, where the government places the needs of corporations above the welfare of their citizens are forms of state crime

What is an example of political criminality?

Award of PPE contracts during the COVID-19 pandemic has been under scrutiny as many linked to Conservative Party donors - other contracts awarded without parliamentary scrutiny

What is state security and police crimes?

• Crimes against the public by the agents of the security forces, armed forces and the police

• Includes violence and deaths in custody, unlawful imprisonment, unlawful killing by state operatives, persecution of groups in society and genocide

What is an example of state security and police crimes?

Includes torture of prisoners - UK and USA have been complicit in the torture of terrorism suspects during the 'war on terror'

What are economic crimes?

• Rise of state-corporate crime with the increased privatisation of services

• Government subcontract activities to private companies who act on behalf of the state sector, yet deviate from the law

• The government remains liable for the actions of their contractors, yet often chooses to legitimise the actions of these companies

What is crime at social and cultural levels?

Crimes of discrimination against one or more groups in society

What are examples of crime at social and cultural levels?

• Some Eastern European states actively oppress the rights of LGBTQ communities in their nation

• Some African and Middle Eastern nations have strict laws surrounding sexuality and the conduct of different genders

• Historic segregation of different ethnic groups

What are the evaluations of state crime?

• Defining legal activities in one nation as being a state crime can be seen as the imposition of Western values - crime is a social construction

• Crimes committed by the state are often legitimised based upon the need for the action - e.g. 'interests of national security'

• The influence of religious beliefs in some forms of discrimination is seen as an appeal to a higher power