CRIME & DEVIANCE STATE CRIME BOOKLET 20

Define state crime

Crimes committed by the government/state, can be against people in political parties and/or citizens of the country

Examples of state crime

Genocide (holocaust), war crimes, torture, violations of health and safety laws, corruption

Why can the state inflict harm on such a large scale?

Due to its enormous power

How many people did Green and Wars say governments murdered during the 20th century?

262 million

Whose role is it to define what is criminal and uphold the law? What is the problem with this?

The state - but these are the ones breaking the laws

What else can the state to due to their power? (Linking to crime)

Conceal their crimes and evade punishments

Find an example of a state crime that the government has either tried to hide or have justified in it

1. The Chernobyl disaster 1986 - the Soviet government initially hid the disaster from own citizens and other countries the state controlled the media for four days, aiming to protect the countries, reputation and prevent widespread domestic panic

2. The Tuskegee Syphillis study 1932-1972) - the US public health service conducted unethical media experiment on 600 lower income African-American sharecroppers in Alabama to track the natural progression of untreated syphilis. The government hid the true nature of the study from all participants

Eugene McLaughlin identifies 4 categories of state crime, what are they?

1. Political crimes (corruption)

2. Crimes by security and police forces (genocide)

3. Economic crimes (violations of health and safety laws)

4. Social and cultural crimes (institutional racism)

Research the Rwandan genocide

Rwanda genocide was a mass murder that occur occurred from 7 April to 19 July 1994 during the Rwanda Civil War. Due to identity cards being introduced with categorize the population into Hutu (majority) and Tutsi (minority - the victims)

On 6 April 1994 a plane carrying the Rwandan president was shot down killing everybody on board

Hutu extremist groups were backed by the government and radicalized local civilians (the perpetrators)

More than 2 million Rwandans fled to Congo and an estimated 800,000 to over 1 million people were killed in total

State crimes are often committed in conjunction with what crimes?

Corporate crimes

What are Kramer & Michalowski's 2 types of state crime?

• state initiated corporate crime

• state facilitated corporate crime

What does state initiated corporate crime mean? And example

When states initiate, direct or approve a crime - such as the space shuttles disaster (involving cost cutting decisions - exploded in 73 seconds, killing 7 astronauts)

What does state facilitated corporate crime mean? And example

When the state fails to regulate and control corporate behavior, making crime easier - such as the deep water horizon oil rig disaster (regulators failed to oversee the industry properly/notice the company's cost cutting decisions (killing 11 workers)

Find examples of war crime

World war 2 (1939-1945)

The Russian + Ukraine war

My Lai Massacre (1968)

What classes as "illegal" war crimes?

Anything apart from self defense

Give an examples of an illegal war crime

The US led wars in Afghanistan and Iraq

How did the US explain their reasoning for the war in Afghanistan/Iraq to make it seem legal?

They claimed that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction

What else did Kramer & Michalowski identify as another example if an illegal war crime?

The torturing of prisoners in Abu Ghraib prison in Iran (criminal abuse) - 9 soldiers were convicted of abuse of power (soldiers force prisoners to stand in a stress position, and if they moved electrical wires would send shocks through their body)

Why would these soldiers have done this?

They were put in a position of authority and power as they were soldiers

Due to conformity

Which countries have deliberate bombings of civilians happened in recently?

Iraq, Syria, Ukraine

How does Chambliss define state crime?

Acts defined by law as criminal and committed by state officials in pursuit of their jobs as representatives of the state

Give an example of state crime?

German Nazi state - the holocaust

What law did the German Nazi state pass that involved harmful acts?

They passed the law to permit the, to compulsorily sterilize disabled people (as disabled people did not fit in with this "master race"

Find examples where the state set laws that officials for the state have broken themselves

• COVID 19 (party gate - Boris Johnson)

• Jeremy Hunt (breached the Companies Act - business transparency, failed to declare his commercial interest in a property firm

• Watergate scandal US

What does Zemiology mean?

The study of harm

How does Michalowski's definition of state crime differ to others?

Not just illegal acts but also legally permissible acts whose consequences are similar to those "illegal acts" in the harm they cause

This definition creates a single standard, what does this mean?

The same standard can be applied to different states to identify which ones are most harmful

What is the issue with the definition of state crime?

It is socially constructed (interpretivists would agree with this)

How does labelling theory link to the definition of state crime?

Labelling theory argues that whether an act constitutes as a crime depends off whether the social audience for that act defines it as a crime

What crimes are different in different cultures/countries?

• in Islamic countries (Saudi Arabia/Pakistan) is a serious criminal offense

• Jaywalking - fineable offense in US

• euthanasia - legal in Switzerland, illegal in UK

• FGM - legal in South/West Africa

• abortion

What crimes have changed over time?

Cyber crime, online fraud, terrorism, trafficking, same sex marriages, homosexuality

How does the media persuade the definition of state crime?

The media may also persuade the public to see war as legitimate rather than criminal (the media try to sway public perception)

What does some sociologists base their definition of state crime on?

International law - created through treaties and agreements

What is an advantage of defining state crime as a violation of international law?

It is globally agreed definition (not a sociologist personal definition)

What are crimes that are globally agreed is a crime?

Murder, theft, fraud, rape, terrorism, human trafficking, violence crimes (assault/GBH)

What does international law stem from?

Religion

• for example, Christianity is widespread and 2 of the 10 commandments state “shall not murder”, “shall not steal”

What is a limitation of international law?

It focuses largely on war crimes and crimes against humanity rather than other state crimes, such as corruption

States that practice imperialism, racism, sexism or economic exploitation are committing crime why?

As they are denying people their basic human rights

What does imperialism mean?

When a country wants to colonize/take over

How does Cohen criticize Schwendinger?

While gross violations of human rights such as torture are clearly crimes, other acts such as economic exploitation are not self evidently criminal even if we find them morally unacceptable

Green and Ward argue that liberty is not much use, when?

If people are too malnourished to exercise it (people may be unable to stand up for themselves)

Give an example of how liberty is not much used when people are too malnourished to exercise it?

When the British government knowingly exported food from a famine area during the Irish famine in the 1840s - this is a denial of human rights and a state crime

What is Adorno theory?

The authoritarian personality

Explain the authoritarian personality

During WWII time, children had an insecure avoidant personality

As children were raised to be tough, strong and independent as soon as they could understand, this is how they acted (the experiment consisted of parents coming to pick their children up at a nursery setting, and it would see whether the children would respond or continue being independent)

Is it strictly true that people who carry out torture and genocide must be psychopaths?

No - it is not due to personality, it's down to the fact someone of power told them to do it

Why are state crimes, crimes of conformity?

They require obedience to a high authority, the state or its representatives

Does research show that people are willing to obey authority even when it involves harming others?

Yes

Why do people do things even if they harm others?

They are socialized into these roles

Research the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam

Was the My Lai Massacre immoral?

It was a complete breach of human rights

Kelman & Hamilton identified 3 general features that produce crimes of obedience - what are they?

1. Authoritarian (ordered by those in power)

2. Routinization (the act becomes routine)

3. Dehumanization (the enemy is portrayed as sub human)

How do soldiers dehumanize?

Soldiers are trained to detach themselves from the morals

What key features does Bauman identify that made the holocaust possible?

1. Division of labor (each person was responsible for a small task - not entirely responsible)

2. Bureaucratization (normalized the killing)

3. Instrumental rationality (efficient methods used)

4. Science and technology (from the railways transporting victims to industries producing gas)

States now have to make a greater effort to conceal or justify their human rights crime, why?

Due to significant influence of the media (shared globally - in either a postive or negative light)

Cohen states that democratic states try to legitimize their action, through what?

3 stage spiral of state denial

What is the 3 state spiral of state denial?

Stage 1 - denies that something has happened

Stage 2 - claim it was self defness

Stage 3 - justify it

What are techniques of neutralization?

Techniques that delinquents use to justify their behavior

Skyes and Matza identify 5 techniques of neutralization, what are they?

1. Denial of victim

2. Denial of injury

3. Denial of responsibility

4. Condemning the condemmers

5. Appeal to higher loyalty

What do people commonly use to justify their criminal actions?

Religion (eg. my God would want me to do this)