Crime

Local and Global

John Muncie,Deborah Talbot,Reece Walters

• Publisher: Willan
• Year: 2014
• ISBN:
  9781134733699
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Scienze sociali
• Subtopic: Criminologia

Crime: Local and Global and its sister text Criminal Justice: Local and Global are two new teaching texts that aim to equip the reader with a critical understanding of the globally contested nature of 'crime' and 'justice'. Through an examination of key concepts and criminological approaches, the books illuminate the different ways in which crime is constructed, conceived and controlled. International case studies are used to demonstrate how 'crime' and 'justice' are historically and geographically located in terms of the global/local context, and how processes of criminalisation and punishment are mediated in contemporary societies. Crime: Local and Global covers the way local events (such as prostitution) have wider aspects than previously thought. Links with people traffickers, international organised crime and violence cannot be ignored any longer. Each crime or area of activity selected within this text has a global reach, and is made ever more possible due to the way globalisation has opened up markets, both legitimate and illegitimate. The book's approach and scope emphasises that we can no longer view 'crime' as something which occurs within certain jurisdictions, at certain times and in particular places. For example, the chapter on cybercrime highlights the 'illegal' acts that can be perpetrated by second lifers, anywhere in the world, but are they a crime?

Chapter 1

Interrogating crime

John Muncie, Deborah Talbot and Reece Walters

Contents

1 Introduction

2 The construction of ‘crime’ in Western societies

2.1 Crime as a construction of the law

2.2 Beyond legal constructions

3 Criminology and the criminal

3.1 Crime as a social construct

3.2 Crime as the mobilisation of political power

4 Beyond borders: utilising the concepts of harm, violence and power

4.1 Violence, children and youth

4.2 ‘Natural’ disasters

5 Conclusion

References

1 Introduction

Crime appears as a constant source of anxiety, fascination and national and international despair. It is difficult to escape the seemingly endless political, media and popular debates about moral decline, growing anarchy and the relative powerlessness of governments to ‘stem the tide’. These concerns typically focus on the ‘exceptionality’ of international terrorism, serial killing, ‘crimes of passion’, stabbings and shootings, and child abduction, along with a more ‘mundane’ range of behaviours considered to reduce the ‘quality of life’ and to increase fear, which are referred to variously as ‘anti-social behaviour’ or ‘incivilities’.

The purpose of this introductory chapter is to provide some means whereby such understandings of what constitutes ‘crime’ can be subjected to critical interrogation. In particular, three questions are addressed:

1. How have criminology and criminal justice traditionally framed an understanding of ‘crime’ and the ‘criminal’?
2. What are the implications of broadening an understanding of ‘crime’ to take account of a wide range of social problems and social harms that may victimise individuals, social groups or whole societies and countries, but are rarely, if ever, considered to be central criminological or law and order issues?
3. How is an understanding of crime significantly altered by exploring the ways in which it is recognised and responded to, not just in individual nation states but in broader international and global contexts?

Section 2 of this chapter examines how ‘crime’ is typically understood in Western societies as a violation of criminal law. It explores how such societies have arrived at this particular understanding, and how this has been underpinned by relationships of power and influence. Section 3 looks at how some aspects of criminology as an academic discipline have attempted to overcome the limitations of governmental and legal definitions of crime by extending the analytic inquiry to incorporate a broader context of social problems, violences, social harms and injurious practices. Such an approach necessitates moving ‘beyond the borders’ not only of ‘everyday’ understandings of the ‘crime problem’, but also of individual nation states’ definitions of crime. In order to do this, Section 4 considers how far the concepts of harm, violence and power intersect with that of ‘crime’ and can be utilised to reach a deeper and critical interrogation. Two case studies – on violence against children and on ‘natural’ disasters – are presented to illustrate the implications of moving beyond the boundaries of nation-state-specific criminal law and the traditional concerns of criminology.

The aims of this chapter are to:

• • encourage critical reflection on ‘everyday’ understandings of what constitutes the ‘problem of crime’
• • untangle the historical, legal and social complexities of ‘crime’
• • explore the implications of taking a global approach to understanding crime and, in particular, what this means for the constitution of criminological studies
• • consider how notions of harm, violence and power intersect with crime and criminality.

2 The construction of ‘crime’ in Western societies

This section and Section 3 explore some of the complexities of ‘crime’ and the way in which it is typically framed within legal, political and academic discourses. The purpose is to reveal that ‘crime’ is not an uncontested concept. Its meaning is contingent on shifting historical, political and cultural contexts.

Activity 1.1

Stop for a moment and reflect on what immediately comes to mind when the idea of ‘crime’ is raised. What particular behaviours does the word ‘crime’ suggest to you?

Comment

We might reasonably expect there to be some broad consensus about what is meant by the term ‘crime’. A typical definition routinely encountered in media and political discourses might be: ‘Crime is doing something forbidden by law. That could mean stealing a mobile phone, vandalism, graffiti, mugging, stealing or taking and selling drugs.’ This definition was taken from the Labour Government’s ‘Respect’ website in 2007 (Home Office, 2007). It should not be surprising, in so far as the issues mentioned affect people in their everyday lives and are prohibited by law. However, regardless of how important we might consider these crimes to be, the definition tends to focus on ‘street crimes’, meaning those committed, in the main, by ‘youth’ in urban and public contexts. Such a focus has some notable absences. For example, it does not refer to crimes committed in the home or in ‘invisible spaces’ against the ‘powerless’ – domestic violence, child abuse, slavery, trafficking – regardless of the increasing prominence of these in public awareness (Chapter 4 explores some of these ‘invisible’ crimes in greater depth).

Even more absent are those ‘faceless’ crimes committed by the powerful as a product of corporate activity. Insider trading, environmental pollution, illegal arms dealings, and so on, are, broadly speaking, prohibited by domestic law in many countries, yet are rarely discussed as ‘crime’ except in some very high-profile cases. In addition, they are even more rarely prosecuted successfully. Importantly, the ‘global’ or international nature of such crimes also challenges ‘everyday’ thinking about what crime is and how to control it. Such ‘crimes of the powerful’ (as they are known within criminology) are discussed in detail in Chapters 5, 6 and 7. The understanding of crime, as provided by government and much media discourse, typically reflects those events and behaviours that appear to most threaten safety and security, particularly in public places. However, it tends to omit a series of potentially more harmful behaviours and events that, directly or indirectly, might cause greater pain and loss: environmental devastation or the loss of pension funds, for example.

2.1 Crime as a construction of the law

In 1933, lawyer Jerome Michael and philosopher Mortimer Adler authored a report in the USA in which they argued that an act can be a crime only when it violates the prevailing legal code of the jurisdiction in which it occurs. In their view the most precise and least ambiguous definition of crime is: ‘behaviour which is prohibited by the criminal code’ (Michael and Adler, 1933, p. 2). A legal definition is presented as the only possible definition because it appears to avoid moral vagueness and imprecision. Such logic was expressed again in Paul Tappan’s (1947, p. 100) argument that ‘Crime is an intentional act in violation of criminal law (statutory and case law), committed without defence or excuse and penalised by the state as a felony or misdemeanour’. Taking such an argument to its logical conclusion, in numerous jurisdictions a number of conditions must also be met before an act can be defined legally as a crime:

• • The act must be legally prohibited at the time it is committed.
• • The perpetrator must have criminal intent (mens rea).
• • The perpetrator must have acted voluntarily (actus reus).
• • There must be some legally prescribed punishment for committal of the act.

Three important consequences flow from such formulations of crime as law violation:

1. Definitions of crime depend on the prior formulation of criminal law sanctions. No behaviour can be considered criminal unless a formal sanction exists to prohibit it.
2. There can be no official recognition of an individual offence until an offender has been proven guilty in a court of law. No behaviour or individual can be considered criminal until formally decided as such by the criminal justice system.
3. By focusing on certain behaviours, criminal law tends to concentrate on identifying individual offenders, rather than offences committed by state or corporate organisations.

Criminal law therefore tends to individualise crime. Take, for example, the illicit international trade in cultural artefacts. The state and corporate plunder of cultural antiquities from countries in transition, or those devastated by war and civil conflict, creates a multimillion pound illegal market each year. Reputable auction houses and prestigious antique traders occupying elite residences in major cities throughout the world sell stolen ancient relics to the highest bidder in violation of international law (Mackenzie, 2005). Yet the theft of people’s culture for corporate gain remains an area in which it is difficult to secure prosecutions. For example, the UK Government passed the Dealing in Cultural Objects (Offences) Act in 2003, but up to the time of writing in 2008 there had been no convictions. Individuals and corporations with vested interests are able to dictate the terms of the legislation, rendering an effective prosecution almost impossible, while at the same time ensuring that the level of illegal market regulation is determined by the traders themselves (Mackenzie and Green, 2008). Such powerful elites achieve this through lobbying politicians, funding influential think tanks and negotiating the needs and terms of regulation. The theft and sale of cultural artefacts therefore provide an excellent example of the way in which the powerful can avoid the ‘criminal label’ by shaping and escaping the processes of criminal justice. How the powerful both define and evade the law globally is a major theme that runs throughout this book.

2.2 Beyond legal constructions

In this section we illustrate some of the limitations of uncritical acceptance of legal definitions of crime. Understandings of what constitutes crime are often context specific and therefore open to change and dispute.

Activity 1.2

Consider the following list of behaviours and events:

• abortion
• taking the life of another
• slavery
• global warming
• anti-social behaviour
• keeping money found in the street
• wearing a suit of armour in the UK Houses of Parliament.

Which do you think would be considered by legal definition to be ‘criminal’?

Comment

As you might have anticipated, no straightforward ‘yes’ or ‘no’ response can be made to this question. A first obvious observation to make is that what is defined legally as criminal depends on where in the world it is committed. Abortion, for example, while legal within prescribed limits in many Western jurisdictions, is considered a criminal act in many others, whatever the circumstances. At the time of writing, women who become pregnant and whose lives might be endangered as a result are banned from having abortions in Nicaragua, Chile and El Salvador. Sixty-six other countries, such as Ireland and Portugal, ban abortion but make an exception if the mother’s life is at risk. Others, such as Malaysia, allow abortion on the grounds of protecting a woman’s mental health. Socio-economic reasons can be cited in the UK and India for having an abortion, while in fifty-six other countries there are no restrictions at all on the reasons that can be given to terminate a pregnancy. What is a ‘crime’ in one country is a ‘right’ in another. So, one factor to take into consideration is that a country’s history and social mores may produce very different kinds of laws and thereby different kinds of crimes. It is obvious that where a country or a state is heavily influenced by particular religions, such as Catholicism, we might expect abortion to be severely proscribed.

Reponses to particular acts also depend on the social and political context in which they occur. Murder, homicide and manslaughter are widely perceived as particularly heinous, yet in certain situations, such as war, taking another’s life is not only expected but encouraged. Variations are also to be found in the taking of life by the stat...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Notes on contributors
• Preface
• Chapter 1: Interrogating crime
• Chapter 2: Global cities, segregation and transgression
• Chapter 3: Cybercrime, transgression and virtual environments
• Chapter 4: Gender abuse and people trafficking
• Chapter 5: Crime, harm and corporate power
• Chapter 6: Eco crime
• Chapter 7: The state, terrorism and crimes against humanity
• Acknowledgments
• Index