Learner Resource 4
What is ‘green crime’?
In recent years, attention has been drawn to a new form of deviant behaviour which has in part become a criminal act. This behaviour involved direct or indirect damage to the environment. Therefore this is a very good example of a new form of socially constructed crime. However there is much disagreement about how to define these ‘green crimes’ since they take place on a number of different levels. Green crimes can be very difficult to detect and deciding who is responsible can also be a challenge for those policing and prosecuting such behaviour.
In the past, traditional sociologists such as Marxists have argued that green crimes simply reflect another form of crimes of the powerful, who serve their own interests at the cost of the environment. This reflects their selective law making. However, more recently, sociologists such as White (2008) argue that there should be a clear and broad definition of green crime as any action that harms the physical environment and animals, including humans, within it, regardless of whether there is a law in place for that particular issue. This would include taking a more global perspective of crime since green crimes are often committed in a particular place yet their effects are often felt much further away.
This topic cannot be fully understood without considering the process of globalisation. As companies and countries have increasingly worked together in business and governance, there have been more and more examples of green crimes being simultaneously linked to different parts of the word. For example, an accident in the nuclear industry, such as the Chernobyl disaster of 1986, led to the spread of toxic radioactive materials over a geographic area of thousands of miles, having multiple effects on the soil and people’s health. Atmospheric pollution from industry from one country turns into acid rain which can fall in another country and poison its watercourses and destroy forests.
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Crime and deviance
There are two forms of green crime according to South (2004).
Sociological views on Green Crime
Potter (2010) points to Beck’s (1986) statement that ‘smog is democratic’. This statement suggests that where in the past societal problems have been split along divisions of social class, ethnicity and gender, today problems such as green crime affect everyone and so need to be considered in a different way sociologically. Beck suggests that we are all vulnerable to environmental problems.
However other sociologists disagree, and Potter argues that in fact social inequalities are reinforced by environmental issues and green crimes, the crimes being mainly committed by the rich and powerful. This is sometimes known as ‘environmental racism’ whereby those causing the damage, who are frequently white, cause suffering to people of a different ethnicity, or minority group. Potter also suggests that women and the poor also suffer disproportionately as a result of green crimes.
Question:
- How are green crimes a good example of the socially constructed nature of crime?
- What is a green crime?
- Explain the difference between a primary and secondary green crime
- Green crimes are often more likely to occur in developing countries rather than wealthy countries. Why do you think this is?
- What are the problems with trying to define and police green crime?
- Suggest three forms of green crime which might affect you.
- How might a Marxist explain green crime?
- Why is it important to understand globalisation and processes relating to it when understanding green crime?
- What does Beck mean when he says ‘smog is democratic’ and what might be the criticisms of this view?
Activity
- Pick one form of green crime from the following list of examples and carry out research into the nature of the crime, the extent of the crime and how it is being punished (if at all).
- Water pollution
- Commercial growing of genetically modified crops
- Extinction of endangered species.
- Using the table below, link the correct topic to the correct explanation of how green crimes relate to other topics in the module.
1 Globalisation / a) These sociologists would argue that green crime is simply a product of capitalism which puts the desire for profit above the need for the protection of the environment
2 State Crime / b) Green crimes did not exist in the past, nor do they exist in the same way in many parts of the world.
3 Marxist views on the causes of crime / c) It is impossible to understand green crime without considering the way in which it affects many parts of the world at once. Given that the world is becoming ever more interconnected, the responsibility for green crimes must be understood in the context of these changes
4 Crime as socially constructed / d) Governments may be responsible for green crimes and thus laws need to be written in such a way as to make them accountable and transparent in their decisions (or avoidance of decisions) relating to green crimes.
Extension questions:
- How does the study of green crime challenge sociologists?
- Discuss the theoretical and methodological problems with trying to understand green crime. Make a list of the problems and suggest how it might be possible to carry out research on green crimes in future.
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Crime and deviance