Global Crimes 1

Global Crimes (Border Criminology)

• Course is taught by Valeria Ferraris
• Class meets Thursdays and Fridays, 2-4 PM
• Focuses on border criminology, analyzing global crimes

Basic Concepts

• Criminology: The body of knowledge regarding crime as a social phenomenon. It includes making laws, breaking laws, and reacting to law-breaking. (Edwin Sutherland)
• Crime/Criminalisation: Crime is a mutable social construction, contingent on legal, cultural, and social factors. The process of criminalizing certain actions varies.
• Social Control: Processes of maintaining social order through formal (e.g., criminal justice system) and informal (e.g., community norms) mechanisms.
• Harm: A concept related to, but distinct from, crime.

Criminology

• Criminology has no singular theoretical perspective or method of inquiry.
• It's a "rendez-vous discipline," drawing from various subjects.

What is a Crime?

• A QR code is shown for a participation platform (Wooclap)
• The method for accessing the platform is given (go to wooclap.com; enter event code)
• The definition of crime is debated

Definition of Crime

• Legal-Oriented (Criminal Law): A violation of the law subject to prosecution and punishment. Concentrates on the legal structure, content of laws, and judicial decision-making.
• Sociological-Oriented (Criminology): Crime is relative, evolving as cultural and social norms change. It focuses on the processes of criminalization and how criminal law develops over time.

What Is More Serious?

• Participation platform information is supplied (go to wooclap.com, enter event code)
• The code given is for participation.

Crime and Relativity

• Crime is not an objective entity but a socially constructed concept. Cultural, social, and historical forces shape how we see certain behaviors.
• Conventional crime categories don't encompass all harmful behaviors (e.g., white-collar crime, ecological crime, crimes of globalization).
• The concept of crime is relative, changing over time and varying by culture.

Crime and Relativity (Legal Rules)

• Some behaviors are legally criminal but not always considered criminal by public or common sense (and vice versa).
• Examples of such behaviors should be sought/provided by the student

Selectivity of Crime

• Meanings given to certain deviant acts depend on the social context.
• “Criminal” designation is given to particular social groups depending on the situation and time.

Criminalization Process

• Criminalization as a societal process involves legislative and judicial procedures, alongside public opinion and media influences. Actors involved in criminalization practices are many-including legislators, political parties etc.
• This process is selective because not all deviant behavior is treated the same (consider public opinion and formal legal structures). Public morality and media also influence and may bias perceptions.
• Criminalization is both an outcome (the result) of social processes and a practice (ongoing/ongoing actions).

Smoking: Steps of Criminalization

• Smoking is increasingly criminalized, particularly in developed countries.
• Factors include medical evidence showing health risks, harmful secondary smoke, and shift from public to private spheres.
• This process has occurred with different timing across nations.

Gender Related Crime: Steps of Criminalization

• Practices like female genital mutilation, forced marriage, and others are viewed as crimes by international bodies.
• These are considered human rights violations.
• There is variability in the acceptance of international campaigns to criminalize them.

Social Control

• Social control encompasses processes for maintaining social order; categorized into formal and informal types.

Formal Social Control

• Refers to formal means of control, using criminal justice system (e.g., law enforcement, courts)
• A key instrument of formal social control is deterrence.

Informal Social Control

• Based on factors like socialization at home and school, community influences, and peer groups.

Disasters or Crimes?

• Discusses the historical context around defining catastrophic events (e.g., nuclear disasters like Chernobyl or Fukushima) in legal and social frameworks.

Chernobyl and Fukushima

• Chernobyl (1986) and Fukushima (2011) are mentioned as examples of disasters and/or potential crimes.

This quiz explores the fundamental concepts of global crimes and border criminology as taught in the course by Valeria Ferraris. Participants will examine definitions, relationships, and social factors surrounding crime and criminalization. Test your understanding of social control, harm, and the complexities of criminological theory.