Lea and Young (1984) were critical of Marxists’ ‘myopia about crime’ in the sense they both argued Marxists’ position as being too simplistic by arguing poverty equated to crime and criminal law was a mere expression of ruling-class power. Such views, they felt, allowed right-wing (neo-liberal) philosophy to ease its way onto the political agenda.
Young’s position was similar to right-realism in the sense politicians needed to ‘get-real’ but not through mere hard-line punitive measures but instead by recognising their is a serious crime problem – in particular street crime.
But Young’s position advocated a need to search for the social causes of crime. Such a move along with alternatives to custody, reduced custodial sentences, along victim restoration schemes would restore public confidence. From such a standpoint left realists argue:
- crime really is a problem
- more focus needs to be on victims of crime
- localised victim studies need to record the ‘reality’ of crime for victims
- fear of crime is ‘real’ rather than emotional
- causes of crime need to be examined in more detail
All the above factors show how crime (from left-realist perspective) needs to be understood in the context of relative deprivation.
A global crime is one which transcends national boundaries (globalisation). Transnational crime is big business, the United Nations reports that illegal drugs make up 8% of the world trade.
Meanwhile the annual value of the global prostitution industry is estimated to be US$52 bn. Analysts warn that a further rise in global crime threatens to destabilise cultural and economic status quos.
Dick Hobbs and Colin Dunningham their 1990s ethnographic study examined how organised crime has expanded on the back of globalisation. This isn’t to say global criminal organisations like the Mafia dominate instead global crime operates through a glocal system – that is, there’s a global distribution network built from local connections. For example local growers of cannabis, deliver their product to a supply-chain feeding a global network of users. For example Columbian drug barons use glocal systems to deliver their product to the world. The following clip explains in more detail.
Animals – Gibbon smuggling – a vast amount of money is made from the illegal wildlife trade every year. As well as the market for animal derived alternative medicines, some creatures are traded for private collections and as pets.
Cars – according to Interpol, illicit trafficking of vehicles generates an estimated $19 billion of criminal earnings worldwide every year. For all the effort car manufacturers have made to increase car security with devices such as infrared locking and immobilisers, the most common method of car theft now is for criminals to steal the keys to the cars
Drugs – class A drugs trafficking is the priority for most law enforcement agencies throughout the world. The trade in ‘hard’ drugs such as heroin and cocaine is considered by police as the greatest threat to life, either through violent killings given the high money stakes and/or addiction. Need or greed means that drug traffickers often resort to ingenious methods to get their consignments past the authorities.
Gun smuggling – there are more than 200 million guns in private hands in America. More than all the guns of world’s armies put together. Most of the weapons are bought and sold legally from licensed gun-shops. But away from this legitimate trade there is a flourishing black market for firearms.
Human traffic – arranging for someone to buy a live kidney is illegal. Dr Bhagat Singh Makkar, a family doctor in London, was struck off the medical register when he was found guilty of doing just that. The doctor was secretly recorded offering to arrange a kidney transplant using a live donor, for money.
Sex – Maria is from Moldova and like many other young people from poorer countries she dreamed of a better life, a job, perhaps in Italy. Therefore she found a woman who arranged everything and then got a message that it was time to leave. But the travel agent was a trafficker. Maria was sold for sex from one person to another as she ‘travelled’ through Yugoslavia to Albania
Rural crimes are those particular (or easier to commit in these areas) to the countryside. The extent of rural crime is significant enough for the NFU insurance company to produce their statistics on rural crime rates.
Therefore crimes such as sheep rustling; removal of lead from churches; fly-tipping also there’s poaching, vehicle thefts, illegal raves, vandalism and wildlife crime are ‘easy’ to commit in rural areas as explained in the following clip.
Surrey Police list the following areas as being particularly vulnerable to rural crimes with the accompanying prevention advice:
- Diesel theft – store diesel in a secure fuel tank within a spill containment bund and use good quality locks. Avoid installing a storage tank in an isolated area or outlying building. Consider using a mobile bowser kept in a secure place when not in use. Use ‘diesel dye’, making your diesel traceable and less attractive to thieves.
- Scrap metal theft – dispose of scrap metal regularly and legitimately thus making your premises less vulnerable to metal theft. If approached by opportunistic dealers tell them you have a contract with a legitimate scrap dealer and ask them to leave.
- Tack security – secure tack room windows on the inside with solid iron bars (not tubular steel). Secure all doors with good quality locks. Use bolts (not screws) on the hinges. Property mark tack. Display warning signage to deter thieves. Padlock gates with substantial padlocks and heavy duty chains. Reverse top hinges on gates to prevent lifting. Install security lights and an intruder alarm.
- Firearms security -it is an offence to infringe the strict regulations for safe storage and use of firearms. For further advice, please contact your local Police Firearms’ Licensing department.
- Chemical storage -store fertilisers in a dedicated locked building or compound. Do not leave them on public view. Do not sell fertiliser unless you know the potential purchaser to be a bona fide user. Record all deliveries and usage and carry out regular stock taking. Record manufacturers’ code numbers and detonation resistance test certificates – you may be required to present them. Always report a stock discrepancy or loss immediately. The Health & Safety Executive http://www.hse.gov.ukLink to an external website can provide further advice on storage/transportation of fertilisers, particularly ammonium nitrate.
- Endangered species – crimes against protected species include killing or taking them from the wild, taxidermy offences, and taking eggs or skins for personal collections or trade. Other possible offences include destroying nests and breeding sites, bat roosts and other protected habitats. Contact the police on 101, Natural England on 0845 600 3078or your local Wildlife Trust (www.wildlifetrusts.orgLink to an external website) if you think an offence has been or is about to be committed.
- Persecution of wildlife species – certain species such as badgers and deer are protected by legislation making it an offence to cause them unnecessary suffering by certain acts. A person participating alone or with others in pursuing a wild mammal with a dog (whether or not in their direct control) is committing an offence under the Hunting Act 2004. It is an offence to hunt with a dog unless conforming to closely defined exemptions. If you suspect a hunter(s) of pursuing a live animal, report it to the police. Do not approach participants.
- Hare coursing is illegal -hare coursing usually occurs after harvest time, (late-August/early-September) when large tracts of land are crop-less. An event will most likely take place at dawn or dusk. An obvious sign is a group of vehicles parked in a rural area, perhaps by a farmland gateway, on a grass verge, track or bridle path. There will usually be estate cars, four-wheel drives or vans containing evidence of dogs. Coursers often travel in convoy with minders’ vans front and rear. If you witness hare coursing, contact the police immediately. Do not approach participants.
- Poaching– poaching (hunting or fishing) is illegal if: the game or fish is not in season; the perpetrator does not hold a license; the hunter used an illegal weapon for a particular animal; the animal or plant is on restricted land; the right to hunt a particular animal is claimed by someone else; the means used are illegal (e.g. baiting); or the animal or fish is protected by law or is an endangered species.
- Equestrian crime – remember: a horse passport is a legal requirement. Freeze-mark or microchip horse(s) for visible and permanent identification purposes. Photograph horses in colour, winter and summer, from both sides, head on and tail on. Include close-ups of ‘chestnuts’, distinctive marking or scarring. Use easily understandable terminology when reporting a horse related incident. For information about the Surrey Police saddle marking scheme, contact your Safer Neighbourhood Team.
- Animal issues – tell the RSPCA (0300 1234 999) immediately about suspected mistreatment of a wild or domestic animal. Report any suspicious activity involving livestock to the police. If livestock is making more noise than usual – check if anyone is in the field or has disturbed the animals. Use ear-tags, horn brands, freeze marking or tattooing to make animals easily identifiable.
- Heritage Crime – any theft, criminal damage or unauthorised work on a scheduled monument should be reported to English Heritage on 0870 333 1181.
Green crime is linked to globalisation and the idea crimes which transcend national boundaries. The sociologist Ulrich Beck (1992) argues we’re entering a global risk society (global risks transcend national boundaries) which is far more difficult for single-nation states to manage for its citizens.
In The Green Criminology Monthly Dr. Gary R. Potter discusses Nigel South’s, et al (2008) classification of green crimes into two distinct types, primary and secondary. This classification illustrates Foucault’s concept of discourse and its ability to change the way we talk about something, the something in this case being crime. When you read these ‘new’ perceptions of criminality you can see how the discourse of crime has changed because about 30 to 40 years’ ago it would have been inconceivable to perceive animal rights as a crime.
Primary green crimes are those crimes which constitute harm inflicted on the environment (and, by extension, those that inflict harm on people because of damage to the environment – our classic ‘environmental victims’ who suffer health or other problems when the land, water or air they interact with is polluted, damaged or destroyed).
South and colleagues recognised four main categories of primary green crimes: crimes of air pollution, crimes of deforestation, crimes of species decline and animal rights and crimes of water pollution.
Secondary, or “symbiotic green crime is crime that grows out of the flouting of rules that seek to regulate environmental disasters” (Carrabine et al. 2004: 318). South provides two examples of secondary crime.
State violence against oppositional groups’, such as when the French government bombed the Greenpeace ship ‘Rainbow Warrior’ to prevent its anti-nuclear campaigning activities.
Their second example is ‘hazardous waste and organised crime’, such as when Mafia-esque organised crime outfits help corporations side-step strict laws about pollution and disposal of hazardous waste by accepting money to take such waste away – no questions asked.
A narrowly defined green criminology would recognise that nations (and the international community) increasingly legislate to prevent these types of harm: (green) crimes result when such legislation is breached. A broader green criminology, following the traditions of critical and radical criminologies (discussed further here) might recognise that such harms are worthy of study by green criminologists whether or not there is legislation in place and whether or not criminal or other laws are actually broken (criminologists can look at actions that some people think should be defined as crime as well as those that are defined as such).
From this perspective because the planet is one unified eco-system which is global system rather than a local system (local is in your own country, therefore there aren’t lots of national eco-systems, just one global eco-system) and single-nation states haven’t the power to deal with major environmental disasters. Therefore all green crime transcends political/national borders which need to be addressed by global solutions such as a global police force like UN police force.
Green crimes include air pollution, water pollution, deforestation, species decline and the dumping of hazardous waste. More example of green crimes are explained in the clip blow.
Pressure groups try to influence decision makers via a number of methods – minister and civil servants; MPs; public opinion; direct action or the courts. The exact method they try to use will depend on:
- resources available to them
- whether or not they are an insider or outsider group
- what they are trying to achieve at any particular time.
Ministers and civil servants
Pressure groups are likely to be at their most effective when policies are being drafted, are at their discussion stage or are in a detailed implementation stage. Therefore insider groups which have contacts with senior civil servants and ministers will be able to have a major input into new legislation.
The contacts may be formal – involving official discussions with ministers and detailed negotiation with civil servants – or more informal, involving an exchange of views and opinions. These contacts may be enhanced by ‘social’ connections, such as public school or university friendships, trade union relationships, etc.
It is not only the groups which gain from this process: the government gains also, by finding out useful information which would not otherwise be available to it and by gaining cooperation from organisations which may be required to put new measures into operation.
The implementation stage of legislation offers a further opportunity for pressure groups to exert influence. This is mainly concerned with the details, but much legislation does not become operative until secondary legislation (in the form of statutory instruments) is issued by the appropriate minister, and it is possible for groups to enter into detailed negotiations on points of concern to their members or even to delay for a considerable period.
Members of Parliament
This is one of the biggest and most rapidly growing areas of pressure group activity. In recent years there has been a significant increase in the number of professional lobbyists, who will work on behalf of pressure groups or commercial organisations in influencing the views of MPs. And pressure groups have traditionally aimed much of their effort at MPs and members of the House of Lords to seek a voice for their points of view.
The methods used to influence MPs include the following:
- paid consultancy posts for MPs to represent a particular commercial interest in Parliament – for example, tobacco companies, drug companies, the drinks industry
- appointments to boards of companies
- detailed briefings on issues relevant to the group, provision of information, even ready-made speeches
- “expense account” perks – meals, trips, etc
- provision of research assistants for MPs
- promotion of Private Member’s Bills – some important pieces of legislation have come from Private Member’s Bills, including Abortion Law Reform, the abolition of capital punishment, etc
- Select Committees – pressure groups can give evidence to these committees and have an influence on the final report which is delivered to Parliament
- The House of Lords provides an opportunity for pressure groups to secure detailed amendments to legislation. On occasion, the Lords may even reject a piece of legislation, delaying it and forcing the government to think again.
Public opinion
Many pressure groups, especially cause groups which do not have insider status, have to resort to other methods of influencing the decision making process. This can be by influencing public opinion with the intention that, in time, this will in turn influence opinion formers and decision makers.
The methods of influencing public opinion include
- letters to the Press
- press releases
- public meetings
- petitions
- marches, demonstrations, etc.
Direct action
Direct action may be taken, both as a means to make something happen or (more usually) not happen and to draw the issue to the attention of the public. For example:
- Greenpeace has conducted many actions against whaling ships, nuclear installations, oil rigs, etc
- animal rights groups have used extreme violence and intimidation against individuals, companies and property to oppose scientific animal testing
- environmental protesters have attempted to stop the building of new roads and airport runways (Manchester)
- fuel protestors attempted to block motorways and oil refineries to object to increases in fuel prices
- the Countryside Alliance have used high-profile events, including invading the House of Commons chamber, to oppose the ban on fox-hunting
- the “Fathers for Justice” group has used stunts to publicise their cause.
In general, these actions are less effective in achieving their immediate aim than in putting the issue on the political agenda.
The courts
Increasingly, pressure groups have sought to use the courts as a means of challenging the decisions of the executive. For example:
- the Countryside Alliance challenged the fox-hunting ban in the High Court and Court of Appeal
- the Law Lords ruled the government’s detention of foreign terror suspects without trial was unlawful
- The European Court of Human Rights has also proved to be very useful to pressure groups, both in reversing decisions of the executive, in embarrassing the government and in enforcing changes in policy or practice
- the McLibel Two won a case against the government on the grounds that they had not had a fair trial because of the operation of the libel laws
- the Countryside Alliance is taking a case to the ECHR arguing that their human rights have been infringed because hunting is banned
The following interactive clip helps set the scene in understanding the context of inside and outside pressure groups.
Pressure groups (illustrate pluralist perspectives of power) exist to:
- influence governments in the periods between elections
- represent minority interests
- ensure governments listen to all groups in society
- increase political participation
- respond to changing world events
Some sociologists see pressure groups as forming two distinct camps, promotional and protective interest groups:
Protective pressure groups – they protect their members interests, such groups are usually have closed membership (you have to be a member of a specific professional body to join) for example BMA- British Medical Association; or trade unions such as NUT – National Union of Teachers
Promotional pressure groups – these groups push a particular cause such as Shelter (homeless).
A more clearer clarification is insider and outsider pressure groups:
Insider pressure groups are regularly consulted by ministers and civil servants and are trusted by government departments because they negotiate quietly and unobtrusively for their members. Examples of insider groups include the National Farmers’ Union, the CBI, the professional associations and trade associations with detailed knowledge of their area of interest.
In contrast outsider pressure groups are as their name suggests are outside everyday contact with ministers and civil servants. Outsider groups lack such close and business-like links with government. Examples of outsider groups include CND, the Motor Cycle Action Group, the various animal welfare protest groups, etc.
Lacking this recognition from the top, outsider pressure groups seek to convert and mobilise public opinion, often using demonstrations and rallies. These demonstrations often attract more attention in the press and from citizens than insider groups – which is implicitly portrayed as a sign of their weakness in media content.
This is evident in the following SkyNews clip.
However it’s worth pointing out that there’s some overlap with the sectional/cause division of pressure groups – many sectional groups are insiders; many cause groups are outsiders. But there are exceptions – trade unions were regarded as outsiders by the Conservative government, while cause groups such as the Council for the Protection of Rural England can have insider status.
Pressure groups try to influence decision makers via a number of methods
Before reading through the content below it’ll be useful to hear a radio debate on 1 December 2014 between two 
pressure groups – John Glen is Conservative MP for Salisbury and Ralph Smyth is Senior Transport Campaigner for the Campaign to Protect Rural England you’ll have to decide which is/or both are the ‘outside’ or ‘inside’ pressure group. It’ll also be useful to consider what the agenda is and who set it.
Definition of a pressure group:
A pressure group is an organization which seeks as one of its functions to influence the formulation and implementation of public policy’ (Grant 2000) or
‘The field of organized groups possessing both formal structure and real common interests in so far as they influence the decisions of public bodies’ (W J M Mackenzie)
Difference between pressure group and new social movement: (power point difference between NSMs and PGs) NSMS:-
- In contrast to Mackenzie’s definition may not have a formal structure and are usually united by ideas not interests.
- Represent people with an outsider orientation
- Seek to change elements in the existing power structure
- Often use direct action methods
- Opposed to conventional power politics
- Do not want to influence state, want to act in civil society
- Loosely defined organisational structure
- Either lack clearly defined leadership or have charismatic leader
- Often left of centre, lifestyle politics, but note petrol protests
Therefore: ‘The new social movement literature has little space for reform-oriented single issue pressure groups which merely seek to change their bit of the world, and are reasonably comfortable with the state of society and politics as they find them – surely the operating rationale of so many voluntary organisations?’ (McKay and Hilton, 2009)
For example:
- Feminism one of the important social movements (impact on changing consciousness, family level, still few women legislators)
- Many of its goals require political action
- Pressure groups spring from NSMs
There’s more details here on new social movements
Difference between pressure group and political party?
- Political parties want to win control of government, pressure groups don’t
- Political parties are broad coalitions that have to aggregate interests, pressure groups often have single issue campaigns
Pressure groups (illustrate pluralist perspectives of power) exist to:
by Sam Cook a former student
Stephen Lukes’ perspective on power
Though Weber’s definition is accepted by many sociologists as their starting point in understanding power in society, many sociologists thought it was too narrow a definition. In 1974 Stephen Lukes’ put forward his ‘radical’ view of power.
According to Stephen Lukes there are three faces of power rather than one which is explained in accessible detail when applied to the family.
1.THE FIRST FACE OF POWER: SUCCESS IN DECISION MAKING
- Pluralists have adopted this approach. Pluralist theories argue that power can be seen from the outcome of a decision making process. Whoever gets their way has all the power!
- Example, A has power over B to the extent that he can get B to do something that B would not otherwise do.
2.THE SECOND FACE OF POWER: MANAGING THE AGENDA
- Critics of the pluralist view, such as Peter Bachrah argue that simply studying decision making ignores a second dimension of power: the ability to control the agenda of debate. The media has the ability to setting the agenda
- In their view real power lies in the ability to prevent certain issues from being seriously considered. This is evident in the clip below:
3.THE THIRD FACE OF POWER: MANIPULATING THE WISHES OF OTHERS.
- Power is the ability to shape the wishes and desires of others……without them even knowing!
- This 3rd face or dimension of power is known as Lukes radical view of power because it is so different! This is evident in the clip below:
We can explore this in real-life circumstances by examining the role of power within the family.
audio by Sam Cook, a former student.
Weber’s definition of power in society has remained the starting point for many sociologists. He defined power as being: “the ability of an individual or group to achieve their own goals or aims when others are trying to prevent them from realising them”
- Charismatic authority – this type of authoritative power is based on ‘charisma’ – for example the personal qualities an individual has in order to influence a group or person, such as Nelson Mandela
- Traditional authority – this form of authoritative power comes from established customs passing power down on a hereditary basis – for example British monarchy
- Rational-legal authority – this form of authoritative power comes from certain groups having certain positions of power over subordinate groups – for example a policeman telling you to move
Other useful definitions of power:
Visit these pages to read about the application of power in politics and the media.
The Thatcher government implemented numerous anti-collectivist policies during its time in office. Yet the three policies identified below have been selected to best illustrate Sarlvik and Crewe’s class and partisan dealignment.
This is because housing and industrial relations were distinct class-based areas of Britain’s social world. Blue collar workers, tended gained their power through union membership while white-collar managers tended to be middle-class. A similar pattern was evident in housing, with blue-collar worker tending to live in rented council housing, while middle-class (or aspiring middle-classes) tended to live in owner occupied housing stock.
Therefore a clear class divide was evident across Britain, which is where the sale of nationalised industries comes in. By getting ordinary people to become share owners, their ‘mindset’ bought into what Nigel Lawson termed ‘popular capitalism’. This acted as a bridge between the class divide, helping to make the voter more volatile as to who they’d vote for as ‘the new-working class’ had acquired ‘a middle-class consciousness’. The objective of this new consciousness was to de-align the working-classes from Labour’s norms, values and beliefs. This is evident in the advert for the sale of British Gas shares.
Housing – ‘popular capitalism’ was a term Nigel Lawson used to describe Conservative policies aimed at democratising their New Right economic agenda. One policy, the 1980 Housing Act, attracted the headlines was Mrs Thatcher’s ‘property owning democracy’, where local authorities were forced to put council homes up for sale to their tenants at heavily reduced prices through her ‘Right to Buy Scheme’. For example in 1980 one family qualified for a 40 per cent discount and, after putting down a deposit of just £5, allowing them to purchase the house in August 1980 for the sum of £8,315.
The government achieved most of their objectives by increasing owner occupation and reducing local authority provision. To the extent in 1979 52% of the population lived in their own homes which increased to 66% by 1987.
Privatisation – with a significant number of industries being nationalised, the privatisation of industry was a significant component of the Tory agenda. What became known as denationalisation (via the sale of state shares and assets). Ideologically, privatisation was driven by neo-liberal (new-right) ideas of economic freedom by rolling-back the state’s involvement in key areas of the social world.
Nationalised industries were unpopular (according to Mrs Thatcher) particularly as they were seen to eliminate consumer choice, were poorly managed and unprofitable. Nevertheless the UK public had to be convinced selling companies to tax-payer already owned was a good idea. This was largely achieved by advertisements like the one below.
Lord Stockton famously claimed the ‘family silver’ was being sold off ‘to the few family members who could afford it’. This claim stemmed from undervaluations of nationalised industries such as British Gas.
Despite public resistance by 1987, 20% of the population were share owners (up from 7% in 1979) netting the Conservative government billions of pounds.
The impact of this was similar to the selling the council housing stock (state housing). Privatisation proceeds (around £4400m in 1986-87) increased funds for government tax cuts to improve Tory prospects in the 1987 General Election. This also aided class dealignment..
Industrial Relations – this was the Conservatives final piece in the jigsaw. Now in power the Conservatives forced unions, by law, to hold secret ballots on proposed strikes, hold more frequent union leadership elections by postal vote in order to reduce union ‘activist’ pressure as well as follow strict procedures when conducting industrial action. For example unions were no longer able to discipline union members who refused to comply with majority decisions. Secondary picketing was made illegal as were closed shop arrangements. Finally and arguably most importantly companies no longer had to recognise unions or collective bargaining. Once implemented union membership fell from 13.3m in 1979 to under 9m in 1993. You can watch the clip the clip below to get a sense of union power in the 1960s. Peter Sellers plays the union leader.
sociologytwynham.com 