Governmental Crimes: Implications and Scope - Research Paper Example

?Governmental Crimes The world today is facing a number of threats of criminal offences in almost every field. The workplaces, educational institutes, social welfare organizations, governmental departments and healthcare providers are some of the areas which are vulnerable to the criminal activities and corruption. People are exposed to such dangers of terrorism and violence that their lives are in one way or the other is affected by the criminal activities. The government and other responsible bodies focus, however, on the conventional crimes, terrorism, domestic violence, workplace injustice and so on. The increasing rates of governmental crimes are often neglected by the policymakers intentionally or unintentionally. It should be noted that governmental crimes do not only involve the national constituencies where nation faces the influences but it also crosses the borders and creates transnational influences (Rothe et al., 2006). This paper focuses on the discussion of governmental crimes, the implications of such crimes and their scope. It also recommends various ways to curb the issue of governmental crimes. The conventional crimes have been widely considered by the scholars, researchers, governments, policymakers, law enforcers, social workers and public representatives. The impact of such exposure and importance given to conventional crimes may be a factor which resulted in huge reduction of those crimes. However, the governmental crimes are often neglected by the authorities as well as the public (Rothe & Mullins, 2006). The reason may be lack of knowledge among general public but the impact of governmental crimes is larger and more extensive than conventional crimes. The influence of exposure to conventional crimes and increasing pressure by media, public and other groups influenced the policymakers and regulatory bodies to divert their attention towards resolving the conventional crime issues. Many social programs and laws were enacted and enforced for the purpose of mitigating the issues related to conventional crimes. The US and many other nations have reported a reduced rate of such crimes in the countries during the past few decades. The point to notice is the ignorant behavior of all related groups regarding this important issue. The 20th century governmental crime incidents are real life examples of the effects this ignorance has caused. The Nazi Germany, Maoist China and many other such events which had devastating impacts on people, society and the states. Genocidal actions (in case of Bosnia and Rwanda) of tribunals were one of the major steps taken to curb the issue of governmental or state crimes in the late 20th century. The matters associated with Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine etc. also gave rise to the objection on the massive usage of mass destruction weapons. There are many opponents of America, Israel and other nations who qualify these states as criminal due to the policies and activities that led to the invasion of less powerful states. All these cases are clearly lack of controlled authority over the actions of nations involved and had transnational effects. However, there are a few criminologists who sought these issues as worth mentioning and debated on them (Mathew & Kauzlarich, 2007). Governmental Crimes should be debated about and controlled for the reason that Governments are generally believed to enact and impose laws. They are responsible to maintain a sound law and order situation and prevent crimes in the state. The body that is responsible to prevent crimes from occurring should not be involved in that act itself. The history of governmental or state crimes is old enough to associate it with the emergence of states themselves. Chambliss () asserted during the presidential lecture almost twenty years back and claimed that economic and political well being is so important to the states and governments that they often go beyond the borders set by them in the form of laws and regulations. The basic theme was to put forward the idea of violating one’s own laws regulated at national and international levels. Criminologist have often discussed and pointed out issues relating to violence. The study of violence, however, should be directed towards governmental crimes as governments are seem to be sovereign in exercising power and control over other departments, people and activities. Violence committed by the government or state or for the benefit of it is hardly ever classified as a crime. On the other hand, the governments own laws classify violent acts of individuals against each other or the state as a crime. More worrying point is the recurrence of governmental crimes and specially violence which is either neglected or justified by certain concepts as national security or judgmental matters. History reveals that interpersonal violence of all kinds combined cannot outweigh the destruction and damages created by the losses created by governmental crimes. Nazi Germany is the example where around 6 million Jews were killed or the violent acts after WWI (Friedrichs, 2000). Governmental crimes are critical because of the power that governments possess. They have enough resources like police and military forces to impose their justifications. Governmental crimes are destructive because at times the governments tolerate acts and behaviors for the state’s interests who are otherwise prohibited by the laws (Chambliss, 1989; Hayman, 1999). America’s resistance of Saddam Hussein’s brutal system in 1980s sets an example where government took part in a crime not by acting violently but by staying silent to the violent acts (Powers, 2002). Passas & Goodwin (2004) defined state (governmental) crimes in three different classes as acts which violate or override the laws, those that do not break the law and acts which somehow affects the society badly. This further elaborates that the social harms, environmental harms, ecological malpractices and human rights violation are also counted as crimes by the states. The criminologists should find similar cases and evidences where individuals were held liable for the damages to the society and their acts, regardless of non-violation of laws, were regarded as criminal. The governments’ justifications should then be questioned on the grounds of equality, justice and fairness of the system. There has been much controversy on the issues and devastating effects of Hurricane Katrina in the months following the incident. The devastations of Hurricane Katrina, although a natural disaster, can be blamed on the government’s or state’s negligence in the evacuation process (Barak, 1991; Childs & Brown, 2006). The surviving victims of Katrina were expostulating about the negligence shown by state organizations responsible for the safe evacuation in handling the handicapped and poor. The slow procedure of recovery and aids to the victims was also debated. The excessive destruction was not alone the consequence of the hurricane but the negligent attitude of the government was responsible for it. The definition of crime suggesting the social suffering or harms as a crime clearly classify this negligent behavior as a violation of governmental agency’s duties. The breach of duty of care and the constructive duty to provide the people with safer environment and evacuation on a timely manner was also breached. Owing to the importance and complex nature of governmental crimes, there is a need for the researchers, criminologists and scholars to discuss and raise the issues related to it. The significance of such crimes is not limited to the level of a single nation but other less powerful states may also face the adverse consequences of governmental crimes. The corruption at the government level leads to undue circumstances that public faces when dealing with the corrupt officials. One example of the corruption at governmental level is the behavior of Police officers with prisoners which is sometimes (if not always) unduly violent and inhuman. This behavior of government departments and the officials should be curbed to save human rights and other social laws from violation. Government departments should be forced by the social welfare organizations, public, media and other agencies working for the human rights to review their behaviors, activities and policies. The governmental crimes should be uncovered to some extent and must be properly reported at the authoritative level in order to bring the issues in attention of those charged with the responsibility of maintaining, implementing and enforcing laws. The government should adopt regulations and laws which restrict the unduly harsh behaviors and criminal/corrupt activities of governmental bodies. Moreover, there should be an independent review on the acts of the governments and its policies to maintain and control attitudes which may cause violation of laws or crimes. A proper system should be designed, implemented and maintained in order to sustain the level of assurance that governmental crimes are being reviewed and properly dealt with. The curriculums related to Police, politics and policy making areas should include information on governmental crimes and must include a path to direct individuals on reporting such crimes at an appropriate level. There is a need to put collaborative efforts to reduce the impacts of such crimes, reduce the chances of their recurrence and eventually eliminate them completely at the state level. In conclusion, we can that governmental crimes need to be addressed properly to draw the attention of law makers towards this kind of crime. The governmental crimes are often difficult to be reported as the people who are charged with the regulation and maintenance of a sound law and order situation are involved in the criminal activities. The justifications may include state defenses, judgmental reasons and other defenses; however, laws are made to provide justice and must be enforced on the principle of equality. The officials should not be given the right or opportunity to misuse the powers given to them. Literature suggests many instances where states violated their own laws. It is easy to prove the claims against the government’s activities. However, it is difficult to bring justice to the society until majority raises voice against those acts. There is a need to make the public aware of the governmental crimes prevalent in the state. The awareness may be either by using media as a tool or by forming social organizations to provide a platform to the voice of opponents. Governments are representative of the public and public’s voice is an obvious indication of governments’ failure. Hence, the most powerful weapon against governmental crimes is the public’s voice and opposition. Criminologists should seek ways to identify and compile state crimes, its trends and develop hypotheses to provide the concerned people with relevant information. Governments of different states should unite and create an organized body at international level to ensure that governmental crimes are either eliminated or their effects be reduced to maintain peace and standardized system of control. Bibliography Barak, G. (1991). Crimes by the capitalist state: An introduction to state criminality. New York: SUNY Chambliss, W. J. (1989). State-organized crime. Criminology, 27, 183–208. Childs, John Brown (2006). Hurricane Katrina: Response and responsibilities. New Pacific Press. Friedrichs, D. O. (2000). The crime of the century? The case for the Holocaust. Crime, Law and Social Change, 34, 21–41. Heyman, Josiah McC. (Ed) (1999). States and illegal practices. New York: Berg. Matthews, R., & Kauzlarich, D. (January 01, 2007). State crimes and state harms: a tale of two definitional frameworks. Crime, Law and Social Change, 48, 1-2. Passas, N., & Goodwin, N. (Eds.) (2004). It’s legal but it aint right: Harmful social consequences of legal industries. Ann Arbor, MI: University of Michigan Press. Powers, S. (2002). A problem from hell: America and the age of genocide. New York: Harper Collins. Rothe, D. L., & Friedrichs, D. O. (January 01, 2006). The State of the Criminology of Crimes of the State. Social Justice : a Journal of Crime, Conflict & World Order, 33, 1, 147. Rothe, D., & Mullins, C. W. (2006). Symbolic gestures and the generation of global social control: The International Criminal Court. Lanham, MD: Lexington Books. Read More