Globalisation and Comparative Criminology - Term Paper Example

Globalisation Globalisation is the process of international integration that has been effected through interchanging of philosophies, ideas, products, technology, and other aspects of culture between different nations across the globe (Loader & Sparks, 2002). Advances in communication, transport and technology are the main drivers of globalisation since they have made it possible for people to interact conveniently from around the world thus transforming the world into a global village. For instance, a person in New Zealand can make a phone call to an individual in Tanzania and thus exchange ideas freely from the comfort of their homes. That notwithstanding, with improvements in the transport sector an individual can decide to conduct business in foreign countries by moving freely from one location to the next i.e. a person living in Nigeria can transact business in Abu Dhabi and return home the very day. In essence, the issue of international integration has been made easier thus keeping the entire world in touch with each other (Barak, 2009). Globalisation has enabled people to follow world events conveniently from wherever they are in the world since they affect them. Through social media people know what is happening around the world in real-time without having to travel all those distances, updates in social media and international news outlets makes information dissemination quick and convenient as persons around the globe can keep up in touch with the affairs of the world in real time (Loader & Sparks, 2002). Increased integration on a global front has led to a significant number of issues being managed from a global front, for instance, there are universal laws that govern the action of each individual, the world economy is also being monitored at a global level, etc. (Barak, 2009). Aims of Comparative Criminology Comparative criminology is primarily concerned with crime and trends in criminal justice systems across various cultural, historical and geopolitical contexts. It seeks to unravel how different societies view crime and how they respond to crime. The primary aim of comparative criminology is to elaborate the similarities and differences of the various communities’ response to crime and explain the legal processes that are taken in response to such acts (Siegel, 2012). Comparative criminology is basically theoretical in nature since it is based on examining statistical records of various societies to assist it to come up with theoretical evaluation and testing of the data to come up with informed assumptions. Furthermore, comparative criminology is focused in evaluating the various policies that are implemented by different nations their legal frameworks as well as critiquing on their suitability in addressing inherent issues in criminology (Barak, 2009). Positivist comparative criminology is a methodological and theoretical approach in criminology. Positivists believe that the manner in which people behave is shaped by psychological factors, biology and social factors around them. These factors influence their decision-making process and thus control the way in which they act. Thus, criminal activities are as a result of the traits that are observed in persons but they can be diagnosed and successfully treated by isolating the factors that influences criminal behaviour in an individual. On the other hand interpretive, comparative criminology is concerned with expounding further the definition of the finer elements that have been dubbed to be final by positivist comparative criminology (Siegel, 2012). Ways in which Globalisation has led to Increased Crime Rates Globalisation has over the years enhanced the ease of conducting business and other operations across the world, but it has equally increased the difficulty of regulating these activities. Different societies of the world have implemented varied legal systems that govern the manner in which its people should operate. Thus, an action that is considered to be illegal in one society may not be the case in another society. The inconsistencies that exist between legal provisions of various nations have opened a loophole for criminology to thrive since they are unregulated. For instance in Amsterdam it is legal for people to smoke marijuana; however it is prohibited in most parts of the world (Shahidullah, 2012). Since Amsterdam has that liberty drug barons will utilize it as an excuse to advance their criminal objectives by using Amsterdam as a hub to conduct drug peddling across societies where marijuana is prohibited. Conversely, financial transactions are one of the most guarded operations in the world; different legislations have been implemented to safeguard financial sanity globally. Despite the fact that various nations have implemented varied financial regulations, they’re all aimed at the universal goal of upholding the global economy (Dammer and Albanese, 2014). With globalisation people engage in international trade activities, thus they get to interact with the different legal systems that are implemented in various societies. Switzerland is one country that has got lenient laws that govern the banking sectors people can bank enormous sums of money in their accounts without being audited the source of the money or any illegality that is associated with that kind of money. Illegal activities that are conducted across the world such as; drug trafficking and money laundering have found that country as the safe haven for their loot since they are not subjected to any audit that will analyse the manner in which the money is obtained. Thus, criminology is enhanced by people holding foreign bank accounts in Switzerland to protect their dirty money from legal processes back in their home countries to propagate criminal acts (Siegel, 2012). Ways in Which Globalisation Has Led to the Convergence of Criminology With globalisation transnational crimes have managed to thrive that include a network of operatives in more than one country facilitating the occurrence of criminal activities across several regions. Transnational organized crimes have become a threat to international security since there are no harmonized laws that can control them on an international level thus the criminal have the liberty to dodge legal systems from one nation to the other while perpetrating criminology (Vold, Bernard & Snipes, 2001). The absence of a harmonized legal system to guard international activities is a primary loophole that as ensured convergence of crime through globalisation. Activities such as terrorism, human trafficking, cyber-crime and smuggling of drugs have a transnational organisation that provides the crimes are committed in multiple avenues thus proving hard for the responsible authorities to curb them (Loader & Sparks, 2002). For instance, terrorism is a global problem that is threatening the security of the world. Through globalisation, the terror groups were able to scout potential recruits in various nations under the prejudice of religion hence setting up terror cells in multiple locations worldwide. The presence of the masterminds is not a big deal since he/she can communicate with his team through sophisticated communication channels. Currently, the world is experiencing multiple acts of terror that are organized and synchronized to affect the security of the entire globe. The terror acts of ISIL in Iraq, Al Quaeda in Afghanistan, Boko Haram in West Africa and Al Shabaab in Eastern Africa are all organized crime that have been made possible as a result of globalisation. A terrorist will travel all the way from Yemen to Kenya on the pretext of trade with an exterior mission to commit a crime in that particular country (Reichel, 2009). Criticism of Positivist and Interpretive Comparative Criminology The positivist approach to comparative criminology focuses much on the factors that it claims lead to criminal-related behaviour but fails to elaborate how similar criminal acts are committed in various places by different personalities being influenced by varied factors. In the case of globalized criminology is doesn’t not sufficiently expound on how a wave of criminal acts occurs spontaneously through various regions of the world yet the factors resulting in this kind of behaviours are not standard across the regions. That notwithstanding the analogy also fails to explain some criminal acts that cannot be directly related to biological or psychological factors for instance an individual utilizing fake currency without his/her knowledge (Vold, Bernard & Snipes, 2001). Conversely, interpretive approach bases its approach on expounding the factors that have been isolated by positivist comparative criminology. It implies that if the factors do not have a correlation on how crimes are committed then the interpretive approach will only be elaborating wrong results. The approach is not self-dependent since it relies on data that has already been analysed for further examination thus in an open environment the approach cannot be reliable on since it has to incorporate positivist approach so as to achieve its objective. The idea of relying on secondary data if often associated with transfer of errors from one stage of analysis to the next thus at the end the outcome will be jeopardized since the magnitude of error will be significant to compromise results (Shahidullah, 2012). Using Comparative Criminology Methodology to Analyse the Nature of Urban Crime and Security in Brazil There are few substantial insights on the occurrence of wrongdoing in Brazil. The United States Department of State, in its Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1995, reasoned that "A high wrongdoing rate, an inability to catch most crooks, and a maladroit criminal equity framework all add to open passive consent in police fierceness and killings of criminal suspects. Demonstrations of intimidation, including demise dangers against witnesses, prosecutors, judges, and human rights screens, regularly ruined examination concerning these occurrences." Intimidation is by all accounts most pervasive in the provincial territories of the North and Northeast, where expansive landowners frequently undermine police, judges, legal counsellors, and journalists (Dammer and Albanese, 2014). The skewed dissemination of salary in Brazil may be part of the way in charge of an endemic and expanding issue of non-political wrongdoing. Since coming back to non-military personnel government, Brazil has encountered a sensational increment in the level of wrongdoing. In 1992, Brazil's crime rate of 37.5 every 100,000 occupants surpassed that of the United States. Rio de Janeiro enrolled 4,253 killings in 1993, up from 3,545 in 1992. Rio de Janeiro had seventy-two killings every 100,000 inhabitants in 1993, contrasted and thirty every 100,000 in New York City. Then, Rio de Janeiro State spending on security dropped from 15 percent of the state plan in 1984 to 8 percent in 1994. The fast increment in the level of medication trafficking in Brazil raises various security issues (Vold, Bernard & Snipes, 2001). One needs to do with the very control of national region, as medication traffickers’ work in the incomprehensible fields of the Amazon and different locales. In reality, the risk of drug trafficking was utilized to defend the excessive Sivam (Amazon Region Surveillance System) venture. A second issue is to do with state control of whole slums in Rio de Janeiro and potentially in different urban areas, where drug traffickers have a virtual syndication over power. A third issue is that of the potential defilement of the security strengths, at all levels. The weaknesses of the legal framework lead the general population to ensure vigilantism, as lynching of suspected hoodlums. In Bahia State, for instance, eighty-four reported cases of lynching happened in 1993. In no less than one case, the lynching occurred while the police viewed (Dammer and Albanese, 2014). Using Comparative Criminology Methodology to Analyse the Nature of Imprisonment in Latin America In Latin America, the continuous expansion of the power of punishment has been nourished mainly by drug prohibition policies. Especially after the 1970s, the production, supply and consumption of the selected drugs that were made illicit have been presented as something extraordinarily dangerous, uncontrollable by regular means and needed to be confronted with more rigorous, exceptional and emergency measures, conceptualized under a war-like framework. A war on drugs was declared in 1971 by former President Richard Nixon in the United States, and soon spread throughout the American continent. The war on drugs has intensively focused on Latin American production and supply countries, thus impacting heavily on the region's penal systems (Dammer and Albanese, 2014). Drug trafficking is now the third leading category of offences by which inmates are charged and sentenced: Brazil 26.9% of the prison population in 2012; Peru 24% in 2013; Bolivia 30% in 2009 Colombia 17% in 2009. In Ecuador, until the amnesty given to small-scale drug couriers in 2008, 34% of Ecuadorian inmates were imprisoned on drug charges. A large number of Latin American prisoners are held in pre-trial detention and other forms of remand imprisonment. In Brazil, at the end of 2012, 41% of the 548,003 individuals in penal institutions were pre-trial detainees or remand prisoners. Again, similar rates can be found in other Latin American countries: Peru (54%); Ecuador (64%); Honduras (62%); Colombia (35%); El Salvador (29%) (Vold, Bernard & Snipes, 2001). Ultimately, the high rates of pre-trial detention indicate that the principles inscribed in international declarations of human rights and democratic constitutions, especially the presumption of innocence have not been respected. According to these norms, any individual charged with a criminal offence should be granted the right to be seen and treated as innocent: a conviction should not take effect until a person has been sentenced through a regularly pronounced, definitive decision. The presumption of innocence implies that pre-trial detention and other forms of remand imprisonment are exceptional measures that can only be imposed on the rare occasion they are necessary to assure the proper evolvement of judicial proceedings (Vold, Bernard & Snipes, 2001). References Barak, G., 2009. Criminology: an integrated approach. Lanham, Md, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers. Dammer, H. R., & Albanese, J. S., 2014. Comparative criminal justice systems. Loader, I., & Sparks, R., 2002. Contemporary landscapes of crime, order and control: Governance, risk and globalisation. The Oxford Handbook of Criminology,, 83-111. Reichel, P. L., 2009. Comparative criminal justice systems: a topical approach. Upper Saddle River, N.J, Prentice Hall. Shahidullah, S. M., 2012. Comparative criminal justice systems: global and local perspectives. Burlington, Mass, Jones & Bartlett Learning. Siegel, L. J., 2012. Criminology. Belmont, Calif, Wadsworth, Cengage Learning. Vold, G. B., Bernard, T. J., & Snipes, J. B., 2001. Theoretical Criminology. New York, Oxford University Press. Read More