The impact of globalisation on transnational organised crime

Transnational organised crime refers to illegal activities conducted by criminal organisations operating across multiple countries, such as drug trafficking, money laundering, smuggling of human organs, and the sex trade. Globalisation has changed the nature of crime by connecting economies, cultures, and environments across borders, facilitating the growth of transnational organised crime, making it a global issue.

Features of transnational organised crime

• Global reach - These organisations often have numerous members spread worldwide, forming extensive networks.
• Structural changes due to globalisation - Previously, these groups operated with a strict hierarchy, but globalisation has led to a more fragmented structure with small, semi-independent networks in various countries. This is often described as 'glocal', combining local operations with global connections.
• Economic impact - The global criminal economy generates hundreds of billions of pounds annually, posing a massive challenge to international economies.

Challenges in policing and study:

• Policing is complicated by the cross-border nature of these crimes, as jurisdiction is often unclear.
• The secretive nature of these networks makes them difficult for sociologists to study, often requiring covert methods like participant observation.

The social problems caused by illegal drugs and arms trading

The global trade in illegal drugs and arms generates enormous profits for criminals while causing severe social and political issues worldwide.

Consequences of illegal drugs trade

• Financial scale - Criminals earn billions of dollars annually from the global drug trade.
• Health and social impacts - The trade leads to widespread health issues due to addiction and related diseases, alongside changes in social behaviours as communities are affected by drug-related crime.
• Funding conflicts - Profits from the drug trade often fund terrorism and wars, exacerbating global instability.

Consequences of illegal arms trade

• Ease of trade - Global communications and lightly regulated financial markets have made the arms trade easier to conduct and harder to track.
• Social destabilisation - The trade contributes to increased violent crime and intensifies existing conflicts, undermining societal stability in many regions.

Human trafficking as a form of modern-day slavery

Human trafficking represents one of the most severe and rapidly growing global crimes, with devastating effects on millions of individuals.

Characteristics of human trafficking

• Nature of the crime - This involves the illegal movement of people, often through force or deception, for purposes of exploitation such as forced labour or sexual slavery.
• Global scale - Millions of people worldwide are currently trapped in forced labour due to trafficking, making it a pervasive international issue.
• Impact on victims - The crime has a profound and lasting effect on victims, stripping them of freedom and subjecting them to severe physical and psychological harm.

The rise of cybercrime through internet use

The expansion of internet access and computer technology, driven by globalisation, has given rise to new forms of crime known as cybercrime, which often transcend national boundaries.

Aspects of cybercrime

• Types of cybercrime - These include data theft, fraud, credit scams, email scams, and the distribution of illegal pornography.
• Challenges in enforcement - As cybercrime often crosses national borders, traditional criminal laws are frequently ineffective in addressing it, complicating prosecution efforts.
• Scale and profitability - While the exact extent is hard to measure, some estimates suggest cybercrime could soon match the profitability of the global drugs trade.
• Link to terrorism - The globalisation of communications has also aided international terrorism by providing platforms for propaganda and online networking for terrorist organisations.

Environmental or green crimes and their global impact

Environmental or green crimes involve actions that harm the environment, ranging from local offences to large-scale global issues, with significant ecological and economic consequences.

Categories and effects of green crimes

• Range of offences - These crimes include small-scale acts like fly-tipping, as well as major global issues such as illegal trade in banned substances (e.g., CFCs that damage the ozone layer), trafficking of protected animals, and unregulated logging and fishing.
• Environmental consequences - The impact can be severe; for instance, illegally traded CFCs contribute significantly to ozone depletion, while illegal logging results in substantial financial losses, estimated by the World Bank to cost timber-producing countries between 10-15 billion dollars annually.
• Exploitation by developed countries - Some developed nations exploit weaker regulations in developing countries to dispose of toxic waste cheaply, often affecting neighbouring regions through pollution or accidents like nuclear incidents.
• Global risk society - Beck (1992) suggests that green crimes contribute to a 'global risk society' where environmental risks, such as those linked to global warming, affect the entire planet.
• Legal challenges - Many environmentally harmful activities are not illegal, and laws vary by country, allowing companies to relocate operations to avoid prosecution. Governments may also avoid criminalising profitable activities.

Perspectives in green criminology

• Definition and focus - Introduced by M J Lynch (1990) and expanded by others like White (2008), green criminology examines actions harmful to people, animals, and the environment, even if they are not legally defined as crimes.
• Classification by South (2008):
  • Primary green crimes - These have an immediate environmental impact, such as water pollution, deforestation, or actions threatening species survival.
  • Secondary green crimes - These occur when laws designed to prevent environmental disasters are violated, such as the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 caused by BP, which led to guilty pleas for environmental crimes.

Economic liberalisation as a driver of crime

Economic changes associated with globalisation, particularly liberalisation and deregulation, have been linked to an increase in various forms of crime, as argued by sociologist Ian Taylor.

Influences of economic liberalisation on crime

• Crimes of the powerful - Taylor (1997, 1998) notes that economic deregulation has created opportunities for fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion, often committed by those in power who are less likely to face enforcement due to their influence over law-making.
• Economic instability - Globalisation and deregulation have reduced state control over economies, leading to insecure employment, unemployment, and welfare cuts, which drive some individuals to crime as a means of securing income.
• Worker exploitation - Global capitalism has intensified the exploitation of workers by transnational corporations, contributing to social inequalities that can foster criminal behaviour.
• Marketisation effects - Taylor highlights marketisation, where economic values dominate social life, equating success with material possessions. This can lead individuals to commit crimes, such as theft, to obtain expensive goods.
• Proposed solutions - While reversing economic liberalisation completely is not feasible, Taylor advocates for rebuilding shared community values and civility to counteract the negative effects of marketisation.