State-Endorsed Crimes (OCR A-Level Sociology): Flashcards

Illegal/deviant activities by or on behalf of state agencies

States are supreme authority within their own borders

Going beyond law-breaking to define crime more broadly

Violation of human rights by state/agents

Study of harms, whether or not against the law

Personality willing to obey orders without question

Acts ordered by authority replace normal moral principles

Crime becomes routine, performed in detached manner

Enemy portrayed as sub-human, morality doesn't apply

'It didn't happen' - state denies event occurred

'It's something else' - e.g. collateral damage, self-defence

'It's justified' - e.g. national security, war on terror

Systematic mass murder of ethnic/national/religious group

No official statistics or victim surveys available

Hidden state crimes, likely greater than conventional crime