NCJ Number
153941
Editor(s)
G Barak
Date Published
1991
Length
301 pages
Annotation
This study of State criminality is part of the development in radical political and social thought in which some criminologists are departing from the positivism, correctionalism, and conservatism of the mainstream to focus on the structural and organizational nature of governmental abuse.
Abstract
The first section describes classical forms of State crime, illustrating the basic premises of the book with examples of Aboriginal deaths in custody in Australia during the 1980's and the suppression of dissenting subcultures in the U.S. The four chapters in the second section discuss the role that ideology plays in the dialectical and contradictory relationship between the rule of law and the rule of force. Specific examples of State crimes involve kidnapping, drug and arms trafficking, air piracy, terrorism, murder, foreign policy, due process, nationalism, disinformation, and general abuse of State power. The fourth section discusses how the omission of public and private policies addressing both non- State and State forms of criminality can cause widespread suffering and victimization. Specific examples used include legislative and enforcement issues related to sexual assault, policing, intelligence gathering, and illegal opportunities for engaging in traditional street criminality. Chapter references