Criminological Theory for Social and Environmental Harm

RUNNING HEAD: CRIME AND SOCIETY 0
Crime and
Society
Student’s Details-
3-3-2020

CRIME AND SOCIETY 1
Social and Environmental Harm
Social and environmental harm can be addressed as serious issues which can impact the
society as a whole. Environmental harm refers to the changes in the atmosphere permanently
and temporarily which can take place as a result of the human activities and behaviour. This
might have impact which can be either reversable or irreversible. Environmental harm can
lead to ecological imbalance and can also lead to the uncertain changes in the atmosphere and
their impact on the changes in the environment. Besides, social harm is regarded as the
uncertainties that can arise at the workplace which can impact the communities. Social harm
can also be treated as the topic of debates within the criminology that essentially focuses on
the individual acts of harm1. This can be seen as the result of the behaviour such as racist,
sexist and the criminal behaviour of the individual. This can be regarded as the social
problem affecting the society.
The example of environmental harm can be seen from the emission into the air which can be
caused from the variety of human activities such as construction. This air emission can
reduce the air quality due to the harmful pollutants and is often an environmental harm. There
are other sources as well such as fugitive sources from which the air quality can get impacted.
The example of social harm can be seen from the violence such as racism and sexism as it
makes differences in the society through making differences in the colour and the gender of
the individual2. This is considered as social harm as it divides the society and often lead to
social inequality.
1 Simon Pemberton, Harmful Societies (Policy Press 2016).
2 Alyssa N. Zucker, Caroline C. Fitz and Laina Y. Bay-Cheng, 'Reverberations Of Racism
And Sexism Through The Subjective Sexualities Of Undergraduate Women Of Color'
(2015) 53 The Journal of Sex Research.

CRIME AND SOCIETY 2
Criminological Theory for Social and
Environmental Harm
Criminological theory explains the certain behaviour or psychological conditions of humans
which guides the actions of the individual for committing the crime and violating the rules of
the society. Social constructivists theory of crime can be explained from this perspective in
which the individual undertakes the criminal activity as a result of the social interactions of
the individual and the social reality of the person3. As a whole, the social construct theory of
crime demonstrates that the person undertakes the actions as a consequence of the social
reality in the people see themselves and constructing their social behaviour.
For the understanding of the social and environmental harm can be explained by the social
construct theory of criminology. In case of social and environmental harms can arise when
one makes the interactions and also constructs the reality of the person build through the
human relationships. The example of emissions of air as the environmental issue can be
understood by the social construct theory in which the particular human behaviour can lead to
the human activities. These human activities are constructed as the environmental harm
causing the air pollution which is the environmental issue4. Further, the social issue of sexism
and racism which can be understood from the social construct theory of crime. This social
inequality is the social harm as it taking place due to the human interactions and the
constructivism drawn from the social connections of the individual.
3 T. Johnston, 'Synthesizing Structure And Agency: A Developmental Framework Of
Bourdieu's Constructivist Structuralism Theory' (2016) 8 Journal of Theoretical &
Philosophical Criminology.
4 Patrik Sörqvist and Linda Langeborg, 'Why People Harm The Environment Although
They Try To Treat It Well: An Evolutionary-Cognitive Perspective On Climate
Compensation' (2019) 10 Frontiers in Psychology.