Effect of Globalization in Crime and Criminology: An In-Depth Study

This essay delves into the multifaceted effects of globalization on crime and criminology, examining how global processes influence various forms of criminal activity. It explores the relationship between local and global crime, highlighting factors such as youth abandonment, unemployment, and alienation, which encourage involvement in global criminal organizations. The paper discusses Marxist criminology and its relevance in understanding crime within a global context, as well as the impact of events like 9/11 and 7/07 on terrorism and anti-terrorism measures. It analyzes anti-terrorism legislation, criminal networks, and cross-border crime flows, including drug trafficking and human trafficking, emphasizing the role of organized crime groups and the use of the darknet. The essay provides a comprehensive overview of the social, economic, and political dimensions of globalization's influence on crime and the challenges faced by societies in response.

Running head: EFFECT OF GLOBALIZATION IN CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY
EFFECT OF GLOBALIZATION IN CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY
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1EFFECT OF GLOBALIZATION IN CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY
Introduction
Globalization as defined by the Anthony Giddens is the boosting of worldwide social
relations that connect distant localities in such order that local occurrence is shaped by events
occurring many miles away and vice versa. The debate on globalization and the effect on society
is from time immemorial. The effect of globalization is not only limited to the political and
economic process but it also is taken into account the violent effect of crime. Globalization is
considered a complex subject so to establish the relationship between globalization and criminal
offences a theoretical approach is needed for clarification. Human life and every aspect related to
humanity are covered under the process of globalization and these are culture, economy, politics,
law, ecology, science and public health. Theories related to globalization are huge in number and
every theory gives the effort to understand the multiplicity of globalization. People need to
understand the process of globalization is not just an idea but it is a reality in the present world.
Globalization is the originated in the ancient time starting from the innovation of the basic tools
which helped the society through the use and it developed through railways, printing, sailing
vessels, telephones, steam vessels, and the internet. The effect of globalization is not always
favorable to humanity as it also includes crimes and violence against the world. This paper will
discuss the effect of globalization on crime and deviance by explaining various factors related to
social, economic and political aspects.

2EFFECT OF GLOBALIZATION IN CRIME AND CRIMINOLOGY
Discussion
The connection between local crime and global crime
Globalization has a close relationship with local crime and global crimes. Globalization
divides the societies and economies and it disconnects to get information that is accessible to the
dominant society and in this way it provides people to get involved in the global criminal
organization. Youth abandonment, unemployment, alienation are the reasons which encourage
the people to join the criminal activity of the global drug traffickers. The anomaly is more
intense in Russia where the youth became attracted to the criminal entities after the breakdown
of the Soviet Union (Franko 2019).
In North America global drug trafficking destroy the moral principles in a certain section
of the society at the cultural level. The process of globalization effects in the crimes to make it in
an organized manner causes harm to the integrity of the social aspect and it generates into local
crimes (Wall 2017). The drug industry is not only responsible for corruption and violence which
leads to social degradation but there are other areas also which can be termed as the
macroeconomic consequences that disorganize a stable economy and creates poverty and
unemployment (Bittle et al, 2018).
It has been observed by Theodore Caplow and Jonathan Simon that the economic
reconstruction made by globalization is mainly caused because of the scarcity of well-paid jobs
which requires low industrial skill. The uneducated young males with fewer opportunities in the
job market tend to consider the crime as a lucrative option for a better economic consideration
(Shaw 2016). Crimes like drug dealing became a great job opportunity that requires no specific
skills or resources to fulfill the criteria. The people involved in these crimes are often detained in

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jails but it never stops these organizations to recruit people from suburban areas for example the
motorcycle gangs which are heavily responsible for criminal activities and drug-related offenses
(Pepper and Schmid 2016). The process of globalization reached a pick level in the Latin
American countries for example Mexico, Brazil, Venezuela, Peru, Argentina, Colombia and
holding as a top priority of public interest.
The globalization process also includes urbanization within the ambit. Urbanization gives
the unemployed, rural and young people the opportunities to join crime as a profession because
the people who are not able to perform under fast-changing economic conditions need to survive
by it. In this way the localized criminal activities are widening its scope into the global market
for criminality (Nayak 2016).
Marxism and crime
Marxism is known as the socio-economic investigation which involves the social conflict
and class struggle with a provincial look out of social transformation. It evolved in the 19th
century by the hand of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. Marxism had various branches and
schools and it confused was as today's world does not have any single definitive theory of
Marxism (Tombs 2017). There are different school of thoughts which is taken into consideration
the classical Marxism and tends to refuse the other aspects. However many schools mixed the
non-Marxian concept with the Marxian concepts which resulted in conflicting ideas. The theory
of Marxism has a great impact on different subjects and it also includes Criminology (Bittle et al,
2018).
Marxist Criminology is a part of the criminology. It focuses on what are the criteria to
effect a stable social environment and it follows a predefined political philosophy. To deal with

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conflict criminology it observes why the changes are made and it also checks the disturbing
forces in the industrialized societies and characterizes in what way the society is divided by
prestige, power, wealth and the approach of the world. The relationship between crime and
society needs to be observed to understand in what way the social aspects generate criminogenic
conditions as well as a crime (Moxon 2017). Karl Marx strongly commented that the ruling class
by the use of law always dominate and put the other classes into a disadvantageous position. This
school of criminology helps to identify the process of criminalization and it will discuss why
some acts are aberrant where the others are not. It also explains the state crime, political crime
and state-corporate crime (Ruggiero 2017).
The scenario after post 9/11, 7/07
The terrorist attack made on 9/11 and 7/07 has changed the lookout of the politicians,
media professionals, policymakers, security experts upon the young Muslims (Burke 2017). The
practices, political values and habits of the young Muslims have been viewed critically by the
above-mentioned persons of the wealthiest countries and the world was terrified by the Islamic
values. The issues related to terrorism have been identified by the social scientist and it observed
a change in risk, exclusion, justice and ethnicity (Pepper and Schmid 2016). The problems and
issues dominating the ethnic minority groups have taken into consideration but still, qualitative
research has been insufficient in the field of criminology which dominant the ideological
approach of the terrorist threat and the measures related to counter-terrorism have shocked upon
the identities, experiences, attitudes of young British Muslims (Passas 2017).

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Anti-Terrorism Legislation and Regulation
The political violence has been identified as a fact as the world witnessed the strike made
in New York, Bali, Madrid, Washington. The UK has seen the terrorist attack on 07/07 which
amounted to 52 deaths there are other terrorist attacks to the for example the attack of 21/7. The
failed car bomb attack has also occurred at the Glasgow Airport and outside a nightclub in
London (Button and Cross 2017). The series of attacks made in the UK alerted the security
services and police officers to focus more on the terrorist attacks which made an alarming
situation in the UK. The security personnel also concentrated upon the homegrown terrorism
carried out by the nationals of the UK (Goold 2017). The state in order to reduce the terrorist
activities which became a threat to the society has strengthened the police forces, criminal justice
system, conducted intelligence operations. It is to be noted here that the British government in
the above-mentioned areas had made regulations in such a way that was unequal and it created
complications to the Muslim minority groups. The Muslims in the UK through these inequalities
has been marked as a risk to the nation and a threat to the security system as well. The nation
through the improvement in policing made several successful attempts to reduce the terrorist
activities however there were several cases which showed the rude and aggressive attitude of
police personnel and defective intelligence resulted in several disaster cases like the Forest Gate
raid, Stockwell Tube killing of Jean Charles de Menezes and Old Trafford bomb plot. Apart
from the above-mentioned incidents there were several lower levels of incidents related to the
violation and which took place in the country but it missed the opportunity to attract the media
reports and the public as well. In Britain the young Muslim's daily life was subjected to ill-
treatment, harassment, violence, suspicion and hostility. The attack of 9/11 made it a more
complicated situation for the Muslim community. A study in the United States showed that a big

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rise in racism against the Muslim minority groups has developed in European countries like the
Netherlands, France and Sweden. The UK after the 9/11 incident heightened the political
anxieties about the endanger of homegrown terrorism which resulted in authoritarian anti-
terrorism measures that had an impact on the Asian minorities.
History showed that the UK tends to develop legislation for terrorism with extraordinary
measures that occurred from the Northern Ireland conflict. This legislation formed as a
temporary basis because this anti-terrorism legislation remained in the statutes. The UK from the
beginning was strict about the laws to eliminate terrorist activities. The state in order to deal with
terrorism in the right way enacted several laws though it already had a strong legislation system
towards terrorism. The threat towards society was continuous because of the Anti-Terrorism,
Crime and Security Act, 2001, The Terrorism Act, 2000, The Terrorism Act, 2006, The
Prevention of Terrorism Act, 2005 and the Counter-Terrorism Act, 2008 came into light.
Supplementary legislation was also made to fight with terrorism in an effective way for example
Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, 2000, the Criminal Justice (Terrorism and Conspiracy)
Act, 1998. These enactments of law have been cheered by the political leaders and the police
officers and they commented that to suppress the terrorist activities these powers were necessary
to take care of the risk involved in the society. The people who were not committed crime
detained by the police as a suspect due to the effect of preventive measures created a harsh
impact on innocent people. The counter-terrorism legislation has been criticized by the people on
different aspects for example the defective definition of terrorism, the unjustified use of power
by policing and security authorities, restriction on the right of political protest and unequal use of
powers.

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Criminal Networks and Cross Border Crime Flows
The societies in Ireland are more concerned about drug abuse. The offenses related to the
drug industry hurt every aspect of life for example economic security, public health and public
safety (Rothe and Collins, 2018). The drug industry on the island of Ireland has made strong with
the support of organized crime groups who are operating throughout the borders and responsible
to create organized crimes. The organized crime groups are a threat to the law and orders as there
are several ways these groups are operating starting from both sides of borders in a country and
the use of darknet (Downes 2016). Other ways to deal with the drug industry are amounting to
psychoactive substances and improper use of medical prescriptions. There are different types of
illegal drug substances like heroin, cannabis, cocaine and MDMA.
Human trafficking is known as the most heinous crime towards humanity. The organized
crime groups are exploiting the people through human trafficking or otherwise for financial gain
(Silvestri and Crowther-Dowey 2016). Exploitations of people can be done in different ways and
presently the trend is online marketing. The organized crime groups through the use of darknet
can connect towards the world for fulfillment of the orders in a risk-free manner. To stop the
crimes related to human exploitation physical enforcement measures need to be strengthened. In
2017/ 2018 a study has been showing that one of the most common types of exploitation that
have been made is in sexual and labor exploitation (Bosworth, Franko and Pickering 2018).
Money laundering is another sector for criminal networks and through this way globally
it is possible to earn billions of pounds and euros. It has identified as the most profitable business
around the world by organized crime groups. It operates in both financial and commercial
industries. The organized crime groups are active at every stage of the process and businesses
like restaurants and car washes mainly form a part in money laundering. These businesses are

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also responsible for labor exploitation. The businesses to take deal with money laundering takes
money from the organized crime groups and then mix it into the legitimate operations of the
businesses to make as white money then transfer the money to the bank or distribute it into the
business. The items that are easily converted into cash like gemstones, valuable metals,
jewellery, prepaid debits taken into consideration in the process of money laundering.
Solutions to evade global crimes
It is accepted by everyone that the International action is necessary to evade the negative
effects of crimes which are increasing day by day as an effect of globalization it effects on the
economy by securing illegal money, and it heightened the political terrorism. Crimes are not
bounded within the ambit of the local limit it formed an international concern so specific local
regulation is not sufficient as it requires a globalized measure (Hester and Eglin 2017). To
achieve an effective solution to the growing crimes it is necessary to take a joint effort by
integration or transnational cooperation, which has been identified by the world leaders. The
effect of globalization and the alarming threat towards society will take all the countries under a
shed to develop measures to fight with international crime. To take necessary steps the United
Nations has chosen to evade the problem in the right way. The United Nations with all the
member countries which are 191 countries can influence the international system to take
reasonable measures in a very effective way to eliminate the local and global crime rates. There
are several measures taken by the UN for example the G7/G8 convention and the involvement of
the Security Council to eliminate the crimes related to corruption and money laundering. The UN
has also taken a protocol to protect human exploitation especially the women and children in the
year 2000. To deal with drug trafficking several conventions were developed and the Single

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Convention on Narcotic Drugs, 1961 introduced to deal with drug abuse with a collected
international approach.
Conclusion
Therefore, from the above discussion it can be said that globalization has changed the
scenario of the world not only with social and economic factors but it also aided the crimes.
Unemployment, poverty and racial discrimination on the minority groups made it a cause to
became a part of the crime industry. The wealthiest nation has taken the necessary steps to
eliminate the threat but failed to implement the process in the right way. The world must identify
the problems faced by the group of individuals specially the youth and take necessary steps with
care to support them instead of marking them as a threat towards the society at large.

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