Active learning ideas
This unit examines the changing nature of crime in a connected world. Students look at how globalisation has facilitated human trafficking, drug smuggling, and cybercrime. They also explore 'green crime', acts that harm the environment, and 'state crime', which involves illegal acts committed by governments. These topics are crucial for understanding the limitations of traditional policing which stops at national borders.
Activity 01
Assign students roles like 'consumer', 'trafficker', 'producer', and 'regulator' across different countries. Use string to connect them as they trade illegal goods, showing how difficult it is to break the chain.
How has globalisation altered the nature of organised crime?
Activity 02
Set up stations for different green crimes (e.g., illegal logging in the Amazon, toxic waste dumping in Africa). Students must categorise each as 'primary' or 'secondary' green crime.
What constitutes a 'green crime' in contemporary sociology?
Activity 03
Students hold a trial for a state accused of human rights abuses. One group acts as the prosecution using international law, while the other defends the state using 'neutralisation techniques'.
Why is state crime often difficult to define and prosecute?
A few notes on teaching this unit
Watch Out for These Misconceptions
Green crime only refers to things that are illegal.
Many environmentally damaging acts are legal but considered 'green crimes' by sociologists. Using a sorting activity helps students distinguish between legalistic and transgressive definitions of crime.
State crime only happens in 'dictatorships'.
Sociologists argue that democratic states also commit crimes, such as illegal wars or institutional negligence. Case studies of Western interventions help students apply a more critical, balanced lens.
Methods used in this brief
Sociological Theories of Crime
Students will evaluate functionalist, Marxist, and interactionist perspectives on the causes of crime and deviance. They will assess how different paradigms explain rule-breaking behaviour.
8 methodologies
The Social Distribution of Crime
An examination of the statistical patterns of crime across different social classes, genders, and ethnic groups. Students will critically analyse the reliability of official crime statistics.
8 methodologies
Crime Control, Prevention, and Punishment
Students will review various strategies for crime prevention, including situational and environmental approaches. The sociological role of the penal system and victimology will also be assessed.
8 methodologies