Green Criminology: Its Foundation in Critical Criminology and the Way Forward
This article outlines the field of critical criminology and how its development was essential for the development of green criminology.
I use my experiences first as a student of Criminology and Psychology at the Open University of the UK as an entry point.
I draw on my involvement with the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control to explore how critical criminology has influenced green critical criminology.
Critical criminology, with its focus on the crimes of the powerful, is concerned with victims of injustice, and a social harm approach was, I argue, a necessary foundation for non-speciesist, green critical criminology.
The article concludes by elucidating the challenges for a green critical non-speciesist criminology, which includes a presentation of my current research project, ‘Criminal justice, wildlife conservation and animal rights in the Anthropocene – CRIMEANTHROP’.
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The field of criminology has been growing and changing rapidly in recent years, thanks to the work of researchers and activists who are working to develop a more sustainable and environmentally friendly criminal justice system.
This movement is known as green criminology. Green criminology seeks to examine the role of the criminal justice system in our society and the environment.
It views crime as a social problem as well as an environmental one. For example, it recognizes that prisoners often come from disadvantaged backgrounds, which can lead to a higher rate of recidivism upon release.
It also studies the effects of incarceration on individuals and the environment as a whole. Research shows that overcrowding in prisons can have a serious impact on both the mental and physical health of inmates.
Impact wildlife, habitat destruction and pollution, and even increased carbon emissions all contribute to the devastating effects to the eco system.
·Eco-system Crime – this is a broad term that covers a range of criminal activities that harm the environment, such as poaching and wildlife trafficking.
These activities not only hurt local ecosystems, but also the global environment as a whole, since they fuel demand for illegal products that can be damaging to wildlife and to human health.
·Environmental Justice – this refers to the way that certain groups in society are disproportionately affected by environmental degradation or climate change. This includes communities that live in or near polluted areas, members of marginalized groups, and children.
Air Pollution, water pollution, soil contamination from toxic waste, and other environmental factors have been linked to higher rates of crime and violence in some communities.
These problems have a particularly harmful effect on low-income people and communities of color, who are at higher risk of exposure to environmental hazards.
·Youth Justice – the use of criminal sanctions to deter youth from engaging in delinquent behavior is controversial since the punishment could be more damaging than the crime itself.
As a result, many juvenile justice advocates believe that more emphasis should be placed on diversion programs that encourage positive behavior in children rather than on punishmen
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Social Contract is an idea of the social contract that an individual has with their community and state. They are responsible for the benefits they receive from the system through their labor and wealth.
In return, the community and the state are expected to protect the safety and well-being of its citizens and provide them with a standard of living that allows them to thrive.
The social contract is an example of ethical principles that assumes that in order for society to function there must be an implicit contract between the individuals within it and their respective governments.
In the simplest terms, this contract is based on the idea that the government will protect the individual citizen while also respecting the rights of the community as a whole.
If we fail to live up to this contract then the negative consequences can include a breakdown of society or an uprising from the people in opposition to the current government
The “social contract” is a term that has been used throughout history to describe the agreement between people and their government. The social contract is the basis of democracy.
It sets out the relationship between individuals and the government and represents the basic rights that people have within society.
When people enter into a social contract with their government, they agree to respect the laws that govern the country and accept the authority of the government to make decisions on their behalf.
Many people associate the term “social contract” with politics but a social contract is also involved in many aspects of our lives.
In everyday life, we have social contracts with other people such as our colleagues or family members and these contracts define the rights that we have as individuals in these relationships.
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We have all heard of the phrase, “free speech rights”. It is a right that we take for granted, but it should not be. Protests are a form of free speech. They allow us to express ourselves and communicate our opinions.
During protests, people hold signs, chant slogans, and raise awareness about an issue they are passionate about. Protesting is a form of non-violent protest and it is a means of expressing yourself without causing violence.
It gives people who are fighting for their rights a platform to speak their minds. Unfortunately, some people will try to silence protesters by using violence and force. People have a right to speak up for what they believe in.
This lesson discusses the history and importance of freedom of speech and the right to peaceful protests
The Green criminology we were taughtit is not like the mainstream positivist criminology of the UK.
The divide between mainstream criminology and critical criminology persists, although much of the UK criminology is also critical. The divide is rooted in the tendencies of mainstream criminology to (still) ‘exclude a diverse range of topics relevant to studying harms and their consequences that ought otherwise to fit within the discipline of criminology if criminology were not so narrowly defined in the first place’
My interest in Green Criminology came frm te idea on how to put pressure on the Governments worldwide and tell them to act now before it is too late, we have some time left not much but nough to take action, if we leave it for longer our future and the childrens future will not be a good one.
ACT NOW
G.I.T.C
Critical Criminology and the Emergence of Green Criminology
In this article, I explore the development of green criminology and its foundation in, and influences from, critical criminology.
In the first part, I start by usingmy studies at the Open University in the UK and with the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control.
I use what I learned through these experiences as a framework for the debate between conventional criminology and zemiology (Hillyard et al. 2004) which is core to green criminology.
In a way, reminiscence on my scholarly upbringing also resembles a semi-autoethnographic intro-retrospective approach (for example, Sollund 2017a) to critical criminology as a field and scholarly social environments pertaining to it.
In Part Two, I address the different branches of green criminology, and how the definitions, conceptualisations, and literature in the field intersect with my personal dedication to green criminology, which was first inspired by Beirne (1999) and Beirne and South (2007).
I argue that while many scholars had previously written on ‘green topics’, a great benefit came with naming the field as a different school of thought.
In Part Three, I outline different subfields that have been encompassed under the umbrella of green and conservation criminology, before discussing through a constructivist approach, the essentialities of wording.
The section finishes with a discussion of the need for a criminology that is attentive to the emergent problems of climate change, as well as to the specific challenges of a non-speciesist criminology, including the study of wildlife trafficking.
I argue that green critical criminology is vital and urgent in confronting environmental crimes and harms in a world characterised by a nature and extinction crisis.
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Fracking is the practice of injecting water into underground rock to extract oil and natural gas.
It has been used for decades in other parts of the United States and is considered a safe and environmentally friendly practice when properly regulated.
However, it can have serious impacts on groundwater supplies, which is particularly important in arid climates like California’s Central Valley, where aquifers can be depleted by excessive irrigation and agricultural runoff.
It can also have negative health effects on nearby residents, who may experience headaches, nausea, dizziness, eye irritation, fatigue, and shortness of breath
Protesters in Los Angeles demonstrated against fracking in May 2016, holding signs reading “Water is a human right.”
The protesters emphasized that the toxic chemicals used in fracking can contaminate drinking water sources and cause health problems for those who live near drilling sites.
There is no question that we need to find ways to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels if we are to prevent dangerous climate change.
But in order to do that, we need to be sure that we are not compromising the health and safety of our communities in the process.
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So even if you are not a citizen in your country, you can still be part of a social contract with your own family.
However, all of these different social contracts exist within the framework of a country’s overall social contract. This is the agreement that citizens make with their country when they become citizens of the country.
If people are dissatisfied with the way that they are being treated by the government then they have the right to rise up against the government and call for change to the way things are being done.
If they do this then they are breaking the social contract that they have with the government and are threatening to overthrow it.
Government brakes the contract, and therefore our government becomes authoritarian.
What comes to our mind? A bad situation for us as citizens of that country. In the future a government can abrogate at will due to inflation and the growth of the state against its citizens’ will; furthermore, we should keep in mind that the state changes the definition of contracts
Social Contract and environmental crimes (law) principles are mainly related to environmental norms protecting against crimes against the environment,
i.e. non-compliance to environmental regulations which protect humans and animals, the environment, and ecosystem health from abuse and pollution. Many countries have laws in place to protect people and the environment.
But the big problem is us as individuals , we need to start taking responsibility towards our actions and change the way we think or see the environmental crimes ad harms.
Yes the crime is not our usual everday crime because there are no victims or a murder sceen, ther is no blood and no ofender or someone to point the finger.
If a warning is not coming direct to us we do not care or pay much attention to them. The factor “me” is missing from all the warnings the authorities have giving us .
Then we have not witness a disaster yet so it is not personnal matter rtghere for we ignore what is happening around us. Example if you find ourt there is a thief in your area you will lock the doors, get alarm system fitted etc. but if the burglar is in another town you wouldn’t take any actions at all because it is not going to affect you.
Alo we need to warn the Government to take actions now and we do that with the only way we know and that is protest.
