Chapter 11: Political Crime and Terrorism

Chapter Outline

Political Crime: Definitions

Legal Aspects
Crimes by Government
Crimes Against Government
Criminal Careers of Political Criminals
Societal Reaction
Theory and Crime

Political Crime: Definitions

Ideology: A distinctive belief system, idea, or abstract ideal.
Convictional Criminals: Politically motivated criminals.
Political crime: Criminal acts committed for ideological purposes.
Offenders believe they are following a higher morality that supersedes present society
and its laws.
Little has been written regarding political crime.
Political Crime: Definitions (contd)
Two Types of Political Crime:
Crimes by Government: Include violations of human rights, civil liberties, and
constitutional privileges, as well as illegal behavior that occurs in the process of
enforcing the law or maintaining the status quo.
Crimes against the government: May range from protests, illegal demonstrations,
and strikes to espionage, political whistleblowing, assassination, and terrorism.
Legal Aspects

Political crime is not a legally-recognized concept.

The Anglo-American legal tradition does not differentiate crimes based on motive.

The Nuremburg Principle

Human rights violations committed as the result of carrying out orders are not
justifiable.

Legal Aspects (contd)

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights

United Nations
Concept of human rights supports the notion that some inalienable rights and
freedoms supersede those of government.
International Law
Limited power of enforcement.

Crimes by Government
Political Crimes by Government:

Violations of human rights committed for ideological reasons by government

officials or their agents.
This is a sociological (not legal) concept.
Lack of funding to research this.
Crimes by Government (contd)
Forms of Political Crimes by Government:
Secret Police
Human Rights Violations
Death Camps
Slavery
Patriarchal Crime
Genocide
Crimes by Government (contd)

Patriarchal Crime: Committed against women and children in systems of

traditional male dominance and authority.
Genocide: The mass destruction or annihilation of populations

Crimes by Government (contd)

Forms of Political Crimes by Government (contd):

Crimes by the Police
Cointelpro: The FBIs counterintelligence program to harass and disrupt
legitimate political activity.
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 Scandal
Watergate
Iran-Contra Conspiracy
Crimes Against Government
Protest and Dissent:
The Nuremberg principle or precedent supports the view that one should disobey
unjust laws when morality calls for it.
Examples of Protest/Dissent Crimes:
Disorderly Conduct
Trespassing
Conscientious Objection
Crimes Against Government (contd)

Assassination
Typology (Clarke):
1. Political assassins
2. Egocentric assassins
3. Psychopathic assassins
4. Insane assassins
5. Atypical assassins

Crimes Against Government (contd)

Espionage: The clandestine theft of information.

Long history
Sub Rosa Crime: Espionage
Motivation:
MICE
SMICE

Crimes Against Government (contd)

Espionage (contd):
Typology of Spies (Hagan):
Mercenary
Ideological
Alienated/Egocentric
Buccaneer
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Professional
Compromised
Deceived
Quasi-Agent
Escapee
Miscellaneous

Crimes Against Government (contd)

Political Whistleblowing:
Secrets are sometimes kept to protect national security; in other instances, it is to
shroud questionable activities.
Individuals speak up to expose the latter.

Crimes Against Government (contd)

Terrorism: . . . the unlawful use of force or violence against persons or property to

intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in

furtherance of political or social objectives.
-F.B.I. definition (Pomerantz, 1987, p. 15 )
Terrorism Typology
Political Terrorism
Nonpolitical Terrorism
Quasi-Terrorism
Limited Political Terrorism
Official or State Terrorism
Criminal Careers of Political Criminals

Political criminals:
Use crime instrumentally.
Believe offenses are necessary.
May deny the legitimacy of relevant laws.
Operate within subcultures that support the criminal activities.
Often believe the end justifies the means.

Societal Reaction
Reactions to terrorism:
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 Tend to be harsh for acts against the government.

Tend to be mild for crimes by the government.
It is difficult to reach international consensus in condemning political crimes.
Theory and Crime
Neither greed nor need motivates the political criminal .
Differential association
Political offenders are socialized into their belief system by similarly minded
individuals .

Chapter Summary
Political Crime: Definitions
Legal Aspects
Crimes by Government
Crimes Against Government
Criminal Careers of Political Criminals
Societal Reaction
Theory and Crime
Key Concepts
Criminal Behavior Systems
Criminal Typologies
Critical Criminology
Feminist Criminology
Global Fallacy
Labeling Theory
Left Realism
Peacemaking Theory
Postmodernism
Praxis
Primary Deviance
Radical Marxist Criminology
Secondary Deviance
Shaming Theory
Theoretical Range