Crimes of States and Powerful Elites: A Collection of Case Studies

By Anthem Press

This book explores fourteen case studies of state crime, crimes/immoralities of the powerful, including disasters caused by neglect, pharmaceutical fraud, state sponsored or instigated crime, corporate crime, organisational crime and state terrorism. The book offers a valuable contribution to critical social science perspectives on criminality, providing analysis which explores issues of accountability and social harm and linking these to wider structural contexts, particularly the role of neoliberal ideologies. At the same time, the book will provide a critical perspective on historical case studies which continue to have legacies in the present, and which help to shed light on histories of domination and inequalities and to illustrate continuities and changes in crimes of the powerful over time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Anthem Press
• Release date: Jul 6, 2021
• ISBN: 9781785279898

Book preview

Crimes of States and Powerful Elites

Crimes of States and Powerful Elites

A Collection of Case Studies

Edited and Co-written by

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

Anthem Press

An imprint of Wimbledon Publishing Company

www.anthempress.com

This edition first published in UK and USA 2021

by ANTHEM PRESS

75–76 Blackfriars Road, London SE1 8HA, UK

or PO Box 9779, London SW19 7ZG, UK

and

244 Madison Ave #116, New York, NY 10016, USA

© 2021 Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux editorial matter and selection; individual chapters © individual contributors

The moral right of the authors has been asserted.

All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise), without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021939403

ISBN-13: 978-1-78527-987-4 (Hbk)

ISBN-10: 1-78527-987-4 (Hbk)

Cover image: By Seita/Shutterstock.com.

This title is also available as an e-book.

For their unwavering love and support, this book is dedicated to Alex and Colin Radiven. Also, a dedication is due to the Prideaux grandchildren, Leon, Hugo and Cillian, for being the grandchildren that they are.

CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

List of Contributors

Introduction

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

Book Outline

Contemporary Associations

Definitions

Chapter One Disasters in Aberfan and Grenfell

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

Aberfan: An Act of God or Corporate Criminality?

Jessica Gaskell

Introduction

Aberfan: An Example of NCB Negligence

Corporate Crime and Further Elaboration

Aberfan as a Corporate Crime

Social Harm

A Final Word

The Grenfell Tower Fire: A Tragedy of Negligence

Nicole Mellor

A Contextual Introduction

The Grenfell Tower Disaster: An Economic State Crime?

Housing and Inequality as a Contributing Factor to the Grenfell Tower Tragedy

Social Harm

Failures Leading up to the Tragedy

Failures during the Grenfell Tower Fire

Failures in the Aftermath of the Disaster

Concluding Remarks

Chapter TwoMedico: Big Pharma and the Flint Water Crisis

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

The Crisis of Criminal Big Pharma: Turing and Valeant Pharmaceuticals’ Drug Pricing Strategies, the Wider American Pharmaceutical Industry and Implications for Global Health

Lena Hope Andersen, Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

Context

Defining Corporate Crime

The Case of Turing and Valeant Pharmaceuticals and the Pricing Strategies of Big Pharma

Implications for the United States and Global Health

Deception, Criminality, Responsibility: Research and Development of New Drugs

Concluding Observations

The Flint Water Crisis: A Case of Environmental State-Agency Crime, Capitalist (Im)morality and Resistance

Sandra S. Chachulska

Contextual Introduction

Criminal Charges and Beyond

Capitalist Immorality?

Environmental State-Agency Crime and the Immoral State

Social Harm and Resistance

In Conclusion

Chapter ThreeGenocide: The Rohingya and Forced Sterilisation of Women of Colour in the United States

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

State Crime in Myanmar: The Abuse of the Rohingya

Meenakshi Parmar

Introduction

Context

Defining the ‘Crime’

Social Harm

Actors Involved

Criminological Analysis

Investigations

A Final Warning

The Coercive Sterilisation of American Women of Colour: Genocidal Capacity and the Welfare State

Anna Jarrett Rawlence

Introductory Remarks

The Case and Crime

Genocidal Capacity and Language as a Catalyst for Criminality

Tracking Race and Gender in Criminological Theory

Using Social Harm Theory to Locate Responsibility and Accountability

Conclusion: The Legacy of Sterilisation Abuse

Chapter FourState Crime, Corporate Crime and Organised Crime in the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia, Yemen and the Congo

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

United Kingdom Government Sanctioned Sales to Saudi Arabia as a Crime of the Powerful

Oliver Stephens

Introduction

Historical Context of Arms Sales and the Yemeni Civil War

Breaches in International Humanitarian Law

Regulatory Bodies and Disproportionate Power

The Social Harms of State-Sponsored Terrorism

A Final Dilemma

Guns, Gangs and iPhones: The Conflict and Corruption in the Democratic Republic of the Congo

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux with Samantha Elsender

Introductory Remarks

State Crime

Organised Crime

Globalisation and Capitalism

International Legislation and Self-Regulation: A Brief Summation

Words of Optimism and Conclusion

Chapter FiveOrganised Crime: County Lines in the United Kingdom and the Problem of Bosnian ‘Peacekeepers’

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

County Lines in the United Kingdom: An Investigation into Organisation, Vulnerability and Government Accountability

Mary O’Brien, Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

Context

Defining and Categorising County Lines as Organised Crime

Implications of Defining County Lines as Organised Crime

Using a Social Harm Perspective to Understand County Lines

Preventative Strategies for Reducing County Lines Operations

Present-Day Observations

The UN Peacekeepers as an Organised Criminal Gang in Bosnia

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux with Marie Rau

Introduction

Organised Crime and the Applicability of the Concept

Harmful Effects of ‘Peacekeeping" Activities

Structural Barriers Facing Bosnian Victims

Conclusion

Chapter Six Colonial Crimes: The Treaty of Waitangi in New Zealand and Residential Schools in Canada

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

The Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi: A Case Study of State Immorality

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux with Chelsea Majoor

Opening Remarks

The Signing of Two Treaties

The Land Grabs

The Impacts of Colonisation on the Māori

The Waitangi Tribunal and Government Responses

The United Nations Report

A Parting Word

Canadian Residential Schools

Tera Meschino, Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

An Introduction to State Crime

Canadian Residential Schools: History and Intent

Living in the Schools

The ‘Survivor’ Controversy

Life after Residential Schooling

Cultural Genocide

Conclusion

Chapter SevenInternment: Yarl’s Wood and the Magdalene Laundries

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre

Alice Coventry

Introduction

Background

State Crime and the Appalling Healthcare Provision and Violence in YWIRC

The Detention of Pregnant Women

State-Corporate Crime and Immorality

Political Crime and Immorality

The Detention of Asylum Seekers

Breaching Rule 35 of the UK’s Detention Centre Rules

A Social Harm Perspective

Concluding Remarks

The Magdalene Laundries

Gina Donohoe

A Contextual Introduction

The Catholic Church

‘Black-Collar Crime’

The Magdalene Laundries in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries

The Changing Nature of the Twentieth-Century Laundries

State Denial and Legitimisation

The United Nations Committee against Torture

The McAleese Report and State Collusion

Criticisms of the Report

State Apology, Compensation and Social Harm

Words of Caution

Conclusion

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

Historical Warnings

Cultural and Religious Caveats

Index

Acknowledgements

To begin with, we wish to thank Mark Monaghan and Katy Wright for their unswerving support for this book. Mark also deserves a special thank you for co-creating the ‘State Crime and the Immorality of the Powerful’ module at the University of Leeds. So too does Katy for her teaching, tireless effort and input into the module. Indeed, we are especially grateful for Katy’s suggestion that the work produced on the module should be published.

A big thank you is also due to all the students who have assiduously worked on the module (over numerous years) to make it a standard bearer for the School of Sociology and Social Policy at Leeds. By the same token, the contributors to this collection deserve to be acknowledged and thanked.

Contributors

Lena Hope Andersen is a PhD researcher in biosocial science, funded by the SOC-B Centre for Doctoral Training (ESRC and BBSRC). She is studying at the University of Manchester in the Cathie Marsh Institute for Social Research. Her thesis title is ‘Precarity and Allostatic Load: The Influence of Multiple Material-Need Insecurities on Physiological Disparities, a Person-Centred Analysis of English Residents in Later Life’. Lena studied on a bachelor of arts degree in sociology at the University of Leeds and, subsequently, a master’s degree in social research methods and statistics at the University of Manchester. Her broader research focuses on how economic insecurity, stigma and discrimination can ‘get under the skin’ of an individual over the life course and, as a consequence, have negative physiological implications.

Sandra S. Chachulska graduated from the University of Leeds in 2019 with a first-class bachelor of arts degree in sociology. While at the university, she focused many of her studies on the intersectionality of race and gender, but she also focused on the influence of both these aspects in her studies of criminology. She also committed much of her research to understanding the dynamics of urban societies. Her work on the water crisis in Flint, Michigan, is thus a reflection of her varied research interests.

Alice Coventry focused her Level-3 work at the University of Leeds on the institution of Yarl’s Wood and the harmful practices that took place therein. Specifically, the focus was upon offences enacted against women from minority groups. Since leaving Leeds, Alice has been working at the international NGO, Lumos Foundation. J. K. Rowling co-founded the Children’s High Level Group (CHLG) with Baroness Emma Nicholson MEP. CHLG became Lumos, and it is dedicated to working towards ending the systematic institutionalisation of children worldwide. Lumos seeks to end the harm of institutionalisation and to help reunite children – who have been institutionalised in orphanages across the globe – with their family.

Gina Donohoe studied for a BA (Hons) in sociology at the University of Leeds and achieved a first-class degree in 2016. As well as a strong interest in social policy, Gina had a particular fascination with cultural sociology. Specifically, on how taste can be used as a form of capital. For her dissertation, she explored the social function of musical taste at the university. How and why students change their cultural consumption patterns when starting university and what effect this has on their social status, experiences and relationships were prominent questions answered. As a result, she was awarded the Pawson Prize for innovation for her work. Currently, she is still living and working in Leeds as a digital manager at Rising Digital and deals with artists, record labels and brands within the music industry.

Samantha Elsender graduated from the University of Leeds in 2018 with a bachelor of arts degree in social policy with enterprise. Throughout her studies on the program, her research interests reflected a keen eye for the various ways in which business and social sciences can intersect. Currently, she is the business manager of a food and beverage company in Bristol.

Jessica Gaskell studied politics and social policy at the University of Leeds. Many of the modules she chose focused on the National Health System (NHS) and the Welfare State. This included her dissertation, which was on the inclusion of the third sector in the provision of NHS services in the UK. This, alongside an internship at Leeds Mind, drew Jessica towards a career in the NHS. Since graduating in 2017, she has worked within the NHS where she is currently employed as the deputy operations manager of the largest, single-site, GP practice in Suffolk.

Anna Jarrett Rawlence graduated from the University of Leeds and moved to London to channel her passion for race and gender theory into a masters in gender studies and law at SOAS. The inequality that drives the voice of her State Crime and Immorality submission is a dominant factor in her current studies that focus on armed conflict and peace. In an attempt to bring theory to practice, Anna also works part-time for the international development charity World Vision in the policy, advocacy and campaigns team. As a prominent advocate, World Vision works to end violence against the world’s most vulnerable children.

Chelsea Majoor left Leeds to complete her bachelor of psychology and criminology degree and a BA (Hons) in criminology. Specifically, she focused on indigenous issues. She is currently enrolled in a master’s in public policy at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, where she completed her BA. She continues to pursue her interest in indigenous issues by focusing on policies that specifically pertain to these communities.

Nicole Mellor is a sociology graduate who focused much of her research on social mobility. While studying at the University of Leeds she always had an active interest in the criminological aspects of the course, leading to her essay on Grenfell. She currently works at Stoke City Community Trust, which uses sport as a tool in the delivery of a number of programmes to support and engage groups within the community of Stoke-on-Trent. She has most recently taken on an active role delivering a Youth Voice project which specifically targets deprived areas within the city and hopes to give young people opportunities to share and explore different perspectives and experiences. One of her proudest achievements since graduating was taking part in the World’s ‘Big Sleep Out’ raising awareness of homelessness across the city. By doing so, £16,000 was raised for numerous charities in Stoke-on-Trent.

Tera Meschino spent time in Leeds as a result of a year-long exchange with Queen’s University, Canada. After completing that year, she returned to Canada and finished her degree, a bachelor’s, majoring in sociology with a minor in world languages. She has applied to study for a master’s in urban planning at universities in both Canada and the UK. She is currently enrolled in a certificate program in urban design at Simon Fraser University.

Mary O’Brien completed her bachelor of arts in sociology and politics (with a dissertation investigating knife crime) at the University of Leeds. Mary has since started a teacher training course in September 2019. This PGCE qualification in the social sciences is accredited by University College London (UCL), and she also works at a sixth-form college where she will be teaching A-Level students sociology and criminology. This has been ideal for Mary to share her passion for sociology with young people and inspire them in the same way she had during her time in Leeds.

Meenakshi Parmar graduated from the University of Leeds in July 2019 after studying for a bachelor of arts degree in social policy. Last September, she began working at Leeds City Council as a local government officer on their graduate programme. She has worked across a number of departments as part of this programme, including Adults and Health, Housing and, currently, is working in the economic policy team. She is also studying for an MBA apprenticeship in leadership and management.

Simon Prideaux is an assistant professor of social welfare and crime in the School of Sociology and Social Policy at the University of Leeds. He has authored a monograph entitled Not so New Labour: A Sociological Critique of New Labour’s Policy and Practice (2005) and co-authored Understanding Disability Policy (2012) and State Crime and Immorality: The Corrupting Influence of the Powerful (2016). As a lecturer, Simon has also co-created and taught on the Level-3 module State Crime and the Immorality of the Powerful.

Claudia Radiven is a final year PhD student at the University of Leeds researching deradicalisation in the UK, colonial racial governance and Islamophobia. She also completed her bachelor’s and master’s degrees at the University in the School of Arabic, Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies (AIMES). She currently teaches on a range of modules including State Crime, Global Jihad and Social Policy. Her research interests include decoloniality, Critical Muslim Studies, crimes of the powerful and counter-terror policy. Her PhD supervision is split between the School of Sociology and Social Policy and AIMES.

Marie Rau is a former exchange student at the University of Leeds. She studied English and social sciences for the teaching profession and graduated with a master of education degree from Hamburg University in April 2020. Marie currently works as a social education worker in a youth centre for non-privileged children in Hamburg, Germany. Her research during her studies included a range of topics such as inclusion, the intersection of family and school, cooperation as a strategy to face challenges of schools, peace research, war and madness.

Oliver Stephens graduated from the University of Leeds in 2018 with a first-class honours degree in social policy and sociology. Throughout his time at Leeds, he researched a variety of topics including the influence of race and ethnicity on criminal policy and the resultant policing approaches. He also engaged with scholarship on a number of theological areas as well as international terrorism studies. Since leaving Leeds, he has continued education by embarking on an MA in social research where his specialism is the study of international drugs policy in the UK.

INTRODUCTION

Claudia Radiven and Simon Prideaux

This book has mainly been written and/or researched by Level-3 students studying on the module ‘State Crime and the Immorality of the Powerful’ at the University of Leeds, a number of whom have undertaken all the research and writing themselves. Other contributors have embarked upon meticulous research and allowed the editors to either co-author their findings or name them as the main researcher. On the other side of the coin, both the editors of this book have taught on this module and, naturally, facilitated many of their own understandings of the issues at hand.

Book Outline

Accordingly, the book will deal with 14 different case studies of State crime and/or the immorality of the powerful. It will act as a supplementary study to the book State Crime and Immorality: The Corrupting Influence of the Powerful (Monaghan and Prideaux 2016). Case studies will range from disasters caused through neglect, State-sponsored/instigated crime, corporate crime, organisational crime and State terrorism (which relates to a State or a terrorist group condoned by the State terrorising and harming its own or another State). On the other hand, medico crimes in this book primarily address pharmaceutical fraud. In addition, the selling of illegal drugs, and how widespread such activities are, is also viewed from a UK perspective.

Nevertheless, this collection is set out in thematic order and contains two studies per chapter. As a consequence, the first chapter examines the tragedy of a mining village at Aberfan South Wales and, in the second half, the disastrous fire in the multistorey flats (apartments) of Grenfell Tower, London. Indeed, both studies duly expose the danger of official authorities subjugating health and safety concerns while regarding communities as dispensable to either increased profit margins or the minimisation of loss before and after these catastrophic events. Chapter Two is also concerned about the devastating potential of profit and neoliberalism. The chapter focuses on the pharmaceutical industry and the fraud and corruption of big US firms, whereas the second part of the chapter looks at the ill-health issues arising out of the Flint water crisis in the United States. Together, these case studies epitomise tragic examples of corporate crime/immorality on a macro level (in terms of unaffordable access to overpriced pharmaceutical drugs in the United States and globally) and a micro level (through lack of privatised insurance-based healthcare provision for the residents of the economically declining residents of Flint).

Chapter Three concentrates on acts of genocide. In particular, the ‘ethnic cleansing’ of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is the first study, while the second half of the chapter brings attention to the enforced sterilisation of American women of colour. These two studies also illustrate the despicable nature of this genocidal racism as they reveal the horrific proliferation of both State-endorsed rape in Myanmar and the deceitful removal of reproduction rights in the United States. In Chapter Four, the first case study investigates the UK sale of arms to Saudi Arabia and their subsequent use in the Yemen conflict. In a similar vein, the second case study in the chapter concentrates on the persistent and organised exploitation of the mineral wealth in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Crucially, though, both investigations expose the way in which States (the United Kingdom, Saudi Arabia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo) take advantage of corporate opportunities to the detriment of vulnerable groups.

The fifth chapter starts with the distribution and sale of illicit drugs through the so-called county lines arising and being established in the United Kingdom. On a more official front, the latter case study of the chapter focuses on Bosnia and the coordinated criminal actions of UN ‘Peacekeepers’. Undeniably, this pair of cases details how recognised authorities in both countries knowingly ignored or proactively participated in acts of organised criminality. By contrast, Chapter Six looks at ‘colonial’ crimes of the past. The first examines the Waitangi Treaty in New Zealand. It was a treaty that represented dishonest and deceitful practices that impacted upon the well-being of the native Māori people. Such practices involved the confiscation of lands and were/are classed as immoral, to say the least. The second part of this chapter turns the focus on Canada and the creation of residential schools whereby the indigenous people, through these institutions, were provided with a compulsory education of white values, thought, practices and history. All in all, this chapter relates to the colonial exploitation of indigenous communities despite ongoing changes in international law demanding equal human rights and recompense.

Chapter Seven of the book begins with the institution of Yarl’s Wood. Yarl’s Wood is a refugee detention centre in the United Kingdom. As this case study unravels, it exposes outrageous examples of how ‘the powerful’ have legitimated the breaching of the human rights of those women inside. To compound issues, these breaches consisted of appalling healthcare, the detention of pregnant women, violence and sexual misconduct by the staff of Serco and G4S, who were continually employed by the UK government. Similarly, the latter part of the chapter draws attention to the Magdalene Laundries which were institutions or ‘asylums’ – administered by the Catholic Church and condoned by the State (in the main, that of Ireland) – to ‘house’ ‘fallen’ women. Again, breaches of human rights predominated. In essence, then, the two cases presented in this chapter reflect the horrendous treatment of incarcerated women by State-endorsed institutions and the flagrant denial of the inalienable rights of women.

Contemporary Associations

Throughout this collection of studies, and of course the book, the common theme of social harm and how that broadens the detection of criminal events and associated violations is an integral aspect of the investigations given. Criminology, therefore, should include such deliberations/analyses more often if the discipline desires to achieve prosecutions and subsequent prevention of past, present or future crimes similar in nature. From this angle (among others), it cannot be stressed enough that this book is relevant to early 2020 and the ensuing decade. Certainly, a number of the given case studies are becoming even more poignant at the time of editing and, possibly, additionally so on publication. For example, the study of the Grenfell disaster was researched prior to the publication of Phase 1 of the inquiry. Phase 2 of the inquiry, at the time of editing, has just begun (January 2020). Nonetheless, the study in this book forecast many of the findings that the first report came to and, in advance of its publication, could help to unravel the conclusions of the second part of the inquiry. Only time will tell.

With the case study of Big Pharma in the United States, however, the problems that will be discussed are less clear in that the effect upon the United Kingdom could be somewhat insidious. Upon an emphatic electoral victory by the Conservatives and the incumbent prime minister Boris Johnson, there has been the revelation that US drug companies could become the primary suppliers of drugs to the National Health System (NHS). This is certainly true of President Trump’s ‘everything is up for grabs’ view on negotiations and drug pricing within a US–UK free-trade agreement.As Trump had argued, drug prices are fundamental in deterring ‘freeloaders’ and, therefore, prices have to be high: especially if patients paid for their medication through insurance in a newly privatised NHS (Barnett 2019: n.p.).

As a consequence, the revelation in Chapter Two that Turing and Valeant pharmaceutical corporations manipulated their drug prices to increase profits fits not only with the Trump agenda but also with their neoliberal ambitions which are succinctly revealed by this exposé. Again, how all of this pans out is down to time: especially after the US election of Joe Biden and after the Covid-19 pandemic in the United Kingdom subsides. Nevertheless, concerns still remain and they will grow as policy directions unfold or resume. Notably, the Brexit-inspired desire to deal with the United States as opposed to the European Union will persist and, because of this continuing policy direction, it will, should it be implemented and despite public support, compound the problems and obstacles mounting against the NHS in a traditional sense.

The genocidal plight of the Rohingya Muslims in Myanmar is another contemporaneous example given in this book. It is an example that has now involved the UN International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. Their 2020 ruling was that ICJ orders are binding and must be enforced. Myanmar and its government are now required to ‘prevent genocidal acts, ensure military and police forces do not commit genocide, preserve evidence of genocidal acts and report back on its compliance within four months’ (Bowcott 2020: n.p.). Whether or not such an order and its caveats are adhered to remains, in the long run, to be seen.

Likewise, the current situation in the Yemen has resulted in Martin Griffiths, the UN special envoy to the Yemen, calling for de-escalation as a grave surge of fighting has complicated an already fragile peace process exacerbated by the increasing conflict in the area. In the same week of January 2020, the UN Security Council called for emergency consultations. Indeed, the International Crisis Group (ICG) has warned that if the fighting continued to spread, it would be a catastrophic blow to the efforts to end the ‘civil war’ (Al Jazeera 2020: n.p.). As with the Rohingya predicament, the success or failure of the UN pleas and warnings will only be witnessed over time. Future relations, cordial or otherwise, are yet to manifest. At least the case study in Chapter Four of this book manages to give evidence that should be used to legislate and prosecute the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia who have aggravated an already volatile state of affairs. As yet this has not occurred.

Moving on, the problem of the so-called county lines with its gangland exploitation of children and drug trafficking is a recurring theme in current UK debates. Media coverage has followed suit. In response, Priti Patel, the home secretary, announced in October 2019 that £20m worth of spending would go towards stopping gangs from ‘terrorising our towns and villages and exploiting children’ (Patel cited in Grierson 2019: n.p.). All in all, this was supposed to be the first step of an attempt to tackle county lines drug networks. Nevertheless, the financial wherewithal to achieve this ambition has, so far, not been forthcoming. It still remains within the sphere of rhetoric not reality and, as a consequence, the problem of county lines still persists at the distressing expense of many in small towns and rural areas. For this reason alone, the study in Chapter Five is well worth reading and acting upon.

Yarl’s Wood Immigration Removal Centre, near Milton Ernest in Bedfordshire, is also a current concern for the United Kingdom: especially in the light of new immigration laws being imposed as part of the Brexit deal. Privatisation and underfunding are keys to the problem. Although there are 10 detention centres within the country, it is Yarl’s Wood that has received the most attention despite the problems that have occurred elsewhere. Yarl’s Wood has been run by a number of private companies as agents of/for the State (i.e. Group 4 Falk, Global Solutions, Group 4, Engelfield Capital, Electra Partners Europe and, now, Serco) and many of the revealed problems in the case study have reflected the current and previous government’s neoliberalism.

Profit is the dynamic underpinning neoliberal thought and, in the private sphere, the easiest way to increase profits is to cut the labour force to the bare minimum, pay less, train less and enforce flexible working as and when deemed necessary (Prideaux 2002, 2006). Arguably, the atrocious treatment – such as sexual assault, death by suffocation (Lewis 2018), living in squalor – and the subsequent detainee resentment revealed in this book may have come from the adoption of some, if not all, of these practices. Certainly, the existence of these problems prior to leaving Brexit, and the proposed adoption of a points-based immigration system (BBC Reality Check Team 2020), can only mean things will be aggravated by more detainees who have not been allowed to reside in the United Kingdom: hence the fearful contemporary relevance of Yarl’s Wood.

Definitions

Many of the theoretical/criminological terms (but not all) used within this book are, despite extra illuminations in some chapters, outlined here to inform the reader at the outset and, hopefully, guide them through the case studies introduced. Thus, the definitions and terms are as follows:

Corporate Crime

Kramer (1984: 18) defined corporate crime as follows:

Criminal acts (of omission or commission) which are the result of deliberate decision making (or culpable negligence) of those who occupy structural positions within the organisation as corporate executive managers. These decisions are organisationally based – made in accordance with the normative goals (primarily corporate profit), standard operating procedures and the cultural norms of the organisation – and are intended to benefit the corporation itself.

This definition is useful because it takes into account inaction which is considered endemic within corporations in order to enhance profit. This inaction can include failure to acknowledge different legislations or act upon wrong or unlawful activity despite the consequences being detrimental to both employees and the general public (Box 1983; Slapper and Tombs 1999). Regardless of the repercussions of inaction being vast and affecting many, several definitions of corporate crime fail to include it and are thus problematic (Croall 2009). Overall, corporate crime can be conceptualised through the rational choices of employees violating the law or government regulations for the benefit of the corporation (Box 1983). They are, therefore, generally economic in nature, seeking to advance the company rather than the perpetrator (Monaghan and Prideaux 2016). Corporations are usually able to evade the law due to their power, class and influence. However, it is believed that due to the prioritisation of profit, corporate criminality is widespread within capitalist systems (Box 1983; Slapper and Tombs 1999; Whyte 2004).

White-Collar Crime

Sutherland (1949: 9) defined white-collar crime as ‘a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation’. Despite corporate and white-collar crimes both occurring in the context of occupational roles, the victims and beneficiaries differ. In corporate crime, the victims tend to be the public or employees, with the beneficiaries being the corporation, while with white-collar crime, the victim is mainly the organisation and the beneficiary the perpetrator (DeKeseredy 2011).

Professional Crime and Professional Criminals

In UK tradition, there is a crossover with the quaint notion of professional crimes and organised crimes. Early forms of organised crime tended to be very localised and gendered, while ‘firms’ were in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, Glasgow and in numerous other cities. Indeed, these ‘firms’ created monopolies for protection rackets, gambling and prostitution to name but a few of the professional criminal activities. Generally, though, they were headed by ‘elder statesmen’ who became known as underworld dignitaries. Yet all were known to follow a code of honour. However, Northern Ireland had a different trajectory. Paramilitary violence became the norm as the Loyalists and Unionists not only protected their own communities from unorganised crime but also fought each other over their opposing political aims.

Nonetheless, the 1980s saw change and diversification (Hobbs 1994) whereby the drugs market brought greater levels of violence and competition. As a result, traditional loyalties were eroded, whereas financial markets witnessed the merger of organised and financial crimes that resulted in less regulation over the more complex incidences of organised/corporate criminality. Consequently, the ‘old crafts’ were replaced as new opportunities emerged, and profit became the main motivational factor. All of that said, there was still a gender bias. Masculine work predominated in the informal economy, but more roles for women did, at least, become apparent.

Social Harm

Notions of widespread social harm or injury may relate to enduring adverse effects to health or career advancement and involve individuals or groups. It can include ideological discrimination against social groupings and allow definitions of crime to tackle needs-based social harms inflicted by the powerful on the less powerful. Primarily, social harm goes beyond conventional/marginal definitions of crime purveyed in the dominant legal, policy enforcement and academic agendas. Social harm thus encompasses crimes of commission