Abstract
Mainstream sociology and criminology uncritically accept the legal definition of crime. This paper rejects this academic ideologically-laden approach in favour of the current power relations by critically analysing and evaluating consensus, conflict and interactionist views as well as integrated definitions of crime. Later on, an alternative definition of crime is presented. This builds on the inclusion of civilisational legitimacy and social harm. Civilisational legitimacy stems from general justice and fairness. Harm is a necessary component of crime and is always linked with the abuse of power. The new definition of crime encompasses harmful acts and processes that penal codes do not recognise as crime while excluding legitimate yet illegal actions.
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Notes
One of the first attempts to introduce the concept of harm into the definition of crime appears in Sutherland [32]. In his white-collar crime research, while still siding with legalists, Sutherland partially moves beyond the limits of the legalist perspective of crime. His understanding of crime was linked to the administrative and regulatory violations and not merely to the violation of criminal law.
Although the “prism of crime” introduces new dimensions, it includes one questionable (and reluctant) aspect – the number of victims/extent of victimisation. Different numbers of victims are the consequence of a crime and not the core characteristic for its qualification. For definitional purposes it is enough to understand something as a crime if there is ‘only’ one (possible) victim, not even necessarily a human one for it can also include animals or the environment.
Apart from these forms, Galtung [42] and Žižek [53] also expose a third form of violence – cultural or symbolic violence, which operates in the ideological field and legitimises direct and structural violence (crime). In the presented interpretation of crime, this form is included within the concept of structural crime.
The idea of including basic liberties in a definition of crime derives from Schwendinger and Schwendinger’s [38] humanistic alternative perception of crime, which sees this kind of rights as basic rights of individuals (human rights) and not as rewards or privileges. The denial of these basic rights is considered a crime.
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Bučar Ručman, A. What is crime? A search for an answer encompassing civilisational legitimacy and social harm. Crime Law Soc Change 72, 211–226 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09812-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10611-019-09812-1