Crime and Justice in the Global Village: Towards Global Criminology (From Crime and Law Enforcement in the Global Village, P 3-21, 1997, William F McDonald, ed. -- See NCJ-167298)

• NCJ Number: 167299
• Author(s): W F McDonald
• Date Published: 1997
• Length: 19 pages
• Grant Number(s): 95-IJ-CX-0110
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Issue Overview

Annotation

This chapter outlines the nature and parameters of the globalization of law and provides a rationale for why this subject is of such importance.

Abstract

It describes the diversity of cultural values and variation in how law is applied among countries. Western legal concepts are fundamentally different from other countries, which have been influenced significantly by the religious values of Islam, Buddhism, and Shintoism. Differences in values among countries create challenges regarding a common understanding of the nature of law and how it should be applied in any kind of universalistic fashion. Still, the author argues for a new specialization, global criminology, which requires additional interdisciplinary collaboration and a re-examination of fundamental concepts. The chapter locates the subject historically and theoretically. It sketches some empirical and theoretical issues and calls for criminologists to help make the emerging institutions of global social control transparent and accountable. The author advises that rigorous, critical, and thorough research on the nature of transnational, global criminal activities and the regime being constructed to combat them can serve not only to enhance the scientific understanding of the behavior of criminals and legal institutions, but also serve as one of the few checks against the deficit in democratic values in the construction of the new system of global formal social control. 17 notes