NCJ Number
63516
Journal
CUADERNOS PANAMENOS DE CRIMINOLOGICA Volume: 6 Dated: (1978) Pages: 23-43
Date Published
1978
Length
21 pages
Annotation
THE CAUSES OF THE CURRENT PROBLEMS OF CRIMINOLOGY AS A VIABLE DISCIPLINE ARE ANALYZED FROM A LATIN AMERICAN VIEWPOINT AND TRACED TO LOCAL (SOCIETAL AND POLITICAL), AS WELL AS GLOBAL (TRANSNATIONAL) FACTORS.
Abstract
CRIMINOLOGY IS UNDERGOING AN EPISTEMOLOGICAL AND PRACTICAL CRISIS, WHICH CAN ONLY BE OVERCOME BY SHIFTING EMPHASIS FROM THE STUDY OF THE CRIMINAL, OR DEVIANT PERSONALITY (VIEWED AS VIOLATING LEGALLY DEFINED AND UNIVERSALLY VALID NORMS OF BEHAVIOR) TO THE STUDY OF THE VALIDITY OF THE NORMS THEMSELVES AND THE SOCIAL CONTROL MECHANISMS WHICH CREATED THEM (GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES AND CRIMINAL CODES). THIS MUST BE DONE WITHOUT GOING TO THE OTHER EXTREME OF APPLYING DANGEROUS RELATIVISM TO DEVIANT BEHAVIOR, AS WAS THE CASE WITH RADICAL CRIMINOLOGISTS OF LAST TWO DECADES, ESPECIALLY IN ENGLAND, THE U.S., AND GERMANY, WHO WERE INFLUENCED BY ANTIESTABLISHMENT ATTITUDES AND PREVAILING COUNTERCULTURES, WHICH OFTEN IDEALIZED DEVIANTS AS VICTIMS OF LABELING AND OF SOCIETY. CRIMINOLOGISTS MUST MODERNIZE BY STUDYING A VARIETY OF NEW CRIMES, NOT FORMERLY RECOGNIZED AS SUCH OR ACTUALLY NONEXISTENT, BECAUSE THEY WERE CREATED BY NEW CIRCUMSTANCES; WHICH OPERATE IN DEVELOPING COUNTRIES THROUGH LOCAL SUBSIDIARIES AND MANIPULATE LOCAL MARKETS WITH THE PAID COMPLICITY OF LOCAL OFFICIALS, WHO USUALLY BECOME EXECUTIVES OF THE MULTINATIONALS AFTER THEIR TERM OF OFFICE EXPIRES. SO FAR MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS HAVE ESCAPED THE SANCTIONS OF LOCAL CRIMINAL JURISDICTION WHICH THEY DO NOT RECOGNIZE, AND CURE BOUND ONLY BY VOLUNTARY (NONENFORCEABLE) COMPLIANCE WITH A CODE OF ETHICS WORKED OUT BY THE ORGANIZATION FOR INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND ECONOMIC COOPERATION. AMONG THE PROPER SUBJECTS OF STUDY FOR MODERN CRIMINOLOGISTS ARE ALSO FORMS OF HUMAN RIGHTS VIOLATIONS, 'REPRESSIVE CRIMES' (STATE-SANCTIONED VIOLENCE) COMMITTED BY GOVERNMENT AUTHORITIES AND THE POLICE, AND WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES. IF IT ADAPTS ITSELF TO THESE REALITIES, CRIMINOLOGY STILL HAS A KEY ROLE TO PLAY IN LATIN AMERICA. --IN SPANISH. (LGR)