SOCIOL 1 Chapter Notes -By Any Other Name
12 Mar 2014
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Ch 7: a crime by any other name. Television has gone tabloid - depicting typical criminal as physically violent. This perpetuates a limited, one-on-one model of crime. We do not view executives as criminal because they don"t intend to harm others; they only want to maximize profits and minimize costs. Misguided view that those who have good intentions are less evil than those w/ bad ones. And that victims have consented to work under dangerous conditions so it"s ok. But, everyone has to get a job, and most have no choice in order to survive. The executive knew his actions would harm someone. One cannot appeal to ordinary moral notions to defend criminal law because criminal law shapes moral notions. Ex: making narcotics use a crime has changed public"s perceptions of narcotics; civil rights laws make the public condemn racism. Therefore indirect harm is no less evil than one-on-one harm. Crimes by other names - those not considered criminal.
