The focus of this dissertation is to examine different definitional frameworks of state crime and the relevance of criminological theory to different forms of state crime. Using a library-based approach, the applicability of these concepts is investigated in case studies that fall within different categorisations of state crime. The case studies that are used within this dissertation are: Nazi Germany’s implementation of human experimentation; the use of chemical weapons and targeting of healthcare systems by the Syrian government during the civil war; and state failures in regulating the healthcare and pharmaceutical industry in the USA. Each will be determined to fall within the purview of either legal or deviance-based definitions of state crime, as each is commonly framed differently within normative perspectives of what constitutes ‘crime’. Despite these variations in classifications, each will be shown to be worthy of criminological enquiry regardless of whether it fits within a normative legal framework as each can be seen to produce mass harm or injury which is preventable on account of state action. Criminological theories of Control Balance Theory, Techniques of Neutralisation, and Differential Association which are commonly used to explain the causation of ‘street crime’, will be applied to and compared between the case studies to develop a better understanding of the causes of such acts. It will be demonstrated that such theories can be similarly applied to different forms of state crime as they are to street crime and that they can be beneficial in gaining a greater insight into state crime, where prior research regarding state crime has long been limited. Thus, more research regarding the topic should be conducted to progress current criminological understanding of the area.
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