Chemical Crimes in Industry
by Chemical crimes are acts or omissions during the production, distribution, use, storage, or disposal of chemicals that can reasonably be expected to result in harm to people’s health or safety or to the environment itself.
The term was developed by Critical Criminology theorists as an alternative to the traditional legal standard of crime, which defines offenses according to criminal law. Chemical crimes occur when (1) the chemical in question can be reasonably expected to cause harm through its production, distribution, use, storage, or disposal; (2) the harm caused by the chemical is comparable to that caused by other types of legally defined crimes (i.e., those reported in the Uniform Crime Report); (3) the producers or users of the chemical have knowledge of the risks that it creates, and/or are indifferent to these risks; and (4) the harm in question can be avoided through the use of alternative technologies.
Research on chemical crimes takes four forms. The first line of research examines definitional aspects of chemical crimes and places emphasis on how power relations shape the social construction of crime. Following an argument popularized by Richard Quinney in the Social Reality of Crime, this literature argues that the definition of chemical crimes, like that of other crimes, is constructed in a collective process that appears neutral yet is influenced by politically and economically powerful groups. Specifically, chemical manufacturers play an important role in the social construction of chemical crimes by presenting an image to the public that they protect health by working to develop environmentally friendly practices. This may be accomplished through making small environmental concessions (such as McDonald’s decision to stop using styrofoam to package its food products) in order to appease the public’s concern, and by using media campaigns designed to make the company appear to be concerned with the environment and the public health.
This tactic has been described in the environmental literature as “greenwashing.” A second approach focuses on media coverage of chemical crimes. Scholars who examine this issue have found that while street crime is frequently depicted in the media, little media attention is focused on corporate or business crime, including chemical crimes. Media research on crime reporting addresses social construction arguments and illustrates how the news media shape public opinion concerning the “nature” of crime in our society by excluding coverage of chemical crimes. In many instances, chemical crimes are rationalized by corporate representatives (and environmental regulations) as unfortunate “accidents” even though there may have been a conscious corporate decision to select (typically because of cost) a specific production technology that made the accident more likely. When examining media reports of chemical crimes, researchers find that even when these crimes produce serious harm (e.g., death and injury), they are much less likely to be covered by major newspapers than serious street crime (e.g., homicides, rapes, and robberies).
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