Assess the View That the Process of Globalisation Has Led to Changes in Both the Amount of Crime and the Types of Crime Committed. (21 Marks)

Globalisation is the increasing interconnectedness between different countries and their dependence on each other. Globalisation creates new opportunities for crime, new means of committing crime and new types of offences Crime has become transnational made possible through technological advances and communication. Types of crimes linked to globalisation is arm trafficking, cyber-crimes, money laundering, terrorism etc. to what extent globalisation has led to changes in both the amount of crime and types of crime can be debated, as different sociologist hold different perspective.

It has been argued that globalisation has increased the overall crime economy, due to making the world more interconnected. Castell now estimates that the global criminal economy is worth over £1 trillion per annum. The global criminal economy has both a demand and supply side. A reason for scale of transnational organised crime is demand from the rich west. However, the global criminal economy couldn’t survive without a supply side that provides the source for demands of the west, such as drugs and prostitutes. For example, South America largely supplies North America with drugs, as globalisation has led for borders to trade legal substances. This means that illegal substances can be trafficked through, without any suspicion or doubt. This indicates that globalisation has led to the opening up of previously small demand and supply trade system, to a leading two trillion crime economy. Due to this growth, it has led to countries like Columbia, where 20% of the population rely on cocaine production for their livelihood.

Although, it could be debated that the process of supply and demand is not a new phenomenon. Meaning, in 19th and 20th century Britain was a vast exporter and trade of opium (used to chemically to produce heroin), which at one point they forced China to trade too. This caused people to die and led to two opium wars. Therefore, it could be argued that it is just a switch...