CRJU 4710 - Environmental Crime and Justice

Environmental Crime and Justice will look at the disproportionate benefits and burdens of environmental “profits” (e.g., open spaces, clean air and water, etc.) and contamination (which results from behaviors that include, but are not limited to crime), as well as the implications of these disparities on certain areas, particularly communities of color and indigenous communities. The role of the government, the private sector, non-profit organizations, and the environmental justice movement in creating, perpetuating, and minimizing environmental crime and its disparities will be examined, with part of the focus being on theories within critical criminology that address issues of environmental crime injustices. The nature of environmental offenders and victims will be explored. Policies and programs that have been organized to address environmental crime and other injustices and their effects (e.g., quality of life, birth defects, childhood asthma, lead poisoning, cancer, etc.) will be reviewed, including responses by the criminal justice system to environmental crime. Students will examine critically the consistencies and inconsistencies in institutionalized mechanisms that are set up, either intentionally or more subtly, to create, reinforce, or minimize environmental crimes and injustices. Cross-listed with CRJU 5710. Max Hours: 3 Credits. Semester Hours: 3 to 3