For these reasons, and because EPA's Office of Pesticide Programs (OPP) is responsible for regulating the use of pesticides in the United States, OPP has been actively engaged in a number of initiatives to help prevent such problems. These initiatives include: broadening our understanding of the science and predictability of pesticide drift based on many new studies, improving the clarity and enforceability of product label use directions and drift restrictions, facilitating the use of drift reducing application technologies and best management practices to minimize drift, and promoting applicator education and training programs (Agency, 2009)
It took almost a decade, though, for this matter to work its way through the courts (Harr, 1996). Similarly, and again showing the tremendous time and resources that corporations can use to deny and defray legal redress, Erin Brokovitch (2000) based on the true story of an American legal-clerk who, despite lacking a formal education, was instrumental in helping to construct a 1993 case against the Pacific Gas and Electric Company in California finally resulting in a $333 million settlement (Brockovich, 2003)
An additional challenge, though, is that the vast majority of many of the active chemicals in modern pesticides, sometimes over a thousand, have not been assessed and studied in any scientific manner. Testing, notes one EPA official, was never designed to identify problems in extremely small parts per million that have drifted several miles based on weather and wind speed (Clarren, 2008)
However, much of the spraying is from such a high altitude (to cover maximum crops) that it would require an updating of equipment to solve the problem -- something industry is almost always against due to fiscal issues. Therefore, the tactics, as have worked historically, have been to use denial, subtrefuge, and legal maneuvers to obfuscate the problem to such a point that the victim side looks both paradnoid anduntenable (Cox, 1995) Criminal Intent/Culpability of the Government -- Again, since there is no proof of collusion and there are laws and regulations in place, the government is leglly protected
While the partent company eventually settled, a later EPA report concluded that the company accused had, in fact, contaminated the wells. It took almost a decade, though, for this matter to work its way through the courts (Harr, 1996)
Farmworkers and White Collar Crime The United Nation's World Health Organization estimates that on an annual basis, over 3 million agricultural workers experience severe and sometimes fatal exposure to poisoning from pesticides used in the production of various farming activities. An additional 25-30 million likely experience mild pesticide poisoning, and, because the long-term effects have not been longitudinally document, most scholars believe that occupational exposure to pesticides over time may be associated with leukemia, cancers, and a variety of other diseases (McCauley, Anger, Keifer, et
This organization, Californians for Pesticide Reform, wishes to improve and protect human health, act as a proponent for suistanable agriculture, and improve environmental quality. They also wish to build a strong, multi-racial conglomoration that will change statewide, and eventually national, policies and practices regarding pesticide drift (Reform, 2010) Document -- Working with the Pesticide Action Network of North America, and supplemented with mini-grants from numerous Latino action groups, ordinary citizens in these towns and camps near fields are working to take regular air samples from various parts of the town; document these results, and then submit to the University of California, Berkeley, for analysis
From a legal standpoint, the Farm Industry is not, according to most Federal and State regulations, acting in a criminal manner by intentionally placing its workers or the public at harm. For instance, point source pollution (a single indentifiable localized source of polution in which a speicific cause-effect relationship can be proven) is illegal based on the Clean Water Act and the Clean Air Act (Womach, 2006)
Even when cancer is not directly caused by the violence, the quality of life (and property values) of nearby residents can be directly impacted by corporate indifference to human health. Air pollution, pollution from oil spills, and water pollution are all examples of such corporate violence (Friedrichs 2010: 66)
The research has indicated that this group still may think and have attitudes about crime that are similar to non-white-collar criminals (Samenow 2010). A common misperception is that these types of offenses are out of character for those who perpetrate them (Brody, Melendy, and Perri 2012) but people who make these conclusions often lack information about the perpetrator and the criminal's thinking (Samenow 2010)
Biological theorists often assume a dogmatic approach to behavior and would endorse stricter penalties and law enforcement techniques to control crime. In addition there are some interventions that are strictly biological that have been used to control behavior such as psychosurgery, chemical methods of control such as chemical castration for sex offenders, and newer techniques such as deep brain stimulation (Burton 2002)
Crime pattern analysis is an overall approach to understanding in detecting crime in an organization allows the security manager an idea of the general patterns of crime that occur in a specific environment and then to decide how the resources of the organization can be used in dealing with such potential issues. By understanding the framework in which a criminal behavior is initiated and carried out the security manager can take appropriate preventive steps (Coenen 2013)
Mathias 1995). Moreover, methods and policies designed to maintain self-awareness in individuals and provide a visible presence of enforcement agents can lead to a decrease in criminality (Diener 1979)
Security managers, given the nature of their work and the information that they use, are not effective in determining areas of corporate criminal offenses, but are suited to control occupational offenses against the organization itself. Security managers are not agents policing corporate policies, but instead can enforce corporate policies and making sure that they are followed by employees (Hearnden and Moore 1999)
2012). These individuals typically are narcissistic, have a history of breaking the rules or of past criminal actions, set their own levels of morality, and are very opportunistic (Hakkanen-Nyholm and Nyholm 2012)
Durkheim (1897) coined the term anomie to describe a feeling of a lack of being connected to society or feeling that there is a lack of social norms to help them explain suicide and sociologists later used the term to describe the disconnect of the individual and the collective social consciousness. In this viewpoint criminality results as a consequence of the failure to properly socialize persons and/or a consequence of the unequal opportunities between different groups of people (Merton 1968)
Psychological Theories of Criminal Behavior Psychology is a broad discipline that involves many subcategories. In general psychological theories of criminal behavior share several core fundamental assumptions (Mischel 1968)
A common misperception is that these types of offenses are out of character for those who perpetrate them (Brody, Melendy, and Perri 2012) but people who make these conclusions often lack information about the perpetrator and the criminal's thinking (Samenow 2010). One personality variable that continually surfaces in studies that assess white-collar criminals is the personality variable of narcissism (Perri 2011)
Biological Approaches Biological theories of behavior have increased in popularity recently. Biological theories of criminality indicate that criminal behaviors result due to some biological flaw in the individual that could be due to either heredity, dysfunctions with neurotransmitters in the brain, or brain abnormalities as result of heredity, trauma, or a developmental issues (Raine 2002)
Psychological Profiles of White-Collar Criminals Even though white-collar crimes are conceptually different than non-white-collar crimes and the perpetrators of white-collar crimes are generally different from other types of criminals in terms of their education, social economic status, and professional achievements. The research has indicated that this group still may think and have attitudes about crime that are similar to non-white-collar criminals (Samenow 2010)