Environmental Crime: Organizational Crime or Organized Crime?

Abstract

Environmental crimes are often cited as examples of the criminological category of white-collar crime: when committed within a company, they relate to the professional activity of the agent; when perpetrated by individuals with some economic, social, or political influence, they may fall into the category of “dark figures” of crime, raising issues such as the impunity of certain behaviors and the resulting inequality in the administration of criminal justice. However, more recently, due to the emergence of new phenomenological manifestations of environmental offenses, doubts have arisen regarding their classification as either white-collar crime or organized crime. The delineation of boundaries between these two categories becomes significant insofar as it necessitates different models of prevention and repression.