Friends of the Forensic Science Club, this week we present the paper “Corona crimes: How pandemic narratives change criminal landscapes” by Sandberg, S. and Fondevila, G. (2020), in which authors make a revision of how the pandemic we are struggling with even today, has affected the criminal dynamics, focusing on the Mexican context.
In the article chosen for this week, we are going to explore the criminogenic dimension of the coronavirus pandemic that we are still fighting against.
Although crime is always the result of a particular social and historical context, and is in constant negotiation, this is particularly evident during crises and major social changes. These moments can lead to new types of crime or bring back old ones.
In other words, what is defined as a crime is always in constant change and depends on state and legal definitions and popular perceptions. We say that it is in negotiation, also constant, because it is what occurs between the media, politics and public opinion to define crime.
The Covid-19 pandemic changed established patterns in traditional crime. During the early phases of the pandemic, new criminal dynamics emerged and old ones re-emerged.
In Latin America, where there are very fragile governments, some communities illegally blocked roads to prevent the spread of the disease or health workers were attacked, among many other incidents.
The pandemic led to new laws being introduced to limit social interaction and mobility, and thus curfews were also broken. Not wearing the mask in public or violating other state regulations have also been very common occurrences.
In other words, there have been a series of changes related to crime at many and different levels as a result of this global health crisis.
Considering the relative fragility of the state of Mexico, the authors decide to carry out an investigation with the aim of reflecting on and better understanding the criminology of recent months in the country.
The apocalyptic narrative is particularly interesting to the authors. These come with an intense polarization of character, highlighting the highest and lowest human emotions. They create an atmosphere of catastrophe, sometimes claiming that the world as we know is coming to an end.
These stories call for heroic actions. It is in these contexts where terrorism, rebellion, uprisings, or wars arise. Apocalyptic ideation implies a sense of urgency, and this urgency causes people to consider doing things that they would not do otherwise. That is, the crisis creates a narrative environment where what would have been considered radical or impossible in other circumstances, can be accepted or even appear inevitable.
Furthermore, epidemic psychology describes how epidemics can be an emotional and extraordinary maelstrom, unleashing plagues of fear, panic, suspicion, and stigma, with individual and collective impact.
The deaths, the detailed descriptions of scenarios in overcrowded hospitals, the threat of social danger, and the uncertainty about the risk, all came together to create a situation that justified a massive sacrifice across society.
The first case of coronavirus in Mexico was confirmed in February 2020. About a month after reporting this case, the government implemented a series of measures to prevent and control the spread of the infection. Some were the suspension of certain economic activities, the prohibition of mass concentrations or the recommendation that population should remain at home.
While it was battling the coronavirus, Mexico was also battling poverty, social inequalities, and growing homicide and crime statistics.
The fact that there were restrictions on mobility and social contact, led to incidents in which groups of citizens tried to illegally close roads or other access points to protect their communities. They also tried to hinder human mobility to avoid contagion. Armed, residents blocked the passage of hundreds of municipalities across the country, pointing to the fine line between self-protection and vigilantism.
The apocalyptic narratives mentioned above, create an environment of panic and suspicion in which people may be willing to take drastic measures to stop the disease. Furthermore, fear can be the reason for attacks on stigmatized groups.
For example, health workers have had, and do have, direct contact with the disease. Despite being considered heroes, in many places attacks were reported against them for being on the front line fighting the virus.
Widespread violations of state regulations should also be mentioned. For example, public areas or businesses were closed for months, but people continued with normal activity, ignoring these mandates.
On the other hand, some criminal groups took advantage of the tensions between the government and the population to create aid associations and even emergency hospitals. These acts can be seen as an attempt to assume the role of the state and change the dominant histories in society. In this way, the cartels and criminal gangs tried to take advantage of the opportunity offered by the crisis to redefine their role and go from heroes to villains.
Despite having limitations, such as that this study cannot be applied in areas like Europe or North America, the research addresses the criminological narrative question of how crimes can be sustained, instigated and awakened by crisis situations.
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