The human costs of crime and migration
| DOI | 10.1177/0264550513490611 |
| Date | 01 June 2013 |
| Published date | 01 June 2013 |
| Subject Matter | Editorial |
Editorial
The human costs of
crime and migration
2012 Best Article Award
‘Counterfeit DVD street sellers: Serious career criminals or individuals in a
cycle of exploitation?’, by Shelly-Ann McDermott (London Probation Trust)
Abstract
Capturing ‘serious career criminals’ is pivotal within intellectual property
crime enforcement (SOCA, 2010a: 1; SOCA, 2010b). There is also
acknowledgement that organized criminals often trap undocumented
migrants ‘into a cycle of exploitation’ to perform street level offences (SOCA,
2010c: 1; Chin, 2000). Fifteen magistrates’ court pre-sentence reports were
analysed in order to identify whether these classifications adequately
describe counterfeit DVD street sellers. The key findings suggest that a
humanistic perspective is needed to highlight that street sellers encounter
poor material circumstances (Grover, 2005).
You are in a public house when you are approached and asked if you want to buy a
DVD of the latest blockbuster movie? It all seems fairly innocuous but behind this
transaction can lie a deeper interaction potentially involving illegal migration,
intimidation, exploitation and extreme poverty. This is the subject of this year’s best
paper prize, which has been awarded to Shelly-Ann McDermott for her article
‘Counterfeit DVD street sellers: Serious career criminals or individuals in a cycle
of exploitation?’ It is especially pleasing as it is the first time the award has been pre-
sented to a current practitioner and is in the best traditions of reflective practice that
have been the hallmark of probation work.
The winning article uncovers an under researched area of criminal activity that
has largely been framed within discussions regarding the loss of revenues to the
entertainment industry through the infringement of copyright and intellectual prop-
erty. Based on a small-scale study of pre-sentence reports prepared on individuals
charged with selling counterfeit materials in the London Probation Trust area, the
author highlights the human costs for those involved in these street level offences,
Probation Journal
60(2) 115–118
ªThe Author(s) 2013
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DOI: 10.1177/0264550513490611
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The Journal of Community and Criminal Justice
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