Understanding the psychology of environmental crime

Psychologist and true crime presenter Julia Shaw joins Mongabay's podcast to discuss her latest read, examining some of the highest-profile environmental crimes and why they occur, in Green Crime: Inside the Minds of the People Destroying the Planet and How to Stop Them.

She details the commonalities behind six major cases, and what can be learned from them, as described by six motivating factors: ease, impunity, greed, rationalization, conformity, and desperation.

"As a psychologist, I was like, 'What if we create a psychological profile of the various people involved with these various big crimes?' And so that's how I came to the Six Pillars because I was using a model from criminology, which is called Situational Crime Prevention Theory, and of looking at the factors that contribute to a crime being committed," she says.

Find the Mongabay Newscast wherever you listen to podcasts, from Apple to Spotify. All past episodes are also listed here at the Mongabay website.

Related Listening & Viewing:

Watch Mongabay's webinar on How to Cover Wildlife Trafficking featuring expertise from the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA).

Hear activist Paul Rosolie detail his operation which employs former loggers to be conservationists.

Listen to Cambridge researcher Luke Kemp describe how society can tackle inequality and save nature.

Image Credit: Photo of the author, Julia Shaw. Photo by Boris Breuer.

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Timecodes

(00:00) From eco-depression to action

(05:29) Why people commit environmental crimes

(12:08) The 'unsung heroes' defending the environment

(18:21) It's not just greed

(24:43) Whistleblowers and regulators are key

(36:53) Towards consistent enforcement

(42:02) Our biospheric values play a role