Criminalization of occupation: Articulating a legal perspective within occupational science

Occupational science literature increasingly addresses occupations classified as illegal. We examine legal sanctioning, globally and locally, of two occupations: i) search and rescue activities to aid asylum seekers and ii) sex work. We draw on comparative legal research and critical historical legal methodologies to explore how occupations become framed as criminal in certain places and certain points in time, but not in others. Relying on comparative case studies of Italy and Poland, this paper examines the criminalization of search and rescue activities in aid of asylum seekers and highlights how two States (countries) rely on criminal law to deter the entry of some individuals while welcoming others. The analysis of sex work demonstrates that legislation regulating women's bodies reinforced racial hierarchies throughout the British colonies. This analysis focuses on historical and contemporary Canadian legislation which continues to marginalize sex workers to this day. We illustrate that societal power relations manifest through criminal law, with individuals and groups disproportionately disadvantaged and marginalized in relation to factors such as poverty, gender, mental health, oppression, colonization, and classist social systems. Criminalization of occupations can be understood to compound marginalization, human rights violations, and occupational injustices experienced by some individuals and communities. A critical understanding of legal systems and their impact on lived experiences is beneficial to occupational scientists who aim to explore occupations that are, or have been, categorised as illegal. Sexarbeiterinnen bis heute ausgrenzt. Wir zeigen, dass sich gesellschaftliche Machtverhaltnisse im Strafrecht manifestieren, wobei Individuen und Gruppen abhangig von Bezug Faktoren wie Armut, Geschlecht, psychische Gesundheit, Unterdruckung, Kolonialisierung und klassenbasierte Sozialsysteme unverhaltnismassig stark benachteiligt und ausgegrenzt werden. Die Kriminalisierung von Betatigungen kann so verstanden werden, dass sie die Marginalisierung, die Menschenrechtsverletzungen und die Betatigungsungerechtigkeiten, denen einige Personen und Gemeinschaften ausgesetzt sind, verstarkt. Fur Betatigungswissenschaftler*innen, die als illegal eingestufte Betatigungen erforschen wollen, ist ein kritisches Verstandnis von Rechtssystemen und ihren Auswirkungen auf gelebte Erfahrungen gewinnbringend.