...Cheating, Stealing: White-Collar Crime “Lying, Cheating, Stealing. That’s white-collar crime in a nutshell.” That is how the Federal Bureau of Investigation describes crime committed by corporations (FBI—White-Collar Crime). These crimes include fraud, identity theft, internet swindles, money laundering, price-fixing, embezzlement, political corruption, police brutality, and much more. Conklin (2010) defines white-collar crime as “any illegal act, punishable by a criminal sanction, that is committed in the course of a legitimate occupation or pursuit by a corporation or by an otherwise respectable individual of high social standing.” Who are white-collar criminals? Who are blue-collar criminals? What are the differences between white-collar crime and blue-collar crime? Is there disparate treatment in sentencing between white-collar and blue-collar criminals? If yes, should there be? For example, if someone breaks into my home, it is a blue-collar crime and I lose some property. If a banking or real estate corporation defrauds me, it is a white-collar crime, and I lose my home, savings, and/or pension. Who is the worse criminal, and what are we doing about it? I will research these questions and examine how these two types of criminals are treated within our society. In 1939, Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime in his presidential address to the American Sociological Society. In 1949, he authored a book, White- Collar Crime, that revealed a...
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...S E C T I O N II Understanding White-Collar Crime Definitions, Extent, and Consequences S ecti on Hi g h l i g h ts •• •• •• •• •• •• White-Collar Crime: An Evolving Concept Modern Conceptualizations of White-Collar Crime Extent of White-Collar Crime Consequences of White-Collar Crime Public Attitudes About White-Collar Crime Characteristics of White-Collar Offenders A 34 s noted in the introduction, Edwin Sutherland created the concept of white-collar crime more than 70 years ago to draw attention to the fact that crimes are committed by individuals in all social classes. As will be seen in this section, one of the largest difficulties in understanding white-collar crime has centered on an ongoing debate about how to define white-collar crime. After discussing various ways that white-collar crime can be defined, attention will be given to the extent of white-collar crime, the consequences of this illicit behavior, public attitudes about white-collar crime, and patterns describing the characteristics of white-collar offenders. Section II Understanding White-Collar Crime 35 As a backdrop to this discussion, consider the following recent white-collar crimes described in the media: •• A jury convicted [then-Baltimore mayor Sheila] Dixon . . . of embezzling about $500 worth of gift cards donated to the city for needy families. Dixon then pleaded guilty last month to lying about thousands of dollars in gifts from her former boyfriend, a prominent developer...
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...Types of White Collar Crime Angela L. Langley LEG 200 – White Collar Crime in Government, Business, and Labor Professor Thomas Demko Strayer University May 28, 2012 Assignment 1: Types of White Collar Crime A white collar crime is illegal and unethical, which violates the public trust. It deals with lying, cheating, and stealing by high profile individuals. A single con can destroy a business, hurt families by cleaning out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars. “Devastating losses in relation to homes, businesses, jobs, retirement funds, and college savings were widespread. “It was clear that fraudulent misrepresentations on many levels were at the center of this crisis” (Friedrichs, 2010, p. 1). We will compare and contrast the nature of white collar crime with other types of illegal acts, compare and contrast the typical participants of white collar crime against the participants of other types of illegal acts, discuss the role of technology in white collar crime and how its role may create differences from other forms of crime, and analyze the role of opportunity and how it contributes to white collar crime. Compare and contrast the nature of white collar crime with other types of illegal acts. The key elements of white collar crimes are trust and its violation. “White collar crimes take on the form of misrepresentation, stealing, misappropriation, self-dealing, corruption, and role conflict” (Friedrichs, 2010, p. 10). White-collar...
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...Understanding white collar crime Hazel Croall Open University Press Buckingham · Philadelphia Open University Press Celtic Court 22 Ballmoor Buckingham MK18 1XW email: enquiries@openup.co.uk world wide web: www.openup.co.uk and 325 Chestnut Street Philadelphia, PA 19106, USA First Published 2001 Copyright © Hazel Croall, 2001 All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence from the Copyright Licensing Agency Limited. Details of such licences (for reprographic reproduction) may be obtained from the Copyright Licensing Agency Ltd of 90 Tottenham Court Road, London, W1P 0LP. A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library ISBN 0 335 20427 9 (pb) 0 335 20428 7 (hb) Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Croall, Hazel, 1947– Understanding white collar crime / Hazel Croall. p. cm. — (Crime and justice) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0–335–20428–7 — ISBN 0–335–20427–9 (pbk.) 1. White collar crimes. I. Title. II. Crime and justice (Buckingham, England) HV6768 .C755 2001 364.16´8 — dc21 00–050174 Typeset by Type Study, Scarborough Printed in Great Britain by Biddles Limited, Guildford and Kings Lynn chapter ...
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...What are the major problems with regard to the collection of crime statistics? Discuss, within your answer, the weaknesses and strengths of the official crime statistics and British Crime Survey. Official crime statistics are secondary documentary sources which are most commonly based on figures from the police and the courts. These are then announced by the Home Office at a later date. Interactionists question the validity and reliability of official crime statistics as they state that official crime statistics greatly underestimate crime itself, and as a result they only represent ‘the tip of the ice berg’ suggesting that they are not representative of all crimes. Furthermore, Interactionists dispute that statistics are seen to be socially constructed. One example is through the underreporting of known crimes. The case for the British Crime Survey rested largely in the value to policy-makers of having at least a rough idea to the extent and shape of the problem which the criminal justice system was intended to tackle. Police statistics of recorded crime seemed adequate as a measure of police workload, but because of unreported and unrecorded crime – deficient as an index of crime. The British Crime Survey illustrates that the public do not necessarily report crimes that they have been victims of, for example in 2008 only 42% of crimes were reported by victims. Victims may not report crimes to the police as they may be too insignificant and believe that the police force either...
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...White Collar Crime: Embezzlement and Price Fixing Dr. Stokes White Collar Crime Fall 2012 November 19th 2012 This paper will discuss White Collar crime and the crime of price fixing, antitrust, and embezzlement. There are many different types of white collar crime. White Collar crime is a crime that is not too often viewed as harmful. A White Collar crime is an illegal act committed for monetary gain. The Federal Bureau of Investigation has opted to approach white-collar crime in terms of the offense. The Bureau has defined white-collar crime as “. . . those illegal acts which are characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and which are not dependent upon the application or threat of physical force or violence. Individuals and organizations commit these acts to obtain money, property, or services; to avoid the payment or loss of money or services; or to secure personal or business advantage.” (USDOJ, 1989, p. 3.) According to the F.B.I. White Collar crime is not a victimless crime. A single scam can destroy a company, devastate families by wiping out their life savings, or cost investors billions of dollars (or even all three, as in the Enron case). Today’s fraud schemes are more sophisticated than ever. Edwin Sutherland coined the term White Collar crime. In 1939 Sutherland coined White Collar as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation". People that commit White Collar crime are ordinary...
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...White Collar crime VS. Blue collar crime A big problem in today society is white collar crime and blue collar crime. The big question we ask in society is which one is a bigger problem. In my paper I will go into detail with each one and distinguish them between Micro sociology and Macro sociology. The big question being asked is what is white collar crime identified as and blue collar crime? White collar crime is defined as “illegal or unethical acts that violate fiduciary responsibility of public trust committed by an individual or organization, usually during the course of legitimate occupational activity, by persons of high or respectable social status for personal or organizational gain” (Helmkamp, Ball, & Townsend,1996, p. 351). (Cullen, Clark, Mather’s, & Cullen, 1983; Grabosky et al., 1987; Hauber, Toonvliet, & Willemse, 1988; Holland, 1995) felt back then that white collar crimes get neglected. There are only 24 out of 140 crimes that are categorized to be white collar crimes. Some examples that are white collar crimes are (i.e., price fixing, defrauding customers, and income tax fraud). Benson and Cullen (1998) examined the perceptions of white-collar crime seriousness from local prosecutors. The prosecutors did not typically perceive such crimes as serious; it was stated that, less than 4% of urban prosecutors considered corporate crime a “very serious” problem and about 50% did not regard it as serious at all. When crimes like this are committed I feel that the...
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...Social class and crime Most studies in sociology suggest that the most serious and frequent offenders are young working class males. However, there may be a bias in the statistics that results in the idea that ‘white collar crime’ is underestimated... * WHITE COLLAR CRIME - middle class members of the business world - invisible and complex. * BLUE COLLAR CRIME - working class members in society - often visible and more likely to be punished. Sutherland (1949) first used the term ‘white collar crime’. He challenged the assumption that crime is mostly a working class phenomenon. However, his own definition is not helpful. The problem with it is that he does not distinguish crimes committed for an organisation. Writers have therefore distinguished between crimes: * CORPORATE CRIME - carried out on behalf of the organisation (e.g. tax evasion). * OCCUPATIONAL CRIME - benefits the individual at the expense of the organisation (e.g. embezzling money). White collar crimes are more technical, complex and discrete and often receive more lenient punishments than blue collar crimes. For white collar crimes, there is a fine line between what is acceptable and what is not. It is often about what is morally wrong rather than legally wrong. Occupational/Corporate crime: The study of these crimes developed from the work of Sutherland in the 1940s. He used the term white collar crime to refer to crime committed by people who worked in offices. His work overlaps with the interests...
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...White collar crimes are offences committed by persons who, by virtue of their careers, exploit technological, economic, or social power for corporate or personal gain. In 1949, an American criminologist named Edwin Sutherland illustrated typical attire of perpetrators, who were mostly politicians, high-ranking professionals and businesspeople. However, since Sutherland’s time, such crimes have ceased to be the exclusive domain of these groups. Nowadays, developments in commerce and technology have broadened the scope of white-collar crime to include intellectual property crimes, healthy-care crime and cybercrime (computer crime). It also includes more traditional crimes involving conspiracy, bribery, embezzlement, tax, antitrust violations, money laundering, perjury, obstruction of justice and regulatory violations The white collar criminals mostly referred to as WWCs have the following common characteristics: They are nonviolent. Literary this means that during this criminal activity, there is absolutely no violence involved. Instead, they use deceit and concealment. A person who gives force information when applying for a government contract is considered as white collar criminal. White collar criminals are persons in a position with certain powers vested in them hence they misuse those powers vested in them for their personal gains or corporate profits. Officials in public offices which accept bribes or misuse public funds are good examples of white collar criminals since...
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...being labeled deviance. In terms of functional analysis, deviance is a necessary element of social organization. Deviance affirms cultural values and norms. There can be no good without evil and no justice without crime. Responding to deviance clarifies moral boundaries. By defining some individuals as deviant, people draw a boundary between right and wrong. Responding to deviance brings people together. When terrorists attacks occurred, people joined by a common desire to protect their country and bring the terrorists to justice. Deviance encourages social change. Today’s deviance can become tomorrow’s justice. For example, rock-and-roll condemned as immoral in the 1950’s, however, it became a multibillion-dollar industry a few years later. So does hip-hop music. Let’s look at the definition of conflict crime. Conflict crimes are deviant acts that the state defines as illegal but the definition is controversial in the wider society. As we learned in the class, the key concept of the conflict theory is that economic drives society. It is focused on the inequality and the class relations. The rules are defined by the people who have the power and wealth, and that leads to my topic, is white-collar consider as crimes? Why I want to talk about the white collar crime, in nowadays, a single scam can destroy a company, devastate families by wiping out their life savings, or...
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...Newspaper Annotated Bibliography Janice Goodman CCJS 453 798 WHITE-COLLAR CRIME (2148) November 09, 2014 Newspaper Annotated Bibliography Peter J. Henning. New York Times: Legal/Regulatory | White Collar Watch the Debate Over Wall St. Enforcement 2014. One side threatens to crack down harder; the other side complains about too much enforcement. The tension on regulation has been on display recently as the regulated are pushing back against the tough stance taken on corporate misconduct. In October 2013, Mary Jo White, the Securities and Exchange Commission chairwoman, spoke at the Securities Enforcement Forum about a new approach based on the “broken windows” theory of enforcement in which the police pursue minor infractions to send a message about compliance with the law. This is one way to prevent crime by the white collar criminal as mention in our class material. Crime prevention, or the intervention to prevent a crime from occurring, can be achieved in two ways: by changing the offender’s disposition or by reducing his or her opportunities. The focus of the situational crime prevention is correspondingly based on the belief that crime can be reduced effectively by altering situations rather than an offender’s personal dispositions. Celia Ampel reporter from The South Florida Business Journal: South Florida residents charged in $1.2M money laundering scheme Reporter: 2014. White collar criminal leave their victims penniless after fraudulent behavior of securities...
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...According to the Oxford Dictionary crime is “an action or omission which constitutes an offence and is punishable by law” (reference). There are different types of criminal offenses. Crimes are sub-categorized into violent crimes and non-violent crimes. Crimes of violent nature may involve assault, battery, rape, homicide, and kidnapping, to name a few. These types crimes bring either physical or mental harm to a person. Non-violent crimes may involve crimes such as embezzlement, money laundering, forgery, and burglary. Such crimes are offenses against property. White-collar crime is a non-violent crime. According to Geis’ (Geis, 2002, p.8) the term “white-collar crime” was coined by Edwin Sutherland. He introduced the concept during the American Sociological Society Meeting in 1939. During the meeting, Sutherland raised a concern about high-status white-collar offenders receiving less attention for their crimes than the attention that traditional criminals of low-status are receiving. Later, in his book “White Collar Crime”, Sutherland defined white-collar crime as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.". Through his definition, Sutherland intended to point out that traditional crimes such as homicide, kidnapping, and the likes were more likely to be committed by lower class citizens. While he also tried to point out that white-collar crimes are mostly committed by persons of high stature in society, according...
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...Theories of Crime Causation November 11th, 2010 Abstract The following will examine the differences between criminalists, criminologists and forensic psychologists. It will then transition into how what exactly is a white collar crime and a blue collar crime. Lastly the paper will discuss the differences between index-one and index-two crimes as defined by the UCR. Media Portrayal of Crime Introduction With the prevalence of crime being portrayed in the media world, it can be difficult for the modern American to decipher all the aspects of crime. Criminology, the study of crime and its causes, is a excellent way to find out just what makes a criminals mind tick. Although it may be hard to know just what makes a person commit a crime, having a better understanding of the base of criminal justice aspects may be of assistance. Criminologists, Criminalists, and Forensic Psychologists With a plethora of jobs out there relating to the field of criminal justice, it may become overwhelming to try and decide who does what and how they do it. To have a better understanding of such fields one must know exactly what each field does separately from the other. A criminologist uses sociological theories and methods to study criminal behavior and how societies respond to crime (Hall, 2010). This means the criminologist seeks to find out the mentality behind a crime and how that thinking affects the society as a whole. By creating theories as to why of how this crime was committed...
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...Criminologist vs. Criminalist and Crime Variation Law Sanders American InterContinental University Abstract The basis for this paper is to demonstrate the differences between criminologist and criminalist. As the discussion is clarified the topics of the UCR (Uniform Crime Report) will arise with attention to the specific crimes of type 1 and type 2. Finally, the distinction between those crimes that are white-collar vs. blue-collar and of which are violent in comparison to those that are committed to property. Crime Variation Biological, neurological, psychological, chemical, behavioral, and cognitive deficits along with other environmental factors work to shape human behavior and, by extension, criminal behavior (Contemporary Criminological Theory, 2013). As human behavior continues to develop and the formation of criminal behavior starts the crime rates increase within our society. The individuals that study, analyze crime, criminals and their behavior are known as criminologist. There are a variety of specializations within the field of criminology. A criminologist may study and analyze crimes and behavior of a specific age group or a certain type of crime such as robbery. A criminologist uses their knowledge, training and experience for criminal litigation. Additionally, criminologist focus on the social and psychological traits of offenders to uncover behavioral patterns used to identify suspects and speed investigations. Criminologist study the...
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...The association between social class and crime has been a topic that has been discussed in criminology for quite some time. Social class is the division of society in social and economic classes. The upper class is composed of the wealthiest people in society, such as successful entrepreneurs, politicians, investment bankers, CEOs, and celebrities. The middle class is considered to be the median between the working class and upper class. For example, lower level managers, doctors, small business owners, educators would be considered middle class. The lower class is loosely defined by definition generally though it would be described as individuals working positions at a job that can be filled easily without having a substantial amount of...
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