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Lying, Cheating, Stealing: White Collar Crime

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Lying, 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 study of white-collar crime White-collar criminals are usually described as regular people who are respected and trusted within their communities. They include businesspersons, politicians, doctors, and others who are considered educated professionals. They are affluent and usually of a high social status. They are people that most of us trust, and would not believe are capable of

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