Exam 4 - White Collar & Organized Crime Flashcards
What is Sutherland’s concept of white-collar crime?
- Must be committed by a person of respectability and high social status
- Cannot be murder, intoxication, or other related crimes discussed in class.
Who can commit white-collar crime, according to Sutherland?
- People of high respectability and high social status in the course of his/her occupation
Why was Sutherland’s conceptualization of white-collar crime controversial?
It posited that crime was a phenomenon of the “lower class”
What are Edelhertz typologies of white-collar crime?
Personal Crimes
Abuse of Trust
Business Crimes
Con games
What are personal crimes (Edelhertz)?
Crimes committed by persons operating on an individual, ad hoc basis, or personal gain in a business context.
What are Abuse of Trust crimes? (Edelhertz)
Committed by those operating inside businesses, govt, professional capacity, or etc. in violation of their duty of loyalty and fidelity to an employer or client
What are business crimes (Edelhertz)?
Crimes incidental to or in furtherance of business operations, but not central to business operations
What are con games (Edelhertz)?
White-collar crime as a business, or as the central activity of the business.
What are white-collar crimes as “Elite Deviance”?
Crime committed by elites themselves for personal gain, for by their employees for the purpose of enhancing their power, profitability, or influence of the organization involved.
What are the three definitions of white collar/organized crime?
Occupational
Corporate
Government
What is occupational crime?
A violation of trust by an employee, usually for personal financial gain.
Ex. Employee theft, embezzlement, insider trading, fraud
What is corporate crime?
Offenses committed primarily to enhance the financial and competitive interests of the corporation
Ex. False advertising, consumer fraud, antitrust violations, price fixing, environmental crimes.
What are government crimes?
Illegal activities engaged in by agents of the government to protect or advance the political position of an administration, regime, or ruling party
Ex. Abuse of power, bribery/corruption, concealing illegal activity
What is the typology of occupational offenses?
Organizational occ. crime - Benefit of employing org.
State Authority occ. crime - By officials through state authority
Professional occ. crime - By profs. in capacity as prof (ex. lawyer)
Individual occ. crime - By individuals as individuals (tax evas. etc
What are the two criteria for white-collar crime by the National White Collar Crime Center?
- Status of the offender w/in the organization or community
- The use of deception
What is organized crime?
A continuing criminal enterprise that works rationally to profit from illicit activities that are often in public demand.
What are the common features of organized crime?
- Formalized structure
- Existence maintained through the use of force, threats, and/or corruption of public officials
- Members are generally accomplished criminals before entering the group
- Continuity-based structure
- Most income is derived from supplying the public with goods and services not available in the legitimate market.
What is La Costa Nostra (LCN)?
The Mafia
What is the structure of La Cosa Nostra?
The Commission - National Ruling Body
Boss/Don
Consigliere - Counselor/Advisor to the boss. #3 man in the family.
Underboss - Second in Command
Capos - Ranking-made member who leads a crew of soldiers
Soldier - Made man, the lowest member of the family
Associate - Individual part of the crew but has not been made but operated under their protection.
What is the corporate model?
- Day-to-day activities are planned and coordinated at the top and carried out by subordinates.
- Members are entitled to run their own rackets using family connections and status
- A percentage of soldier earnings are paid to lieutenants, and up the chain so forth.
How is LCN membership established?
- Restricted to Males of Italian descent of proven criminal enterprise
- Prospective members must be sponsored by made men who take responsibility for them during a probationary period.
- Promising criminals not of Italian descent may become associate members. Estm. 10 associates for every made man.
What is the Opportunity/Subculture explanation for white-collar crime?
Opportunity structure enables subcultures of larger networks of offenders, invoking a cost of secrecy and honor.
What is Status/Conflict theory explanation for white-collar crime?
Higher status persons are more likely to engage in “lower-consensus” crimes with impunity
What percent of reported crimes are white-collar crimes?
4%
- Typically committed by college-educated white men
What is Sellin’s theory for white-collar and organized crime?
When there is a clash of cultures, dominant members seek to criminalize minority behaviors
- Denying access to housing, jobs, medical care, and educational opportunities
- Minority culture members may respond by involvement in organized criminal activity
What is the Power/control theory explanation for white-collar and organized crime?
Most powerful groups in society seek to maintain advantaged position by defining the behaviors of the less powerful as criminal
- Corp and govt. criminal activities committed by higher-status individuals are intended to enhance their influence and power.
What is the social learning explanation for white-collar and organized crime?
- Differential association combines subcultural and learning formulations
- Motivations, rationalizations, and techniques for engaging in white-collar and organized crime are learned through interaction w/offenders.
What is the rational choice explanation for white-collar and organized crime?
- Benefits of comitting the crime are weighed against the anticipated risks.
- Careful planning is essential to commit a white-collar offense successfully or to sustain lucrative organized crime operations.
What is the thrill-seeking explanation for white-collar and organized crime?
The thrill of engaging in high-risk crimes can be seductive
- For some the monetary rewards may be less important than the emotional rewards derived from the crime.
