Lec 11 Flashcards
White collar crimes
A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation
Influence of Edwin Sutherland’s work
Criminologists and criminal justice system overemphasis on street crime
Emphasized the role of class position in understanding white collar crime
Posited that if the acts are socially injurious (they should be defined as crime
Two types of white collar crime
Occupational crime
Organizational crime (aka corporate crime)
Occupational crime
White collar crime committed by an individual or group of individuals exclusively for personal gain
Organizational crime
Crimes committed with the support and encouragement of a formal organization and intended in part to advance the goals of that organization
Crimes against the public
Corporate and business crime
Crimes by individual and professional practitioners
Crimes within organizations
Offences against the organization
Offences against the employees
The financial costs of white collar crime
Far exceed that of street crime
-Formal organization allows for crime of great magnitude rather than a person working alone
White collar crime causing death/injury
An average of more than two deaths a day occur as a result of workplace injuries
Why are white collar fatalities not always considered as crime
Most offenses are not dealt with under criminal law and penalties may be light
5 categories of violent crime
Assault
Criminal harassment
Homicide
Robbery
Sexual assault
Cost of violent street crimes
12.8 billion dollars
Mostly female victims and victims paid most
2009 bankruptcy of Canada’s Nortel loss and cause
300 billion dollars (caused by executive fraud and malpractice)
Street vs corporate crimes in the US
16k homicide victims
56k die on job
Correlation between WCC and social class
Positive correlation
Shover and Hochstetler three components of middle/upper class lifestyle that contribute to criminal behavior
Competitive spirit (winning is the only thing)
Arrogance (rules do not apply to them)
Sense of entitlement (they deserve what they stole)
What sociological factors enable WCC (8)
Law focuses on street crimes
WCC effects are often indirect
Public and political leaders are preoccupied with violent crimes
Suspects are well-resourced and highly placed; tough to prosecute
Middle and upper class bias in criminal justice system
Conventional elements of crime are missing, therefore it is more difficult to establish that a crime is committed
Public sees WCC as moral failures rather than criminality
Some industries force people to produce a level of profit not achieved legally
Canada’s Nortel (3)
In 2000, Nortel was the most valuable company in Canada
Financial statements overstated revenues, so company looked profitable
Shares dropped from 124 to 1 dollar and investors lost 300 billion
America’s Accounting Scandals-Enron (4)
Enron was the 7th largest US company, involved in trading gas and electricity
Used illegal accounting methods to make it appear profits were increasing
Culture of greed
Investors lost 63 billion
Why did Arthur Anderson’s accounting firm ignore violation of Enron
It wanted Enron consulting contracts
CIBC and Enron
CIBC paid 2.4 billion in 2005 because they helped Enron hide losses
2007 incidents of unsafe Chinese products (3)
Contaminated pet food
Counterfeit Colgate Toothpaste
Unsafe Children toys
Blue collar crime is also called
Occupational crime
How do tradespeople avoid sales tax
Doing work “off the books”
Which blue-collar business has a lot of fraud
Auto repair buisness
Fraud in blue-collar occupations blurs the line between
Organizational and occupational crimes
Tax fraud (4)
Not all people report income honestly
Trillions are hidden in tax-haven countries by corporation and wealthy individuals
Many people work at jobs that enable them to hide income
Others exaggerate deductions to lower revenue
Contractors paid in cash are a part of
36 billion dollars underground economy in Canada
Rationale for avoiding taxes
They are too high
Employee fraud encompasses
Crimes committed against employers by employees
Examples of employee fraud
Taking Kickbacks from suppliers
Creating phony invoices
Stealing company property and cash
Losses from internal theft total almost as much as losses from
Shoplifting
New technology and changes in financial practices have made corporations more vulnerable to actions of
Individual employees
Why are owners of corporations not personally responsible for many types of corporate misconduct
Corporations have limited liability
Why is it difficult to sanction white collar crimes
Damage judgements of financial penalties have limited impact on managers
Cannot treat organization as juristic person
Sentences for white collar crimes in Canada
Tend to be light
Many harms committed by high status or corporate offenders
Are not criminal offences
Legislation such as anti-combines legislaton
Has limited impact because business has an influence on how the law is written and enforced
Conviction record has been abysmal due to (3)
Large corps can have best experts and lawyers
Crops use delaying obstructing methods
Governments do not want to punish because of negative impact on jobs and economy
