SOC212 - 4. White Collar Crime Flashcards
White-Collar Crime
offenses committed by workers in course of their occupations - Sutherland
Corporate Crime
offenses committed by companies, corporations + industries
consequences of white-collar crime are serious + can occur in many forms
Corporate Crime
entire company or industry as opposed to specific individuals
white collar is not necessarily corporate crime
across all demographics
monopolies
Egs
tax violations, embezzlement, fraud, expense-account misuse, illegal campaign contributions, bribery, environmental pollution
Defining White-Collar Crime
Sutherland’s initial definition for white-collar crime intrigued him because He was able to distinguish white-collar crime from ordinary or street crime.
Defining White-Collar Crime
White-collar criminals were not “needy” criminals who committed crimes our of necessity.
ex: Ponzie schemes, stock market crash
cost 300 billion dollars
Defining White-Collar Crime
Enron: deceived shareholders into thinking they were worth more
improperly accounted for 4 billion dollars in cost
collective embezzlement of savings and loan industry
Defining White-Collar Crime
In Canada Most Common: theft, fraud, accounting fraud, cyber crime, viruses, stolen data, phishing schemes
often don’t know we got hit
organizations often don’t report, but those who do lost 10 million dollars
White-Collar Crime & Criminal Events
criminal event perspective examines white-collar crime in combination with victim & context in which the crime takes place
White-Collar Crime & Criminal Events
Occupation: occupational dimension of white-collar crime is a special
status, one that confers power, trust + individual identity
has to be within legal
White-Collar Crime & Criminal Events
Offenders can be professionals or nonprofessionals.
Fraud: deception for unlawful gain of resources or money
takes up most of white collar crime
White-Collar Crime & Criminal Events
Power & Trust: need to have position of power + trust
power is abused
criminals are seen as respectable, charismatic, appearance of honesty - don’t have previous criminal record
Nature & Types of Corporate Violations
Crimes against consumers: automobile industry, phone bills - unsafe products, unfair advantage of customers, repair - swindle
Crimes against owners: know how system works to exploit it, can be directed against owners - falsify reports, misrepresent success or failures
Nature & Types of Corporate Violations
Crimes against employees: unsafe working environ
Crimes against community at large: spending pensions, child labour
Nature & Types of Corporate Violations
not really a big priority
brought to light by whistleblowers - knowledge and skills to detect foul play
Nature & Types of Corporate Violations
Enronization: ability of these crimes to victimize everyone (owners, customers, community, stockholders)
overlap number of victims with single crime
Professional White-Collar Crime and Deviance
Professional crime + deviance amounts to misconduct of people performing professional, rather than occupational roles
Doctors, lawyers, clergy, professors
Professional White-Collar Crime and Deviance
need knowledge, training and skills in order to manipulate planning is meticulous anticipate reactions of police + victims calculate risk involved account for all possibilities
Professional White-Collar Crime and Deviance
see selves as respectables
high social standing
criminal past not common
Explaining White-Collar Crime
sophisticated + result of considerable planning.
Self-concept, Motive
Requires a combo of opportunity + learning
environments
Explaining White-Collar Crime
Coleman’s (2005) three factors:
•Motivation
•Culturally learned neutralizations
•Opportunity
Explaining White-Collar Crime
Unethical business practices + law violations may attribute to the company’s internal structure.
Costs of White-Collar + Corporate Crime
3 kinds of costs from white-collar and
corporate crime:
Financial Harm: can cost trillions of dollars
counterfitting, espionage
Costs of White-Collar + Corporate Crime
Physical Harm: unsafe working conditions/products, pollution (air, water, noise)
Social Harm: trust
when prosecuted, views it as serious
cynism
Costs of White-Collar + Corporate Crime
motive: greed
just wanna see if they get away with it
money, power, ego
learn how to rationalize, defend themselves, protect from guilt - from friends, peers, media
Costs of White-Collar + Corporate Crime
conflict perspective: ppl with power have influence over laws
organization structure can lead to and even promote crime
Controlling White Collar Crime
Criminal Law and Adminstrative Law
dealt with administratively
needs to be changes to both laws
criminal: needs to be punished - needs more deterrence, rehab,
administrative: needs to ensure compliance
Controlling White Collar Crime
Public Education: prevent victimization, but also blames victims
Publicity: increase pressure on political system to be taken more seriously
Controlling White Collar Crime
Business Ethics
Legislation / Governmental Regulation
Reform
