White collar crime

Question 1

What is White-collar crime ?

Answer 1

Often refers to crime committed by professionals in their employment

Question 2

What did Sutherland say was the definition of white collar crime ?

Answer 2

‘a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation’

Question 3

What did Croalt say about the definition of white-collar crime ?

Answer 3

Challenges this definition and provides an alternative ‘an abuse of a legitimate occupational role that is regulated by law.

Question 4

What are the two types of white-collar crime ?

Answer 4

Occupational crime = crime committed by employees in the course of their jobs. E.g stealing from the employer

Corporate crime = crime carried out by business or corporations, often motivated by a desire to increase or protect profits

Question 5

What are some examples of white-collar crime ?

Answer 5

Tax evasion, fraud, forgery

Question 6

What is a state crime ?

Answer 6

• sometimes considered as a part of white collar crime
• criminal acts carried out by nation states
• e.g wars, genocide, arms trading

Question 7

Which sociologists looked at the invisibility for the white collar crimes ?

Answer 7

• Box
• Tombs
• Goldstraw-white

Question 8

What does Box say about the invisibility of white-collar crime ?

Answer 8

White collar crime is not socially constructed as criminal as there is more focus on working class crime

Question 9

What does tombs say about the invisibility of white-collar crime ?

Answer 9

Workplace deaths vastly outweigh numbers of recorded homicides

Question 10

What does Goldstraw-white say about the invisibility of white-collar crime ?

Answer 10

• Semi-structured interviews
• with 41 imprisoned offenders
• Felt that they weren’t criminal
• Said they hadn’t hurt anyone and made a moral decision

Question 11

What are the two different types of explanations for white-collar crime ?

Answer 11

• Differential Association (Sutherland and Chessey)
• Personality models

Question 12

What is the differential association explanation for white collar crime ?

Answer 12

• Sutherland and Chessey
• Explains crime as result to deviance, values and attitudes
• If a company justifies crime to achieve goals, employers will be socialised into criminality
• The behaviour is not seen as criminal but as appropriate due to workplace culture

Question 13

What is the personality models explanations for white-collar crime ?

Answer 13

• certain personality traits are thought to be more involved and adapted to business than others
• this may link they more to criminality
• Those who are ambitious/dishonest may be more successful and more inclined to commit crime