The study of social science, criminology investigates the heart of crime, it’s causes, it’s preventative measures, it’s reason for occurrence and society’s attitudes towards crime. White collar crime occurs in the world and many criminologists struggle to reach a compact definition of the crime. For the purpose of this paper, Edwin Sutherland’s definition (1939) will be utilized to help the reader - “white collar crime constitutes crimes committed by a person of high standing and social status in the course of their occupation”. It has an overwhelming negative impact on the community than ordinary crime and causes significant damage. Criminologists use ‘corporate crime’ and ‘white collar crime’ collectively and they are more or less equivalent
White Collar crime is not a crime unto it self, but instead a criteria that has to be met in order for a crime to be considered as White- Collar Crime; (Blount, 2002) hence the reason why Corporate Crime is also considered as White- Collar Crime. At the same time, White Collar Crime and Corporate Crime can be seen as distinct criminological categories, however, in order to reveal this, this essay will firstly be exploring Sutherland's definition of white collar crime and the perplexity with this definition of white-collar crime. It will then be looking at the modification which had to take place with Sutherland's definition of white-collar crime in order to established a distinction between white-collar and corporate crime.
This essay discusses Sutherland’s concept of white collar crime in the light of whether it is still appropriate in the 21st century. It is worth noting that white collar crime is often perceived as a less serious crime in the society. This is based on several reasons including the fact that the crime receives less media coverage. This incomprehensive media coverage of white collar crime may be attributed to the complex nature of the crime, which makes many incidences go unreported. In other words, it is often difficult to pin point one person as the perpetrator of the crime as it would happen with the case of robbery, knife crime, or drug trafficking. However, white crime remains a serious crime and one that can have serious negative
Why discuss the development of the marketplace? Why is it central to the concept of white-collar crime?
White-collar crimes are just as prevalent today as ordinary street crimes. Studies show that criminal acts committed by white-collar criminals continue to increase due to unforeseen opportunities presented in the corporate world, but these crimes are often overlooked or minimally publicized in reference to criminal acts on the street. Many street crimes are viewed as unnecessary, horrendous crimes because they are committed by lower class citizens, whereas white collar crimes are illegal acts committed by seemingly respectable people whose occupational roles are considered successful and often admired by many (Piquero, 2014). These views often allow white collar crimes to “slip through the cracks” and carry lesser charges or punishment.
According to Edwin Sutherland, who was a Sociologist and Professor who believed that White-Collar Crime was someone having a high social status who is well respected. He also defined two types of criminal class divisions which are Blue Collar and White-Collar. Blue Collar and White Collar crime differ in that Common criminals are considered Blue Collar criminals with low socioeconomic status, works in factories, trades or unemployed, and commits crimes such as burglary and rape. White-collar criminal has higher socioeconomic status, works in office buildings for large corporations and commits crimes such as Embezzlement, Ponzis, Tax Fraud which are in the billions. In order to curtail conspiracies, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was passed. This helped so companies wouldn’t monopolize certain industries like Standard Oil did to keep the competition down.
White-collar crime is defined as the financial motivations of non-violent crimes that are committed by professionals of business and those of the government. In the field of criminology, Edwin Suthelan (1939), a socialist who was the first person to define white-collar crime as a crime that respectable and those people of higher social status commit. The crimes include those associated with fraud, bribery, embezzlement, cybercrime, money laundering, theft of the identity and many more crimes that are nonviolent. For the white collar crimes, the offenses committed should produce some gains financially. The crimes are thereby committed by those persons holding various positions in businesses or organizations, and it is because of this position they can gain access to amounts of huge money that they get from the people like customers with whom they serve. The criminals involved are not caught in activities that are violent, involved in drug issues or illegal activities.
In 1939, American sociologist Edwin Sutherland introduced the phrase “white-collar crime”. White-collar crime is a nonviolent crime committed by a business or large corporations. They are usually scams or frauds to gain wealth in society. The people who are guilty of this crime lie, cheat and steal from investors of their company or business. Even though these crimes are non-violent, they have major impacts on the society. Their companies become non existent and families get destroyed. All of their life savings and savings for their children get taken away, and they become bankrupt. Not only does it affect their families, the investors who believed in their business lose millions or even billions of dollars.
Although white collar crime is a growing problem worldwide, it remains a concept that cannot easily be grasped. One of the largest difficulties in understanding white-collar crime revolves around an ongoing debate about how to define white-collar crime. One of the first and most utilised definitions is Sutherlands. This definition received a large amount of criticism but is still widely used throughout criminology. Therefore the purpose of this essay will be to outline that although Sutherland’s definition of white collar crime does not specifically encompass all areas of white collar crime, it remains effective as it generates discussion and allows for a broader perspective on an issue that is ever-changing and too extensive to be narrowly
The invisibility and complexity that make it difficult to detect also make it difficult to research.
Welcome to the age of white collar crime. A time when the words thieves and businessmen go hand in hand. White collar criminals don't get their hands dirty in their work. They use their heads to get what they want instead of using a little muscle. These criminals are just as dangerous as the rapists and murderers. In these times, even the most seemingly respectable people are suspected of white collar crimes. President Clinton and the first lady Hillary Clinton have been tangled up in the Whitewater and Travelgate business ventures. Although the two have not been formally charged with any wrongdoing, there is a committee currently investigating their dealings and charges are not out of the question for either of them. In Michael Isikoff's
There are many theories and sub-theories on why white-collar crime occurs, just as there are many theories and sub-theories on why street crime occurs. However, as with any theory dealing with sociology, there are faults as human nature is hard to define generally.
In this day and age, a corporation, family, or individual always has a potential risk of encountering fraud within their money supply. On average, fraud and abuse costs U.S. organizations more than $400 billion annually (Federal Bureau Investigation, 2010). Many may think that white collared crime is only money laundering or stealing, but that is only two out of the sum that countless culprits get away with. The term “white-collar crime,” originally coined in 1939 is synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals (Federal Bureau Investigation, 2010). These frauds include anything from bankruptcy fraud, money laundering, identity theft, corporate fraud to a wide number of threats all circling
The article, “Public perceptions of white collar crime culpability: Bribery, perjury, and fraud”, discuss the difficulties of certain white-collar behaviors. Research will attempt to explain the consistent and inconsistence of the perception with a current law. The study has proven that laypersons concerning white-collar crimes are comfortable when deciding these crimes fairly. Participants viewed bribery as a non-criminal act by the office holder under the American federal law. Individuals that commit white-collar crimes are not hoarse punished rather than those that commit street crimes. The laypersons view white-collar crimes vs street crimes, which include relative seriousness and grading white-collar crime data. Bribery is considered
White Collar Crime by Edwin Sutherland, published in 1949, is a study in the theory of criminal behaviour. Sutherland states that this book is an attempt to reform the theory of criminal behaviour only, not to reform anything else. And although it may include implications for social reforms, this is not the objective of the book. Sutherland define white collar crime as ‘a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation’ (pp. 9). He adds that it excludes many crimes of the upper class, such as murder, intoxication, and adultery, because these are not usually part of their occupational procedures. He goes on to describe white collar crime as being similar to juvenile delinquency in the sense of the stigma generated from each crime. In both of these crimes the procedures of criminal law are altered so as not to attach stigma to the offenders. Finally, Sutherland writes that crimes are committed across all social classes, not just people in lower classes or living in poverty, contrary to popular belief at the time of publication.
Sutherland's concept of white collar crime created a considerable amount of controversy because the crime was mostly seen as an act of a lower class. since then new forms of crime has prompted researchers to revisit the nature of white