In the future I think that the government will take white collar crime more serious. People often believe that criminals that commit white collar crimes get off easy because they did not murder someone. For the past several years the government has not been giving the easy pass to criminals that committed white collar crimes. Countless of people mistakenly believe that strong punishment such as long prison sentences is a major deterrent to white-collar crime. Recently, many white collar criminals have received very long prison sentences. For example, Bernie Madoff was charged with Securities fraud, investment advisor fraud, mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering, false statements, perjury, making false filings with the SEC, theft from an employee benefit plan. Madoff pleaded guilty in March 12, …show more content…
White collar crime is immovably on the rise, thanks to our technologically advancing society. Forgery and counterfeit is another growing form of white collar crime. These acts are defined as imitating or counterfeiting documents or signature for the cause of lying to someone. From the year 1984 to 1993 Forgery and counterfeit increased twenty-one percent and it is still growing (U.S. Dep. Of Justice 240). The growth in white collar crime incidents has also contributed to a rise in cost to the nation. According to National Fraud Center statistics, the cost of economic crime has grown from five billion in 1970 to one-hundred billion in 1990, and is only expected to increase as circumstances become more frequent. I believe in the future white collar crimes will go and violent crimes will decrease. The National White Collar Crime Center (NW3C), a nonprofit agency that supports state and local police in their efforts to stop, investigate and prosecute economic and high technological crime, reports that while arrests for violent crimes have decreased in recent years, arrests for white collar
As each generation becomes more and more Internet and electronic-savvy, there is an increased likelihood that in the years to come America will be plagued with more white-collar crimes than ever before (Wallentine, 2009). This issue becomes even more critical as globalization continues to spread ideas and technologies worldwide on a faster pace than ever, and the gap between rich and poor in the global marketplace increases as well, because the foreseeable result is the strengthening of domestic gangs and international separatist and extremist movements, which of course will lead to even greater spikes in crime rates and terrorist attacks (Cetron & Davies, 2008).
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.
White collar crime is often associated with crimes committed within businesses. These include different forms of fraud such as tax fraud, welfare fraud, money laundering, and property crime (Simpson & Benson, 2009: 42). These forms of white collar crime often have a huge impact on the welfare of the society in profound ways. For instance, according to an article authored by McGrath, a company that suffers losses from fraud must make up for this loss by for example raising the prices of its products. Hikes in prices would mean that consumers would be required to dig dipper into their pockets thus affecting their finances. The loss from fraud could also make the affected company to take drastic measures such as layoffs or implementing salary cuts for the employees (McGrath, n.d).
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.
Most everyone goes home after a long day of work and watches the news. Think, what is usually reported? The weather, local activities, headline news, or daily criminal activity. Shootings, stabbings, homicides, etc. are all discussed by media anchors these days. This causes most everyone in our society to become familiar with crimes that are considered street crimes. What most people don’t hear about on the news is what is considered white-collar crime, sometimes known as corporate crime. White-collar crime not only is less reported in the media but also receives weaker punishments than street crime. This paper will first discuss the similarities between the two types of crime and then explain why their punishments are strongly
White-collar crime poses a vexing problem for the criminal justice system (CJS). It is an
Most people, when they hear the word “crime,” think about street crime or violent crime such as murder, rape, theft, or drugs. However, there is another type of crime that has cost people their life savings, investors’ billions of dollars, and has had significant impacts of multiple lives; it is called white collar crime. The Federal Bureau of Investigation defines white collar crime as
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.
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
According to my understanding and reflation paper the white-collar crime concepts are mostly similar, but it is spread in various field in the world. Edwin Sutherland concept provides detailed information about white-collar crime and how it’s work with the different circumstances. There are many techniques exists in current business work environment to reduce and prevent white-collar crime. It is difficult to prove white-collar crime against any victims because it is planed with the specific strategies. People are very worried about the white-collar crime according to the Edwin Sutherland because they do not have any particular information, when the crime occurs. There are many affects associated with the direct to people and it is also most
White-Collar Crime consists of occupational crime and corporate crime. Occupational crime refers to offences committed against legitimate institutions businesses or government by those with "respectable" social status. It includes the embezzlement of corporate funds, tax evasion, computer crime and expense-account fraud. It is not every day that we hear about white-collar crimes but these non-violent crimes are on the rise to the top. Federal Bureau of Investigation states that USA, for example recorded white collar crimes amounting $300 billion every year (Cornell University, 2010). White-collar crime is relatively a new idea. It has many aspects that are practical for study and further interpretation to clear some of its dark areas. White-Collar Crime was once introduced by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 during his speech in American Sociological Society. The following crimes actually performed are Bribery, Extortion, Insurance, Fraud, Embezzlement, Cybercrime etc. People who participate in these criminal activities are highly powerful and respectful among the society. The following activities include description about White-collar Crime, Investigation of White Collar Crime and The Consequences of committing a White-collar Crime.
I really enjoyed your discussion Chadrick. In today’s society, crime exist in many areas. There are a lot of theories on how the behavior of these crimes should be handled. My philosophy is that the offenders should be punish to the degree of the predetermined executions of the law. I agree with you that all crimes should be handled differently and according to the nature of the crime. It saddens me on how white collar crimes are being treated when a trial goes to court. An example is the former chairman and chief executive of MCSi Michael E. Peppel was only given a seven-day prison sentence because the judge quoted that the defendant was “a remarkably good man” (The Challenge, 2013). Good men don’t plead guilty to conspiracy, money laundering,
In this paper the exciting criminal phenomenon known as white-collar crime will be discussed. Corporate Crime and Computer Crime will be discussed in detail. Crime preventative agencies such as the NCPC (National Crime Prevention Council) will also be researched. White Collar Crime The late Professor Edwin Sutherland coined the term white-collar crime about 1941. Sutherland defined white-collar crime as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (Siegel 337) White-collar crime includes, by way of example, such acts as promulgating false or misleading advertising, illegal exploitation of employees, mislabeling of goods, violation of weights and measures statutes, conspiring to
When an individual becomes a victim of white collar crimes, some people may not notice they are being attacked until days, weeks or even months later. One white collar crime that could be hard to detect is identity theft. Not only have I heard from victims that with our advance technology it could be virtually hard to detect this particular white collar crime, but I’ve dealt with it in the past as well. When a criminal steals someone else's identity, it’s not always obvious immediately. The first sign that may indicate that identity theft has occurred is when people begin to start calling your job, cell phone or home and attempt to advertise information that could be too good to be true (“Identity Theft! A Growing White Collar Crime,”
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.