Criminal acts performed by individuals of a higher economic class for the intent of advancement of their career is classified as a White-collar crime. This category of crime often goes unnoticed and if apprehended, have minimal repercussions. The aspect of money in these crimes provides both an explanation and reason for inquiry. For instance, a lawyer claiming that the stigmatization the defendant endured from the public is an adequate punishment for deceiving people out of numerous amounts of money represents utilizing money as an explanation. As well as, portraying that his financial and social status outweighs the deviance of the crime. Or in instances where they get reduced sentences or have bail posted due to the amount of money they …show more content…
This can be demonstrated through a quote by Celesta Albonetti, a professor of Criminology and Sociology of Law at the University of Wisconsin, “Complex white-collar cases, such as antitrust and securities and exchange violations that involve an overarching plan of illegal acts and or a high level of organization, require proactive investigation and prosecution in order to uncover whether a crime occurred and whether the suspect is linked with the alleged crime.” This promotes a perspective of conflict theory that money and power sustain social order rather than sustaining order by agreement and compliancy. Additionally, white-collar crime reflects societies conflict by demonstrating the competitive desire for personal gain and for sake of limited resources. This essay will contend that a sociologist operating from a perspective of conflict theory will evaluate the judicial minimization of white-collar crime as a result of societies dependency on power and …show more content…
Elena Bystrova, a professor of Criminal Justice for the University of New Haven, and Petter Gottschalk, a professor of the Department of Leadership and Organizational Behavior claimed that, “Social conflict theory holds that laws and law enforcement are used by dominant groups in society to minimize threats to their interests posed by those whom they perceive as dangerous and greedy” (2). This demonstrates the control that defendants of power maintain over the judicial system and reflects that, the participants in whit-collar crime often undervalue the severity of their actions because their lack of fear that the judicial system will correct their wrong-doing. Additionally, Bystrova and Gottschalk evaluate that the punishment for white-collar crimes is often enforced for protection of more powerful individual’s, “For example, embezzlement by employees is as a violation of law to protect the interests of the employer…Bank fraud is a crime to protect the powerful banking sector...Law enforcement protects powerful companies against counterfeit products.” This demonstrates societies immediate desire to help individuals of power and status that overrule the morale of society, and display a judicial bias. Additionally, this displays the minimization of judicial punishment towards white-collar
The news article that I decided to do my assignment on is about a bank manager, Debra Anne Chapin, that embezzled 2 million dollars from a bank. The news article’s title is, “Former manager jailed for cheating bank out of $2M; Woman used cash to pay bills, gamble and feed her cocaine habit.” The crime took place in Calgary between June 1, 2006 and June, 30 2008. This embezzlement is a classic case of white collar crime and demonstrates numerous criminological theories.
White collar crimes all typically involve crime committed through deceit and motivated by financial gain. The term "white-collar crime" was first used by the American criminologist Edwin H. Sutherland to define a violation of the criminal law committed by "a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his [or her] occupation" (White Collar Crime, 1949). The most common white collar crimes are various types of fraud, embezzlement, tax evasion and money laundering. There are many theories that can explain criminal behavior. The three theories we are looking to to explain white collar crimes are The Social Disorganization Theory, The Control Theory, and the Strain Theory.
The term false consciousness provides contributes to the understanding that there are economic biases, ideological processes and social inequalities within the criminal justice system and the scale is tipped in favour of the wealthy (White, Haines, & Eisler, 2008, p. 111). The ruling elite pass laws which focus on a select population which are believed to be responsible for damaging crimes. Law enforcement is responsible for upholding the laws without questioning their bias nature as well as not allocating enough resources to the investigation of white collar crime. The media also plays a significant role in the distorted view of crimes that harm society by reporting on violence rather than corporate crimes. False consciousness is the concept of the working class being ignorant of their exploitation by the capitalist system which is created by legislators, law enforcement and the media.
White-collar crime is the financially motivated illegal acts that are committed by the middle and upper class through their legitimate business or government activities. This form of crime was first coined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as “a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” (Linden, 2016). Crime has often been associated with the lower class due to economic reasons. However, Sutherland stressed that the Criminal Justice System needed to acknowledge illegal business activity as crime due to the repercussions they caused and the damage they can cause to society (Linden, 2016). Crime was prevalently thought to only be
Why does white collar and corporate crime tend to go undetected, or if detected not prosecuted? White collar and corporate crimes are crimes that many people do not associate with criminal activity. Yet the cost to the country due to corporate and white collar crime far exceeds that of “street” crime and benefit fraud. White collar and corporate crimes refer to crimes that take place within a business or institution and include everything from tax fraud to health and safety breaches. Corporate crime is extremely difficult to detect for many reasons.
White collar crimes do not garner as much media attention as that of violent crimes (Trahan, Marquart, & Mullings 2005). This is an odd fact because white collar crimes cost society much more than violent crimes do (Messner & Rosenfeld 2007). While there are many different definitions for white collar crime, Schoepfer and Piquero describe it as a nonphysical crime that is used to either obtain goods or to prevent goods from being taken (2006). People who commit these crimes are looking for personal or some sort of organizational gain and are being pressured to be economically successful from the idea of the American dream. The authors suggest that there are two types of people who commit crimes, those who have an immense desire for control and those who fear losing all they have worked hard for (Schopfer & Piquero 2006). Both groups have different reasons for turning to crime, but both groups commit the crime to benefit themselves. It was found that higher levels of high school drop outs were directly correlated to levels of embezzlement in white collar crime (2006). Because they are drop outs, they are less likely to be successful legitimately and turn to crime more often than their graduate
My research topic explores the prevalence that economic privilege has on implications of crime. Privilege is a word used often in today's society, but to what extent do we truly understand how privilege is exercised in our justice system. My research topic explores the prevalence that economic privilege has on implications of crime. The economic status of many determines how fair they are treated and viewed by the legal system. People of a higher economic status, sometimes do not understand what it means to have the privilege of wealth on their side. Through the careful analysis of articles and books, I will provide sufficient evidence that points to the mistreatment of the underprivileged in the criminal justice system. The emergence of carelessness
Societies idea of punishment for crimes committed takes the socially depraved out of the general population and places them into a contained environment that has an out of sight, out of mind mentality. Social media plays an unforgiving role in this process. With more video and witnesses available, the strain on the criminal justice system is at an all-time high. Administrators must determine the best way to handle internal conflicts, balance them with societies idea of equal justice, and the actual laws on the books. The black and white regulations create loopholes that frustrate the system. In the conflict model, the special privileges of the classes that have a higher socioeconomic advantage become the norm, instead of the exception. Consensus warrants equal treatment for every class of citizen and for the punishment to fit the crime. Conflict model enforces harsher guidelines on charging and/or sentencing on minorities, lower socioeconomic levels, and individuals that are considered lower beings. The basic human rights of every person born in the United States of America have no bearing on the criminal justice system or procedures. There is no accountability when authority figures use antiquated ideals to administer
Dixon, J., (1995). The Organizational Context of Criminal Sentencing The American Journal of Sociology, Vol. 100, No. 5 (Mar. 1995), pp. 1157-11. The University of Chicago Press. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/2782274
The first social movement that helped change the perception of white collar crime was introduced by Sutherland. He believed that the crimes done by the elite needed to receive more public attention. Even thou he brought evidence depicting how white collar crimes affected the country the movement didn’t receive the appropriate attention from the people (Friedrichs, 2010, p. 17).
The study of the psychology of white-collar crime has not always been one of great detail. In fact, it was
Cohen, L. E., Kluegel, J. R., & Land, K. G. (1981). Social inequality and predatory criminal
1. The most specific strategies for responding to the following forms of residual white collar crime: State-corporate- these are crimes committed by state officers and employees of corporations in the interest of corporates they include political corruption, financial manipulation. Due to the complexity of these cases, the culprits have on numerous occasions found a way to manipulate the law and as a result, they are realized on technicalities. Some of the strategies the criminal department could take include, replacing proof beyond a reasonable doubt with proof on the balance of probabilities. Besides, the state should consider a change in certain due process rights and introduce strict liability which will grant the state more prosecution
White-collar crimes are considered regulatory concerns than crimes. It is also seen as a victimless crime since victims of white-collar crimes are not physically harmed, and the crime’s effects are not clearly visible and immediate (Martinez, 2014). In reality, white-collar crimes significantly damage on our financial system as it will be the American taxpayers and consumers to repay the damages of these crimes with more taxes, higher premiums and higher cost of goods over a course of decades. Furthermore, people who commit these crimes are not seen as “real criminals” compared to street crimes due to their high position in society. For example, the beloved Martha Stewart was charged with a felony white-collar crime. Unlike other street crime felonies, she was about to bounced back in society as if nothing had happened and continue making money off consumers and her popularity intact. In addition, the attitude from the law also adds to the problem. Some of the white-collar criminals either receiving lesser felonies/misdemeanors and/or less punishment compared to street criminal due to their high-powered lawyers. If white-collar criminals do go to prison, they would be sent to a minimum-security prison where they can still obtain 5 stars’ services due to some states creating the pay to stay
White-collar crimes and organizational structure are related because white collar-crimes thrive in organizations that have weak structures. According to Price and Norris (2009), the elites who commit white collar-crimes usually exploit weaknesses in organizational structure and formulate rules and regulations that favor their crimes. Makansi (2010) examines case studies to prove that white-collar crime is dependent on organizational structure. For example, the financial crisis that Merchant Energy Business faced in 2001-2002 occurred due to the liberal Financial Accounting Board, which failed to provide a standard model of valuing natural gas and fuel. Moreover, a financial crisis that rocked the securitization market in 2008 was due to fraudulence in the pricing of securitization products. These examples ...