White Collar Crime vs. Street Crime
One problem that plagues our society is crime. Crime is all around us in
our everyday lives. Daily we hear of murders, robberies, and rapes. These are
categorized as "street crimes." For many people, such crimes are the only
"tragic" crimes, the ones that are senseless and preventable. In Finsterbusch's
book, Taking Sides, another variety of crime is exposed. This other form of
crime is "white collar" crime. Both have victims, and the effects of both can
be devastating to the individuals involved and to the community.
The views of the two arguments proposed in the text do reach one common
conclusion. Both street and white collar crime have severe consequences. In
most instances, white collar crime is, financially, more costly. This does not
mean that white-collar crime does not inflict bodily harm upon people. Multi-
million dollar corporations can be twice as deadly as a gang member. When a
woman dies of lead exposure from her job, it is murder. Whether a man is
murdered by a gun or by an unsafe gas tank in his car, it is still called murder.
In both scenarios, there is a defined victim.
The one answer that our politicians give for solving street crime is
more money for the Justice system. More cops, more judges, and definitely more
jails and prisons. There are shows, such as "Cops," that shows America the
"truth" about crime in the US. All the attention is given to street crime.
Unless it is a huge scandal, you will seldom hear of white collar crime through
the media. When white collar crime is reported, it gets little publicity
compared to a gang shoot-out that killed a mother and her three kids. There is
a reason for this. Since violent street crime is predominantly an urban problem,
there is no better scapegoat than the lower class that live in these inner-city
communities. Since urban communities are concentrated with people of color, the
image of minorities soon becomes that of a criminal. By creating the idea that
its "us against them," the justice system convinces voters that street crime is
the evil of all evils. This allows money to be justifiably funneled into the
justice system. This mind set says that its acceptable for people to be
murdered by unsafe working conditions, and unsafe products. In addition, its
unacceptable for murder to be committed by means of a gun, knife, or weapon. As
well as supporting isolation from other people, such policies cause racism and
stereotyping. Police have pictures of "criminals" in their minds.
Murder should include the elements of purposely, knowingly, or recklessly under circumstances showing extreme indifference to the value of human life (Brody & Acker, 2010).
Not all murders involve guns. According to data from the United States Department of Justice, in the year 2008, 5,340,000 violent crimes were committed in the United States. However, only eight percent, or 436,000 of these crimes were committed by criminals that were armed with any kind of firearm (Agresti). Even with laws that ban guns from being purchased, a killer could easily obtain a gun by stealing it. In 2010, there were approximately 300 million guns known to be owned by American citizens (Agresti). On the topic of suicide, if somebody has a strong intent on ending their life, and they cannot access a gun, they will find another way to accomplish the task, without using a gun (Lunger, 77). The presence of guns in the hands of the general public is a key element to prevent crime. Steve Agresti has ...
being killed because murder is legal. As is seen in this example, one reason the
In 2012, there were an estimated 14,827 murders and non-negligent manslaughter crimes reported by all agencies in the United States according to the Uniform Crime Report at the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Murder and non-negligent manslaughter are defined “as the willful (nonnegligent) killing of one human being by another.” A 1.1 percent increase occurred from 2011 to 2012. But it should be noted, this is a 9.9 percent drop from the figure for 2008 and a 10.3 percent decrease from the number of murders recorded in 2003. Of the murders that occurred in 2012, it is estimated that 43.6 percent were reported in the south, 21.0 percent were from the Midwest, 21.0 percent were accounted from the west, and 14.2 percent were from the northeast
Murder is still a crime, and there is a fine line between murder and a
White collar crime is a term created by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 that refers to crimes committed by people of higher social status, companies, and the government according to the book “White-Collar Crime in a Nutshell” by Ellen Podgor and Jerold Israel. White collar crimes are usually non-violent crimes committed in order to have a financial-gain (Podgor and Israel 3). A very well known white collar crime that has even been taught in many history classes is the Watergate scandal. This is a white collar crime that was committed by government authorities. Watergate was a crime that shocked the nation.
The nature and damage of white-collar crime can result in a variety of punishments for the offender. Some sanctions being time in prison, some being fines, and others being a combination of both. For example, Chalana McFarland who was a real estate attorney and was accused of fraud, money laundering and other crimes costing investors $20 million. She was charged with $12 million in restitution and thirty years in prison (Haury, 2012). Another example would be Bernie Madoff, who owned Madoff Securities, was involved in a Ponzi scheme. It is believed that investors lost $50 billion dollars. Curently Madoff is serving a 150-year sentence in a prison in Butner, N.C (Haury, 2012). As these white-collar crime cases show, the costs of these crimes can be quite serve and earn life sentences as well as very hefty fines. Moreover, white-collar crimes have huge economic effects on victims, often causing life altering losses. Under consideration white-collar crimes are quite high-cost actions that hold large possible punishments and large ethical issues. In a research experiment done by Christian Seipel and Stefanie Eifler, a theory branching from rational choice theory was tested in relation to crime. The theory they explored was referred to as high- and low- cost theory. This theory discusses the factors that influence low cost crime and high cost crime. Low cost being defined as crimes that have low
The first type of homicide is "first degree murder." First-degree murder is premeditated and planned. Premeditated is the mens-rea of the crime, or the vital intent to commit the crime. "Premeditated" means purposely or knowingly thus “lying in wait for the victim”. The intent of first-degree murder is that murders must have the specific intent to end another’s life. Stated on the criminal find law:
There is a myth that there is great tolerance towards the existence of white collar crime, but this is not true. It
Today, worldwide, there are several thousands of crimes being committed. Some don’t necessarily require a lethal weapon but are associated with various types of sophisticated fraud, this also known as a white-collar crime. These crimes involve a few different methods that take place within a business setting. While ethical business practices add money to the bottom line, unethical practices are ultimately leading to business failure and impacting the U.S. financially.
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.
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
1. Reiman explains that the idea that white collar crime is taken less seriously is because it protects the elite classes. For example, if the public believes they should fear the poor more than the rich, the rich can commit more crimes and go unnoticed because the population is focused on the poor Reiman explains that that the way crime is explained does not exactly fit what we think crime is. He explains that the notion that white-collar crime being harmless is based on the idea that white collar crimes do not end in injury or death is false because more people’s lives are put at risk than “lower class” crimes. Reinman thinks it is necessary to re- educate the public on white-collar crimes for economic
Most White Collar crimes are committed by organizations which could be corporations or small businesses. White Collar and Organized Crime can endanger the well-being of people across the country. It is one of the more costly crimes in society. White Collar criminals profit from businesses and Organized crime usually profits from illegal businesses and can use violent measures.
Murder is considered a serious crime in our country. The loosely defined term of murder implies that a person who kills another human being with intent is known as being the worst kind of violent crime we see in our society. Any unlawful killing requires that a living person be killed and it does not mean that the guilty person feels any hatred or spite in order to plan and execute the act of murder. Moreover, the destructive acts that end peoples lives are classified as homicides which include manslaughter and first and second degree murder. More important, the justice system has put different labels on such crimes, but it also allows room for criminals to get away with murder.