Denying the Guilty Mind by Michael L. Benson

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"The fact is that white-collar criminals are, in general, incredibly good at deluding themselves that they’re good people, even when they clearly aren’t." according to Felix Salmon on white-collar crime. The definition of a criminal is a person who has committed a crime but if you were to ask a white-collar criminal they wouldn't consider themselves a criminal. Many of the convicted white-collar criminals contrast their actions with "real" criminals who commit street crime. First I will summarize "Denying the Guilty Mind:Accounting for Involvement in White-Collar Crime" written by Micheal L. Benson. Then I will use information from my criminology class to better define white collar crimes. Lastly, I will define Strain Theory and how it relates to white-collar crimes The increase of certain strains that cause negative emotions such as frustration and anger better known as Strain Theory is the cause of white-collar crime.
Professor and Director of the Distance Learning Masters Program at The University of Cincinnati, Michael L. Benson has his Ph. D. in Sociology and is the author of "Denying the Guilty Mind: Accounting for Involvement in White-Collar Crime." In a classic study based on interviews with 30 convicted white-collar offenders all men, Benson examines the excuses and justifications used by White-Collar criminals to not only explain their involvement in the crime but also claim their innocence. It focuses mainly on the techniques that are used to deny they did anything wrong in categories separated by antitrust violators, tax violators, violations of financial trust and those committing fraud. Antitrust Violators focused on the everyday character and historical continuity of their offenses. They claimed to be following es...

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...rimes.
Negative emotions such as anger and frustration play a high factor in crime in general whether it is a street crime or a white collar crime. No theory can explain all crimes but strain theory can be used to explain white-collar crimes. First I summarized "Denying the Guilty Mind:Accounting for Involvement in White-Collar Crime" written by Micheal L. Benson. Then I used information from my criminology class to better define white collar crimes. Lastly, I defined Strain Theory and how it relates to white-collar crimes. Committing a crime is an escape for all criminals , unemployment causes some people to sell drugs and going into debt to live beyond your means to live the American dream will cause fraud, laundering and embezzlement. The simple yet complicated question is "Can eliminating negative emotions that causes so much stress be the end of all crime?"

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