Strain Theory White Collar Crime

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.

When I say white collar crime a few ideas usually will fill the average persons head. Many will immediately think of Bernie Madoff. This scumbag ran a ponzie scheme spanning multiple decades and made over 60 billion dollars in the process. He was eventually caught and thankfully is spending the rest of his natural born life in prison. Someone might also think of Martha Stewart. Martha, to the surprise of her fans, was much more than that loveable women on the home shopping network or the cooking channel. Martha was caught committing an act called insider trading. According to (The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission), insider trading is when an individual has knowledge not known to the public about what is going to occur within a company

“White collar crime is defined as various crimes, as embezzlement, fraud, or stealing office equipment, committed by business or professional people while working. Generally the person accused of a white collar crime is someone of high prestige. White-collar crime is a broad term that

ccording to Conklin (2013), white-collar crime is an unlawful act that is occurs during a legitimate occupation or venture by a corporation or an otherwise reputable person of great social prominence that is punishable by a criminal sanction. In the example of Wayne Baker and Robert Faulkner’s (1993) analysis of three price-fixing conspiracies, white-collar criminals will at times create arrangements within or across formal organizations for purposes of effectively executing an unlawful act. For example, insider trading occurs when someone within an organization utilizes nonpublic information for gain for individual or organization gain, and is difficult to police attributable to the complexity of inter-organizational networks (Conklin, 2013).

Engdahl mentions how the "structures for white-collar crimes consists of: financial self-interests, low priority of control, and interpretative primacy" (Chapter 44). Chapter 44 also mentions how "white-collar crimes happen because of individuals access to authority, social contract networks and technical-administrative systems" (Chapter 44, pg. 544). Chapter 44 also mentions how, "individuals position at the work place build up barriers that could possibly hinder others from controlling a course of events such as; obstructing suspicion and detection, through their impeding investigation and implementation of sanctions through their preventing legal actions once suspicion is detected" (Chapter 44, 543-544).

White-Collar crime entails illegal actions committed by upper class people and businesses. In the past crimes like fraud, embezzlement, income-tax evasion, and abuse of political and legal powers were treated by authorities more than typical crimes.

Throughout history, many academics have proposed various theories to help comprehend and explain criminal behaviours. These theories investigate many different aspects of the causations of crime and those at risk of criminal behaviour. White collar crime is a term founded less than a century ago within 1939 by Edwin Sutherland. He identified white collar crime as "crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (Hirschi, 1987, pg 953). Sutherland strived to explain all types of crimes. He proposed that crime occurred beyond the streets, within the business and politic realm. White collar crimes differ heavily from street crime, as they are nonviolent acts committed by those in a state

Sutherland, and means “a crime committed by a business or government professional” (Federal Bureau of Investigation) that is also not physically harmful. “White collar crimes include things such as fraud, embezzlement, price fixing, and abuse of political and legal power” (Funk and Wagnall’s New World Encyclopedia). While “Blue Collar” crimes are “committed by a person who is unemployed or poorly paid and fell thy have no other choice but to engage in criminal activity.” (Educate Scotland) Blue collar includes violent crimes such as homicide, robbery, and

However, the best known theory in reference to white-collar crime, which is still talked about today, and in many ways connects the learning theory, is the differential association theory. Differential association theory suggests that delinquent individuals influence other individuals within a group or environment or, as a single person, to perform acts of deviant behavior or outside of the social norms (Seddig, 2014). Just as forms of criminal behavior is learned, Sutherland stated that white-collar crime is no different and that it is learned directly or indirectly by individuals who are already participating in criminal behavior (Schmalleger, 2011). The differential association theory is useful in explaining white-collar crimes when: (a) Individuals who already participate in these crimes my easily coerce other individuals, teams, or departments within the environment when the benefits are known and the crime looks easy or simple, (b) The crime looks easy to commit, and your co-worker explains how easy the process is and that skimming a small percentage off of such a large sum will never be missed, and (c) In committing white-collar crimes, often time there are reasons such as unattainable goals , thus, organizational managers may turn to crime to meet corporate

According to Copes & Vieraits(2009), White collar criminals of the corporate world are perpetrators. They are respectable and elite members of society who commit “illegal and harmful crimes.” This is motivated by the goal of economic gain and occupational success. While committing crimes, they use their position to fraudulently obtain money and evade prosecution.

This is opposed to strain theory which argues that social and personal strain “force the hand” of individuals and cause them to commit crimes. However, the weakness of this theory in regards to white-collar crime is the question of why those who've already gained financial success wish to seek more of it through illegitimate ways, particularly if they earned their initial success in a legal manner.

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 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.

Quinney (1964), “Because the validity of white collar crime as a form of crime has been a subject of severe controversy, the question of conceptual clarity has largely been ignored. Today, as a result, the meaning of the concept is not always clear” (p208).

White-collar crime is any nonviolent, financially motivated crime. Such crimes include bank fraud, tax fraud, embezzlement (theft), extortion, money laundering, pyramid (Ponzi) schemes, racketeering, insider trading, identity theft, credit card fraud, bribery, forgery, tax evasion, cyber crimes, counterfeiting, and conspiracy. Such crimes, committed by prominent executives and politicians, routinely make headlines. But you don’t have to be powerful or celebrated to become embroiled in white-collar crimes. Any respectable, successful member of the community may come to believe that there’s