White Collar Crimes Research Paper

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 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

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

According to Edwin Sutherland, who was a Sociologist and Professor who believed that White-Collar Crime was someone having a high social status who is well respected. He also defined two types of criminal class divisions which are Blue Collar and White-Collar. Blue Collar and White Collar crime differ in that Common criminals are considered Blue Collar criminals with low socioeconomic status, works in factories, trades or unemployed, and commits crimes such as burglary and rape. White-collar criminal has higher socioeconomic status, works in office buildings for large corporations and commits crimes such as Embezzlement, Ponzis, Tax Fraud which are in the billions. In order to curtail conspiracies, the Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 was passed. This helped so companies wouldn’t monopolize certain industries like Standard Oil did to keep the competition down.

Edwin H. Sutherland is given credit for introducing the term white collar crime during the late 1930’s. However, in today’s times there is still confusion on the specific definition of what qualifies as a white collar crime and how it should be defined. In addition, there are key differences between conventional crimes and white collar crime in age, race, class, and other various factors. The media has added to these differences by portraying these two crimes quite differently. In regards to Sutherland, I found his study on 70 of the largest U.S. manufacturing, mining, and mercantile corporations and their wrongdoings. Sutherlands study confirmed that 97 percent of these corporations were criminal recidivists. Yet, in these corporations view

Many people in society are unsure on what white collar crime actually is. There are different opinions on what white collar crime should be defined as. A strong definition would be any violation of criminal, civil or regulatory laws or unethical actions committed in the course of one’s occupation. These individuals are usually very respectable in society and have “high-status”. White collar crime is much larger than your traditional street crime: It harms a larger pool of people and can go on for many years under the radar

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

White-collar crime is defined as the financial motivations of non-violent crimes that are committed by professionals of business and those of the government. In the field of criminology, Edwin Suthelan (1939), a socialist who was the first person to define white-collar crime as a crime that respectable and those people of higher social status commit. The crimes include those associated with fraud, bribery, embezzlement, cybercrime, money laundering, theft of the identity and many more crimes that are nonviolent. For the white collar crimes, the offenses committed should produce some gains financially. The crimes are thereby committed by those persons holding various positions in businesses or organizations, and it is because of this position they can gain access to amounts of huge money that they get from the people like customers with whom they serve. The criminals involved are not caught in activities that are violent, involved in drug issues or illegal activities.

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.

According to the FBI, the term white-collar crimes is “now synonymous with the full range of frauds committed by business and government professionals. These crimes are typically characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and are not dependent on the application or threat of physical force or violence. The motivation behind these crimes is financial. Typically these crimes try to obtain or avoid losing money, property, or services or to secure a personal or business advantage.  Numerous white-collar crimes are committed by people holding top positions in the corporate and in the political world. Many times status and money has kept these criminals

White Collar Crimes are crimes that are committed by a business and/or government professionals. It's known as a crime committed by a person of social status. White collar crimes include crimes such as bribery, copyright infringement, cybercrime, fraud, forgery, identity theft, money laundering ect. The punishment for white collar crimes can be a combination of community service, fines, imprisonment, probation or restitution. Depending on which state you are in, the punishment may even be the death

Edwin Sutherland coined the term ‘white-collar crime’ and defined it as “crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” (Black, 2010). While Sutherland focused on the perpetrator and his/her characteristics and roles in committing the crime, there were flaws within this definition in that it would not endure the progression of white-collar crime. By focusing on the individual and paying more attention to the actual crime, criminologist and scientist Herbert Edlehertz defined white collar crime as; “an illegal act or series of illegal acts committed by nonphysical means and by concealment and guile, to obtain money or property, to avoid payment or loss of money or property, or to obtain business or personal advantage.” (source) This is a significant modification because there is an increase in junior ranking individuals committing white-collar crimes. Although there are still convictions of executives, crime such as credit card fraud, forgery, identity theft, internet schemes and telemarketing fraud, do not necessarily require the perpetrator to be management personnel within a company. One other important shift in the understanding of white-collar crime, which this journal aims to contradict, is the notion that white-collar crimes are non-violent and are committed by people who are non-violent in nature. This journal’s purpose is to debunk this and discuss this misconception as it implies all white-collar crimes

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.

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.