White Collar Crime

WHITE COLLAR CRIME

Historical background and defining white-collar crime

Past focus of criminology is street crime: murder robbery rape auto theft theft domestic violence drug violations juvenile delinquency.

Who are these offenders- Lower social economic, minorities, 18-25

Edward Sutherland 1939

"crime in the upper or white collar class, composed of respectable or at least respected business and professional men (1940:3)" Very ambiguous.

Definitional quagmire

Occupational (1940s)

Organizational (1970s)

Pre Sutherland

1800s- robber barons and muckrakers-journalist of the time period investigating

Upton Sinclair's The Jungle

Cesare Beccaria

As corporations came into being there were increased reforms introduced to regulate them. Not impactful until Sutherland.

Criminology: Two Paradigms

1- Crime as a behavior - Social learning theory

2- Crime as a political label - labeling theory- someone says your bad your not but become it because of the label.

WCC is the study of rime as a behavior of individuals within an organization or state- and how or why they are not labeled as crimes

Criminologists vs. Prosecutors

Focus is not legal definitions

Do we always wait for laws to pass for behaviors to be deemed worth studying.

Edwin Sutherland

in 1924 Principles of criminology- theory of differential association

1939- President of American society of criminology- presidential address titled WCC

1949- Published white collar crime- republished 1961

A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation

Examined how many times corporations violated and were charged with violating regulations.

Sutherland achieved 3 things

1- directed attention to the crimes of the powerful

2- provided a definition that led to a long and fruitful debated

3- served as a theoretical catalyst for theoretical perspectives for White Collar Crime

Two distinct divisions developed in WCC

THE BIG CHILL- no attention to WCC FROM 1949-1960S

Donald Cressey 1952- black market wartime rations being sold illegally

Gilbert Gies- some publishing on WCC

1960s- Social Change

Race Riots-Vietnam-Hippies- Women's rights

Richard Quinney CLASS STATE AND CRIME

Marx

Ralph Nadar and general motors- "unsafe for any speed, put engine in the back of the car susceptible to skidding rolling over. Whistleblower."

1973- Watergate- Nixon breaks into democrat convention resigns.

Mother Jones Magazine- journalistic reporting about corporations

"Radical Criminology"

Quinney and Clinard- Book on typology of occupational criminals

Debate as to how to punish an organization

Schrager and short examined Organizational Crime- uses Sutherland definition

Clinard studies corporate crime with peter Yeager-first major study of CC in 1980

1988 William Chambliss elected president of the American society of criminology.

delivered speech titled STATE ORGANIZATIONAL CRIME- Received Legitimacy.

1950S & 60S occupational crime- defined as a crime perpetrated by an individual during his occupation

debate- focus is on the method and it is a legalistic view- contrasts with Sutherland definition- omit social status and any expansions on the legalistic definition.

1970s- development of corporate crime based on organizational goals *Sutherland

John Hagan- important to examine structural position within organizations

Combined Sutherlands occupation respect and high social status into one criterion

What