A white-collar crime refers to crimes committed by business people, entrepreneurs, professionals, or public officials

Criminology 1001 Major Essay

Q2: Why is corporate crime/white collar crime perceived as less serious than “street crime”? Should it be? If so, why? If not, why not?

A white-collar crime refers to crimes committed by business people, entrepreneurs, professionals, or public officials. It was a term first coined by Edwin Sutherland who defined the term as “crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation” (Sutherland 1974) and was the first to bring attention to the matter. White-collar crimes are different then street crimes because they are through deception and not force or violence. There has been much debate as to what qualifies as a white-collar crime, the term today generally describes a variety of non-violent crimes usually committed in commercial situations for financial gain. Many white-collar crimes are especially difficult to prosecute because the perpetrators are sophisticated criminals who have attempted to conceal their activities through a series of complex transactions. (Bologna 1984) My essay will attempt to address why white collar crime is perceived as less serious than street crime and why it should not be. To answer the question entirely, we have to look at the definition white collar crime. However, this is not easy as the definition of white collar crime has been disputed and there has not yet been a total agreement on a proper definition of the term

Let us look at why the problem of definition has arisen. Firstly, the term ‘White Collar Crime’ lacks in clarity about the crimes that were documented by Edwin Sutherland. The argument was that the corporate activities that were documented in his book were merely civil matters and not crimes. Critics felt that Sutherland was trying to stretch the term ‘crime’ too far. Secondly, it was felt that Sutherland had inaccurately or rather had not been able to term correctly which crimes committed qualified as white collar. Some cases in his book have been found not guilty of the crime and Sutherland had claimed that this was due to the leniency of the regulatory and enforcement bodies. Such remarks were of course unsubstantiated and thus the definition of white collar crime has been cast in further doubt, even till today. (Sutton, Haines 2003)

When the public perceives a criminal, it is often thought to be shady or dark or vagrant. This is why white-collar crime does not fit our stereotype of “real” crime as it is rarely condemned to the same degree that street crime is, and there is very little public stigma attached to white-collar crime. The failure of a proper definition has hampered the public’s perception of the subject. The list of crimes that fall under ‘White Collar Crime’ is long and most of the public are not inclined to find out what they are. The most common white-collar offenses include: antitrust violations, computer/internet fraud, credit card fraud, phone/telemarketing fraud, bankruptcy fraud, healthcare fraud, environmental law violations, insurance fraud, mail fraud, government fraud, tax evasion, financial fraud, securities fraud, insider trading, bribery, kickbacks, counterfeiting, public corruption, money laundering, embezzlement, economic espionage, and trade secret theft. As you may notice, none of the crimes mentioned have any physical human harm involved directly as opposed to robberies, assault etc. There is a common belief shared by the general public and criminal-justice personnel that white-collar crime is only economic. That is, these crimes involve money being taken from a group rather than some physical attack on a victim. “The treatment of white-collar crime as economic, nonviolent crime is clearly evidenced in statements by high Reagan administration officials who define white-collar crime and violent crime as two mutually exclusive behaviors.” (Bologna 1984) We as humans value human life more than anything and this could explain why most white collar crimes go unreported. Most are willing to “let the matter rest” as long as the money is returned. As a result, the public are mostly uninterested in white collar crime.

The misperception of white collar crime is also perpetrated by the media. Crimes such as shootings and burglaries are often reported and sensationalized because the society can relate to them. How the public relates to white collar crime can be show simply by looking at how people spend money. Take for instance, if a subject goes shopping with cash and spends a large amount on an item. By removing the money from his wallet, the subject may think twice about buying the item. However, if the subject purchases the item with a credit card, the sense of cash value is ...

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This goes hand in hand with crime perception. Society can relate to a burglar being caught by the police because everyone’s houses are a potential target but when society observes that an employee has embezzled several million dollars of his company’s resources, most are unable to relate as it most likely does not affect them at all. The money lost is unseen and therefore neglected. Since the demand for “spectacular crimes” such as assault and shootings is ever present, the media would definitely produce or report them as it would sell. As a result of its lack or correspondence to a crime stereotype and its lack of stigma white-collar criminals, offenders rarely see themselves as criminals even after being convicted. They insist that that, even though they engaged in the action of which they were accused, what they did wasn't a crime.

Another reason why white collar crime is perceived as less serious than street crime is the lack of stiff sentences for the offenders involved. The reactions towards a regular crime and white collar crime are greatly different. How would we react towards a person being tried for killing another person? That would warrant the death penalty. But how are we to try McDonald’s, “who are being sued for widely promoting and selling foods which are linked to serious diseases such as cancer, heart disease, obesity and diabetes which are in turn responsible for nearly three-quarters of premature deaths in the western world?” (Anonymous 2003)

As a result of the differences in the perceptions of white collar crime, the man will get a death sentence since it is classified as murder, and McDonald’s gets away due to their endless stream of profit which pays for the best legal advice. Incarceration rates greatly effect the differential perceptions of white-collar crime compared to other types of crime. According to the American Bar Association (ABA), 91 percent of those convicted of bank robberies go to jail while only 17 percent of those convicted of embezzlement of bank funds go to jail. Remember, both crimes involve the removal of money from the bank! Only five percent of people suspected of committing white-collar crimes were convicted and only a small percent of these actually went to jail. Such statistics are indeed peculiar given that the average dollar loss that results from street crime is much less than the dollar loss experienced from white-collar crime. In Florida, for example, street crime amounted to $35 per crime while the average loss to white-collar criminal activities was $621,000 (data is from Eitzen, 1986:427).

I have further looked at 2 case studies which I have derived to explain my point

Case Study 1

“Jack L Clark's Nursing Home Construction Company was founded guilty of a gigantic stock fraud that bilked shareholders of $200 million. $10 million of this swindled money allegedly went for Clark's personal use, and prosecutors accused him of hiding another $4 million as well. Clark apologized to the court, pleaded guilty to one count (out of sixty-five), and was sentenced to one year in prison, eligible for parole after four months, with no fine” (Eitzen, 1986:427).

Case Study 2

“C. Arnolt Smith, Chairman of U.S. National Bank, entered a plea of no contest to charges of conspiracy, misapplication of bank funds, filing false statements, and making false entries in his bank books. His case involved one of the largest swindles in American history (some estimates are as high as $250 million). His penalty for this crime was a $30,000 fine, to be paid at the rate of $100 a month over twenty-five years -- with no interest” (Eitzen, 1986:427).

As a result, white collar crime does not seem serious and it has definitely been portrayed as easy to get away with. So far, I have shown why white collar crime has been perceived as less serious than regular crime. But should it be?

White collar crime does not hurt individuals and is not a deed of violence; therefore, it doesn’t make us fearful; we do not feel threatened and hardly see the consequences or feel the damage caused by it. Not understanding the complexity of white collar crime’s definition, most people are not disgusted by it as much as by a graphical scene of violence. However, there are serious issues to be considered as white collar crime is on the rise.

According to data collected by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, losses from internal business thefts average $300 billion dollars a year. White collar crime also makes up 42 percent of all total computer crime reported in the United States of America and a colossal $10 billion is estimated to be lost every year. Healthcare fraud losses are estimated at 100 billion annually. Financial Frauds are reported at $3 billion annually. Bear in mind that these estimates do not include the many other cases which are no reported and which the FBI estimates to be a large amount. Such huge losses by the government and businesses merely translate into higher tax and high costs. Therefore, the society is hurt by these crimes.

Let us look at a case study on how white collar crime can hurt the society.

“In the wake of the September 11 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, consumer groups and members of the public have reported receiving unsolicited e-mail messages, which urge people to donate money to the Red Cross or to funds for victims of the attacks and their families. Some of these e-mails are being sent by people with a sincere desire to help, and contain accurate information. Many, however, have tried to persuade people to leave valuable personal or financial data, such as credit-card numbers, at Internet Websites that do not belong to legitimate charitable organizations. In addition, some reports indicate that telemarketers operating fraudulent "sweepstakes" or magazine-subscription schemes may be falsely promising consumers that a portion of their money will be provided to the disaster recovery efforts.” (Anonymous 1 FBI 2003)

Despite such a horrendous attack on human life, white collar crime managed to prevail. Investigations are still under going on this matter and it is certainly important to put persons who derive such schemes behind bars.

One area of white collar crime that has come under the spot light is intellectual property rights. The United States has been hard on the crack down on copyright issue because “The copyright industry in the U.S. single-handedly contributed $433.9 billion to the economy in 1996, more than any single manufacturing sector.”(Anonymous 2 FBI 2003) We have seen great progress in this sector as programs that promote the violation of copyright laws such as Napster which promote the sharing of music files have been subsequently shut down. (Jones 2000)

In conclusion to my essay, I would like point out that the problem with white collar crime begins in the root, the definition. White collar crime is too general a term, or too complex for the average person to understand it as a major threat. It is misunderstood. White collar crime has to be categorized into different areas for easier understanding. If not, it would just be like saying that “I like sport”. But what sport? The general public has to be further informed of such frauds that happens everyday and the media has to do its part by working hand in hand with the police. With the public better informed, more cases of fraud with be reported instead of “being let off the hook”

Bibliography

Bologna, J. (1984). Corporate fraud: the basics of crime prevention and detection. (1st ed). United States of America: Butterworth Publishers

Eitzen, D. Maxine, Baca-Zinn. (1986) Social Problems. (3rd Ed.) Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Sutton, A. Haines, Fiona. (2003). White collar crime and corporate crime. In Goldsmith, A. Israel, M. Daly, K. (Eds.), Crime and justice: An Australian textbook in criminology. (Edition 2). (pp. 141-158). Sydney: Lawbook Co.

Sutherland, E. (1974). Criminology. ( 1st edition). United States of America:J.B. Lippincott Company

Mars, G. (1982). Cheats at work: An anthropology of workplace crime. (1st ed) United Kingdom: Unwin paperbacks

Jones, C. (May, 15 2000). Wired News.com. Retrieved April 30, 2003 from

Anonymous. (n.d.).

Anonymous 1. (n.d.)

Anonymous 2. (n.d.).