White Collar Crimes - Crimes Of Professional Occupations
White Collar Crimes - Crimes Of Professional Occupations
...crime is as controversial as it is general. One needs only look at the F.B.I. website to see a host of crimes ranging from health care fraud to computer crime amassed under the umbrella of white collar crime (www.fbi.gov). The term is widely used by both criminologists and sociologists alike, incorporating a mass of non-violent behaviors related to economic fraud. Beyond that rudimentary description there is widespread disagreement and interdisciplinary criticism of the definition and application of white collar crime. Criminologists, with a focus on the law, contend that many of the behaviors society believes to be white collar crimes are in fact not crimes at all. Without a statute to define a behavior as a criminal violation of law, behaviors could be labeled by individual standards rather than in the context of community value. An individual evaluation of what is or is not deviant allows for a subjective approach that softens the scientific objectivity of criminology (Tappan 1977). Additionally, the American system of criminal justice was built upon the premise of individual culpability. This presents difficulties when criminal acts involve a collective. The penalty phase of a criminal action was never meant to impose sanctions against groups or organizations. Sociologists contend the term itself is fundamentally flawed. Studies have shown the vast majority of white collar crimes are carried out by individuals comprising the middle and lower classes of society, without regard to the color of their collar (Croall 1989; Levi 1987; Weisburd 1991). Sociology views white collar crime not from a statutory or legal definition, but rather as a class distinction emphasizing the disparity between the treatment of the rich and the poor. In many cases the motivation leading to the commission of a white collar crime is directly related to socio-economic...
