scholarly journals From the Avalanche to the Game: White-Collar Offenders on Crime, Bonds and Morality

2020 ◽  
Vol 74 (4) ◽  
pp. 405-431
Author(s):  
Joost H. R. van Onna
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Moral Psychology ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Social Bonds ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Life Course Criminology ◽  
Personal Level ◽  
White Collar Offenders

Abstract In order to understand the mechanisms that underlie involvement in white-collar crime on a personal level, 26 offenders convicted of a white-collar offence were interviewed. Building on theory and research from white-collar criminology, life-course criminology and moral psychology, findings show that a combination of criminogenic circumstances, weakened social bonds and adjusted moral ideas lead offenders down different pathways into white-collar offending. Although the process of crime involvement seems highly context-dependent in some instances, the interviews indicate that crime involvement is more commonly part of a long-running process, in which social bonds have weakened or moral ideas have been adjusted, which in turn influenced the decision to engage in the white-collar offence. Along with the limitations of the study and the directions for future research, the paper discusses the implications of the findings for white-collar crime research, in particular the complex role of morality in white-collar crime involvement.

Filling the Gap in White-Collar Crime Detection Between Government and Governance: The Role of Investigative Journalists and Fraud Examiners

2020 ◽  
Vol 2 (1) ◽  
pp. 36-46
Author(s):  
Petter Gottschalk
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Economic Crime ◽  
Private Policing ◽  
Theory Of Crime ◽  
The Media ◽  
Crime Detection ◽  
White Collar Offenders

This article suggests that investigative journalists in the media and fraud examiners in private investigations have the potential of filling some of the detection gap. Based on the theory of crime signal detection, this article suggests that investigative journalists are in the position of detecting white-collar crime scandals as they rely on tips and whistleblowing. Empirical evidence from Norway documents that the media disclose a significant fraction of crime stories that later result in prosecution and conviction of white-collar offenders. Empirical evidence from Norway does not document any contribution from fraud examiners in private policing of economic crime, as they typically conclude with misconduct, but no crime, often to the satisfaction of their clients.

Recidivism Among a White-Collar Sample: Does Personality Matter?

2010 ◽  
Vol 43 (1) ◽  
pp. 156-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shelley Johnson Listwan ◽  
Nicole Leeper Piquero ◽  
Patricia Van Voorhis
Keyword(s):  
Diagnostic Tool ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Personality Type ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Federal Courts ◽  
Jesness Inventory ◽  
White Collar Offenders

With the exception of correctional research, the role of personality has been understudied in criminology in general and in the study of white-collar crime in particular. The usefulness of personality has typically been restricted to use as a diagnostic tool in differentiating among offenders for correctional classification purposes. The current research focuses on a sample of white-collar offenders who were convicted in federal courts to explain what role personality plays in explaining their rates of recidivism. Using the Jesness Inventory as a measure of personality, findings reveal that personality type is a significant predictor of offender recidivism with neurotic personality type significantly predicting probability of rearrest.

Class, Status, and the Punishment of White-Collar Criminals

1990 ◽  
Vol 15 (02) ◽  
pp. 223-243 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Weisburd ◽  
Elin Waring ◽  
Stanton Wheeler
Keyword(s):  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Federal District ◽  
White Collar ◽  
District Courts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Class Status ◽  
White Collar Offenders ◽  
To Receive ◽  
Federal District Courts

The treatment of white-collar offenders by the criminal justice system has been a central concern since the concept of white-collar crime was first introduced In general, it has been assumed that those higher up the social hierarchy have an advantage in every part of the legal process, including the punishment they receive as white-collar criminals. In a controversial study of white-collar crime sentencing in the federal district courts, Wheeler, Weisburd, and Bode contradicted this assumption when they found that those of higher status were more likely to be imprisoned and, when sentenced to prison, were likely to receive longer prison terms than comparable offenders of lower status. While they argued that results were consistent with “what those who do the sentencing often say about it,” their analyses failed to control for the role of social class in the sentencing process. In this article we reanalyze the Wheeler et al sentencing data, including both measures of socioeconomic status and class position. Our findings show that class position does have an independent influence on judicial sentencing behavior. But this effect does not demand revision in the major findings reported in the earlier study.

Women and White-Collar Crime

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Dodge
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
Insider Trading ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
White Collar ◽  
The Public ◽  
Female Crime ◽  
Corporate Executives ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
White Collar Offenders

Women and white-collar crime is a topic that has, overall, received little attention in the literature. Initially, women were omitted from discussion and research because of their lack of participation, though some early commentary focused on victimization. When Edwin Sutherland first drew public and academic attention to white-collar crimes, few women were employed in positions that were conducive to commit elite crimes related to occupations or professions. According to Sutherland, white-collar crime involved professional men in positions of trust. From 1939 until the 1970s, work on white-collar offenders and offenses was male-centric, which included both scholarly researchers who were exploring the topic and males committing the majority of crimes. Corporations and respected professionals, not women, were presented with a multitude of opportunities to engage in white-collar crimes with little or no serious consequences. Primarily male corporate executives, politicians, and medical professionals committed white-collar crimes that included, for example, activities such as price fixing, insider trading, bribery, insurance fraud, and Ponzi schemes. Women, who lacked opportunity outside the private sphere of the home, were less involved in crime overall and certainly were in no position to commit white-collar offenses. In the 1940s and 1950s, female crime was typically viewed as promiscuous, aberrant, and male-like behavior. Eventually, in the mid-1970s as more women moved into the public sphere seeking employment, early predictions by female scholars suggested that an increased involvement in white-collar crime was inevitable. The types of crimes committed by women, as noted by pioneering female scholars, were likely to expand beyond prostitution, check kiting, and shoplifting to white-collar offenses as opportunities became increasingly available in the public sphere. Gender inequality in most criminal endeavors continues to exist and more recent debates continue about the role of women in white-collar crime.

scholarly journals “White-Collar Crime”

2016 ◽  
Vol 57 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arjan Reurink
Keyword(s):  
Financial Markets ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Financial Crime ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Financial Industry ◽  
Social Legitimacy ◽  
Center Stage ◽  
The Social

AbstractDespite the ubiquity of illegality in today’s financial markets and the questions this raises with regard to the social legitimacy of today’s financial industry, systematic scrutiny of the phenomenon of financial crime is lacking in the field of sociology. One field of research in which the illegal dimensions of capitalist dynamics have long taken center stage is the field of white-collar crime research. This article makes available to economic sociologists an overview of the most important conceptual insights generated in the white-collar crime literature. In doing so, its aim is to provide economic sociologists with some orientation for future research on financial crime. Building on the insights generated inwccliterature, the article concludes by suggesting a number of promising avenues for future sociological research on the phenomenon of illegality in financial markets.

Schooling in the Course of Human Lives: The Social Context of Education and the Transition to Adulthood in Industrial Society

1993 ◽  
Vol 63 (4) ◽  
pp. 409-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aaron M. Pallas
Keyword(s):  
Life Course ◽  
Transition To Adulthood ◽  
The United States ◽  
Institutional Arrangements ◽  
Industrial Society ◽  
Future Research ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Life Course ◽  
Cross National

This review examines the role of schooling in the life course of individuals, focusing on the timing and sequencing of schooling in the transition to adulthood. First, I examine conceptual issues in the study of schooling and the life course, drawing heavily on the sociological literature. I then consider the timing and sequencing of schooling in the transition to adulthood in the United States, and the consequences of variations in the timing and sequencing of schooling for adult social and economic success. I then discuss the role of social structure, norms, and institutional arrangements in the transition to adulthood, with special attention to cross-national comparisons with the U. S. and historical changes within countries. I conclude with speculations regarding trends in the role of schooling in the life course, and some directions for future research on this topic.

White-Collar Crime

Criminology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally S. Simpson
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Law ◽  
Chief Executive Officers ◽  
White Collar Crime ◽  
Chief Executive ◽  
White Collar ◽  
Street Crime ◽  
White Collar Offenders ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
Executive Officers

The meaning and definition of white-collar crime is deeply contested. Most criminologists recognize that white-collar crime is different from traditional “street” crime. Disagreements center on the scope of the behavior and who, ultimately, is classified as a white-collar offender. Generally, white-collar crimes are offenses conducted by guile or concealment that involve “upper world” offenders. Broad definitions of white-collar crime can include harmful acts which are not illegal (deviance) to more narrow definitions that are tied exclusively to violations of criminal law. Depending on which definition is used, white-collar offenders may include governments, businesses, chief executive officers, professionals, welfare cheats, and individuals who illegally download software or purposefully underreport income on their taxes.

Conclusions and Implications for Developmental and Life-Course Criminology

2018 ◽  
pp. 748-756
Author(s):  
David P. Farrington ◽  
Lila Kazemian ◽  
Alex R. Piquero
Keyword(s):  
Risk Factors ◽  
Life Course ◽  
Age Of Onset ◽  
Current Knowledge ◽  
Criminal Career ◽  
Future Research ◽  
Life Course Criminology

This concluding chapter summarizes current knowledge about developmental and life-course criminology based on the previous chapters, reviews some areas in need of further research, and makes some recommendations about how future research can address these gaps in current knowledge. It shows how a great deal is known about risk factors for offending in general (especially for the prevalence of offending), but less is known about risk factors for specific criminal career features, such as the age of onset, the frequency of offending per year, and so on. The chapter discusses the limitations and challenges to current research and provides some recommendations for research that can expand on the topics already covered in this volume. Finally, this chapter suggests some methods for further research. It also provides some examples of studies undertaken along these lines.

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