While some disagreed like Paul Tappan and Hermann Mannheim. Hill who called out high-end criminals as merciless criminal capitalists, Edward Ross who called these criminals shameful etc. This gave a wider scope to existing theories about crime and challenged many conventional theories. He wanted to make sure justice was served no matter what your social status is because earlier these elite criminals could get away with anything using their power. Sutherland offered a formal definition of white collar crimes as “a crime committed by a person of high social status and respectability in the course of his occupation.” This definition also includes crimes committed by corporations and other legal entities. This theory was the result of studying 70 major American corporations and 15 utilities for decades. He also goes on to compare such high-status offenders to lower class offenders. He pointed out that crimes were not just restricted to inner-city but also could be committed by those who are well educated and in the higher status of the society. Sutherland a 20th-century professor and sociologist, who developed the concept of white collar crimes in 1939 through the article “American Sociology Review”. Hence complaints against such crimes very unheard and unpunished. So these crimes were widely accepted and considered as part of business tactics by shrewd professionals or businessmen. Since white-collar crimes were not violent in nature as compared to conventional or traditional street crimes, the concept of white collar crimes did not fit into the description of crimes to society. Some of the most well known white-collar cases are- Enron (fabricated their profits to increase the met worth of the company), Worldcom (biggest accounting scandal), HealthSouth (fraudulent accounts), Bernard Madoff (fraud) and Wells Fargo(creation of fake bank accounts and unauthorized credit cards). In short there is a ripple effect from top board directors to daily wage workers in the company are effected. They do this by terminating employees, cost-cutting, increase the price of the product, lower the salary and working conditions of the employees. When a company goes through huge money loss they need to recover it in some way. Such crimes do not involve physical violence but it could ruin millions of lives. “With a financial motive to obtain or avoid losing money, property, or services or to secure a personal or business advantage.” Examples of such crimes can be money laundering, fraud and embezzlement. According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), white-collar crimes are “characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and are not dependent on the application or threat of physical force or violence.” It is mostly executed by people with high social status and in respectable positions, like business or government professionals. White collar crimes are those committed for financial gain by the perpetrator, they are non-violent in nature. “Nothing could be more erroneous than to continue to regard criminals as products of slums, broken homes, and of lower classes.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |