NCJ Number
127158
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 30 Issue: 4 Dated: (Autumn 1990) Pages: 444-466
Date Published
1990
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Given the vast numbers of regulatory violations by corporations, many of which would be widely regarded as minor, and given the scarcity of enforcement resources, a discriminating approach to regulatory enforcement is needed.
Abstract
The socio-legal policy issues in social regulation are concerned with what the rules should be, and how flexibly or rigidly they should be enforced. In light of the vast number and kinds of regulatory violations, some measure of discretionary enforcement (including, at times, consultancy and persuasion) seems inevitable. Empirical research has shown that punitive enforcement of corporate regulations has to be discriminate. No enforcement strategy, when considered alone, universally motivates the corporation into compliance. Theories of organizational compliance and of regulatory enforcement need to be refined to reflect the world as a dynamic and complex entity. 40 footnotes, 77 references