NCJ Number
214819
Journal
Criminology Volume: 44 Issue: 2 Dated: May 2006 Pages: 397-430
Date Published
May 2006
Length
34 pages
Annotation
Using exploitative corporate crime as the focus, this study tested the validity of control balance theory, which holds that the control one exercises relative to the control one receives ("control balance ratio") should explain specific forms of deviance.
Abstract
The study found that having "control surpluses" (a large amount of control over decisions and job procedures/tasks) and not "control deficits" (limited control over job-related decisions and tasks/procedures) were linked to exploitative deviance (sales fraud) within a corporate context. This is the first study to link control balance ratios to deviance. Much of the relevant research reported in the literature has focused on organizational influence and has only recently begun to address situational and individual characteristics. This study, which was conducted in 2005, distributed a questionnaire to 87 students enrolled in several higher education business courses in the mid-Atlantic region of the United States. The survey instrument contained a number of questions related to control balance and a hypothetical vignette designed with the theory in mind. The vignette depicted a manager ordering a recently hired entry-level employee to inflate sales statistics. Respondents were asked to place themselves in the manager's position and then to respond to a number of questions. 2 tables and 58 references