NCJ Number
84454
Journal
Michigan Law Review Volume: 80 Issue: 7 Dated: (June 1982) Pages: 1377-1528
Date Published
1982
Length
153 pages
Annotation
A series of articles discusses the socioeconomic climate of organizations influencing unlawful organizational behavior, the use of the organization in white-collar crime, sociolegal disparity in the sentencing of white-collar criminals, corporate self-regulation, and corporate criminal liability.
Abstract
The opening essay examines the organizational social structure and its impetus for organizational crime, as well as opportunities for unlawful conduct in complex organizations operating in the legitimate economic order. Implications for law enforcement are discussed. A study of the advantages of using an organization or occupation to commit economic crimes examines the nature of the offense, the economic and social consequences of the offenses, the nature of the defendants, and sanctions and legal processing. Although the findings show that persons using their occupation and organization to commit crime perpetrate more frequent and larger economic thefts, their sentences are not significantly different from those of other white-collar offenders. Another article examines judicial sentencing philosophy applied to white-collar criminality, and data illuminating the operation of sentencing philosophy are reported, showing that the prevalent assumption that white-collar offenders receive comparatively lighter sentences is not supported. The concept of enforced self-regulation to control corporate crime is outlined in another study, and the advantages and disadvantages of such a model are considered, followed by an article that compares the status of corporate and group liability in Europe and in the common-law countries. Footnotes accompany each presentation. For individual entries, see NCJ 84455-58.