ECONOMIC CRIMES FROM A COMPARATIVE PERSPECTIVE (FROM CRIME AND DEVIANCE, P 251-293, 1980, BY GRAEME R NEWMAN - SEE NCJ-71075)

• NCJ Number: 69340
• Author(s): M LOS
• Date Published: 1980
• Length: 43 pages
• Sale Source: Sage Publications, Inc
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

THE BASIC FEATURES OF ECONOMIC CRIME IN CAPITALIST AND COMMUNIST COUNTRIES ARE DISCUSSED AND COMPARED, AND THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DIFFERENT SOCIOPOLITICAL SYSTEMS AND ECONOMIC CRIMES IS EXPLORED.

Abstract

ECONOMIC CRIMES ARE CHARACTERIZED AS THOSE TYPES OF LAW-BREAKING BEHAVIOR WHICH APPEAR TO BE CLOSELY RELATED TO THE VERY NATURE OF THE ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION OF SOCIETY. THE MAIN AIM OF THE RESEARCH WAS TO ASCERTAIN, WHO, AND TO WHAT EXTENT, WAS CRIMINALIZED (PUSHED TOWARD CRIMINAL INVOLVEMENT) AS A RESULT OF A PARTICULAR COMMUNIST OR CAPITALIST) ORGANIZATION OF ECONOMY AND HOW THIS CRIMINALIZATION AFFECTED THOSE INVOLVED. IT WAS FOUND THAT IN BOTH TYPES OF SOCIETY, THE UNEMPLOYED WERE DISCRIMINATED AGAINST, CONTROLLED, AND REDUCED TO A SURPLUS LABOR POOL WHICH GREW OR SHRANK ACCORDING TO THE CHANGING LABOR MARKET. IN CAPITALIST COUNTRIES, THE UNEMPLOYED WERE PERCEIVED AS THREATENING AND WERE SYMBOLICALLY SEGREGATED AND APPEASED WITH BENEFITS AND LIP SERVICE. ONLY WHEN THE UNEMPLOYED BECOME DANGEROUS IN THE EYES OF THE ESTABLISHMENT WAS THE INTERVENTION OF THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM JUSTIFIED. UNDER COMMUNISM, THE SUPPORT OF THE PEOPLE WAS NOT SOLICITED TO LEGITIMIZE EXISTING ECONOMIC ORGANIZATION AND THE ATTITUDE TOWARD THE UNEMPLOYED WAS REPRESSIVE. THE UNEMPLOYED WERE BELIEVED TO BE A DIRECT PRODUCT OF THE CAPITALIST RELATIONSHIPS OF PRODUCTION AND, THEREFORE, WERE PARASITES. PETTY THEFT AND FIDDLING WAS COMMON IN BOTH TYPES OF SOCIETIES. IN COMMUNIST COUNTRIES, THEY WERE CAUSED BY THE WORKERS' REALIZATION THAT WHAT IS NOT STOLEN WAS GOING TO BE WASTED. IN CAPITALIST COUNTRIES, THESE CRIMES WERE MOTIVATED BY FEELINGS OF INJUSTICE AND OF HOSTILITY TOWARDS EMPLOYERS. IN THESE COUNTRIES, THE RELATIVE INDEPENDENCE OF THE ECONOMY MAY LEAD TO INEQUALITY AND DISCRIMINATION, AND TO CORPORATE CRIME AND THE RUTHLESS PURSUIT OF PROFIT. IN COMMUNISM, PROFIT-SEEKING HABITS OF EXECUTIVES LEAD TO THE CREATION OF PARALLEL PROFITABLE PRODUCTION WHICH IS NOT CONTROLLED BY THE STATE. BLACK MARKET ACTIVITIES FLOURISH IN BOTH SOCIETIES (JEANS IN MOSCOW, HEROIN IN NEW YORK) AS DO ECONOMIC CRIMES. THEIR DIFFERENCES RESULT FROM THE DIFFERENT IDEOLOGIES AND ECONOMIC REALITIES OF THE SOCIETY. NOTES AND REFERENCES ARE PROVIDED.