NCJ Number
81483
Date Published
1982
Length
282 pages
Annotation
This book describes wrongdoing -- criminal, moral, ethical -- by wealthy and powerful individuals in corporate and governmental organizations. It expresses concern for a lack of social scientific knowledge of high level deviance and suggests social and economic solutions.
Abstract
Using a broadened definition of white collar crime, the authors assess the crisis of confidence caused by the Vietnam conflict, the Watergate scandal, and environmental pollution of the Love Canal and James River. Deviant acts of economic and political elites are not seen as random events, but rather as related to the very structure of wealth and power in America and to processes which maintain such structures. According to the authors, the American elite practices a systematic violation of the laws and ethics of business and politics which may include everything from hiring prostitutes to close business agreements to using members of criminal syndicates to gain a business or political advantage. Business executives may receive special advantages from government, such as tax exemptions and subsidies. Economic deviance through price fixing, price gouging, deceptive advertising, and fraud arises with the monopolistic structure of the economy. Hazardous products, pollution, dangerous working conditions, and resource waste are also generated by economic deviance. The authors assert America's defense policy lends international dimensions to political and corporate deviance through defense contracting and arms sales, bribery and product dumping by multinational corporations, and violations of human rights. The types of political deviance that characterize American domestic politics are viewed historically. Current political repression is seen in the alleged bias of the criminal justice system as well as in the imputed abuses of power perpetrated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Internal Revenue Service. In conclusion, the authors propose a plan for significantly changing the existing American economic system. The plan, based on principles of democratic socialism, suggests several fundamental changes to meet public needs. Notes follow each chapter. Appendix A is a catalog of community groups, and Appendix B lists organizations with access to the media. Two indexes -- name and subject -- complete the book.