NCJ Number
120604
Journal
Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 4 Dated: (November 1989) Pages: 769-794
Date Published
1989
Length
26 pages
Annotation
Data gathered by Wheeler and others in 1982 form the basis of this comparison of male and female white-collar offenders with respect to their socioeconomic profiles, their occupations, and the nature of their offenses.
Abstract
The 1,342 defendants were convicted of white-collar offenses in Federal district courts during 1976-78 of bank embezzlement, income tax fraud, postal fraud, credit fraud, false claims and statements, bribery, antitrust offenses, and securities fraud. Fourteen percent of the offenders were females. The analysis showed that the men's white-collar crimes were both petty and major, but almost all the women's crimes were petty. Most of the employed women were clerical workers, while most of the employed men were managers or administrators. The women were more likely to be nonwhite, less likely to have completed college, and owned fewer economic assets. Men were more likely to work in crime groups and to use organizational resources in carrying out their crimes. Findings suggest the need for caution in using State or Federal data for embezzlement, fraud, and forgery as measures of white-collar crime. In addition, women's economic marginality rather than their liberation or occupational mobility explains their white-collar crime. Finally, scholars should be aware of gender differences when developing theories about white-collar crime. Tables, footnotes, and 41 references.