INTRODUCTORY NOTES ON THE STUDY OF BUSINESS CRIME

• NCJ Number: 56073
• Journal: Criminologie Volume: 10 Issue: 1 Dated: (1977) Pages: 8-28
• Author(s): J RICO
• Date Published: 1977
• Length: 21 pages
• Corporate Author: Presses de L'universite de Montreal
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: French
• Country: Canada

Annotation

THE BACKGROUND LITERATURE AND GROWTH OF RESEARCH ON WHITE COLLAR CRIME IN EUROPE BY EUROPEANS ARE REVIEWED AND RESEARCH PRIORITIES ARE RECOMMENDED.

Abstract

ALTHOUGH FEW STATISTICS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE EXACT EXTENT AND TYPES OF ECONOMIC CRIMES, EXTENSIVE MATERIAL DAMAGES RESULTING FROM SUCH CHANGES AS NEW MEANS OF PAYMENT, GROWTH OF MULTINATIONAL CORPORATIONS, AND DEVELOPMENT OF DATA PROCESSING HAVE BEEN RECORDED IN BOTH CAPITALIST AND SOCIALIST COUNTRIES. ALTHOUGH BUSINESS-RELATED CRIME WAS STUDIED AS EARLY AS 1872, IT WAS IN 1939 THAT E.H. SUTHERLAND ESTABLISHED THE CONCEPT OF WHITE COLLAR CRIME AS ILLEGAL UNDERTAKINGS BY RESPECTABLE PERSONS OF THE HIGHER CLASSES IN CONNECTION WITH THEIR PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES. MOST OF THE SUBSEQUENT RESEARCH HAS BEEN DONE BY AMERICANS ON AMERICAN PROBLEMS AND HAS ONLY RECENTLY RECEIVED ATTENTION IN THE INTERNATIONAL PRESS. EUROPEAN INVOLVEMENT WAS SPURRED IN 1974 WHEN A CONFERENCE OF CUSTOMS OFFICIALS IN BRUSSELS DENOUNCED THE INCREASE IN FRAUD ATTEMPTS WITHIN THE COMMON MARKET. MAJOR RESEARCH AREAS INCLUDE (1) THE DEFINITION OF ECONOMIC CRIME (WHAT SORT OF ACTION IS ACTUALLY CONSIDERED A CRIME, WHAT THE ACTUAL CONNECTION IS BETWEEN ECONOMIC CRIME AND SOCIAL CLASS, HOW NONPROFESSIONAL CRIMES OF HIGH-CLASS INDIVIDUALS ARE TO BE CATEGORIZED, WHAT OTHER ELEMENTS ARE ESSENTIAL TO THIS FORM OF CRIME, AND WHETHER THE FIELD OF ECONOMIC CRIME CAN BE LIMITED TO ONE AREA); (2) THE CHARACTER OF WHITE COLLAR CRIMINALS AND THEIR MOTIVATIONS (E.G., FINANCIAL DIFFICULTIES, INEXPERIENCE); AND (3) SOCIAL REACTION, WHICH TO SOME EXTENT FAVORS THIS CRIME FORM, AS SUCH CRIMES ARE RARELY REVEALED AND ARE DIFFICULT TOO PROVE AND TO INVESTIGATE BECAUSE OF THE SPECIALIZED FINANCIAL KNOWLEDGE REQUIRED. RESEARCH PRIORITIES ARE DELIMITATION OF THIS CRIME FORM, CLINICAL STUDY OF THE BUSINESS CRIMINAL, DEVELOPMENT OF A MODEL FOR SOCIAL CONTROL, AND FORMULATION OF A GENERAL SOCIAL THEORY TO EXPLAIN ECONOMIC CRIME. FORTY-SIX REFERENCES ARE SUPPLIED. --IN FRENCH. (KMD)