NCJ Number
177001
Date Published
1997
Length
345 pages
Annotation
This book departs from the traditional "white-collar" crime typology to focus on four groups of "occupational" crime: organizational, state authority, professional, and individual.
Abstract
The introductory chapter reviews the history of the development of the concept of "white-collar crime" by Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950). This is followed by a discussion of the problems with this concept and a proposal for adoption of the concept of "occupational crime." The author defines this as "any act punishable by law that is committed through opportunity created in the course of an occupation that is legal." Occupational crime is divided into four categories: "organizational" occupational crime, which includes crimes for the benefit of an employing organization in which employers, rather than the offenders themselves, benefit directly; "state authority" occupational crime, which requires offenders to be legally vested with sovereign governmental powers to make or enforce laws or to command others; "professional" occupational crime, which involves offenses committed in the context of professional trusts related to occupations; and "individual" occupational crime, which encompasses all remaining offenses not encompassed by the other three categories. Chapter 2 addresses the issue of determining the incidence of occupational crime and the distribution of criminals; it applies general methods for obtaining information on crimes and criminals to occupational crime. Chapter 3 explores general criminological theories as they relate to occupational crime, including explanations of the creation and application of occupational criminal law and explanations of the individual behavior of occupational criminals. The next four chapters detail instances of occupational crime under the four categories specified in Chapter 1. The last chapter discusses occupational offenses from a criminal justice system perspective and considers various strategies to reduce occupational crime. Chapter discussion questions and general readings on occupational crime, chapter notes, and a subject index