NCJ Number
82224
Editor(s)
P Wickman,
T Dailey
Date Published
1982
Length
295 pages
Annotation
Social scientists apply the concepts of economics, law, sociology, and criminal justice to the study of white-collar and economic crime in capitalist and noncapitalist countries. Studies relevant to social control, sanctions, and deterrence are analyzed.
Abstract
A commentary on Edwin H. Sutherland, who coined the term 'white-collar' crime, traces the influence of his midwestern, rural, and religious background on the formation of his innovative concept. Another paper advocates linking white-collar and organized crime under the concept of 'enterprise' -- a spectrum along which entrepreneurial activity is more or less legal, depending on political constraints. Sutherland's concerns are expanded to an international context in an article calling for more research on such problems as pollution, destruction of nations' historical artifacts, waste of natural resources, and human rights infringement. Differences between white-collar crimes (individual acts against business) and organizational crimes (acts by business against others) are distinguished in a Canadian study which advocates broader application of criminal liability for organizational violations. The case of the Ford Motor Company and its Pinto safety problems is used to show how a corporation's goals, structure, and business environment create the probability of corporate crime. Other essays focus on the development of the underground economy as a contributor to income tax noncompliance; contradictions between communist economic theory and practice; a cross-national analysis of economic crime as it relates to types of social organization (accompanied by a critique citing the study's inadequate data and simplistic version of Marxian criminal theory); and the history of corporate crime under capitalism, with special attention to product safety, environmental protection, and antitrust and labor violations. Papers in the last section discuss patterns of white-collar crime and mechanisms of control. One focuses on the high injury and death rates on offshore oil rigs in the North Sea, while another investigates the relationship between the structure of State bar associations and the rate and severity of sanctions and readmissions to the bar. Canadian data contrast punishments for traditional and corporate theft and develop a theoretical perspective on why punishments are more severe for traditional crimes. The final paper investigates this sentencing disparity in U.S. Federal courts. Figures, chapter notes and references, and an index are provided.