NCJ Number
200441
Journal
Critical Criminology Volume: 11 Issue: 1 Dated: 2002 Pages: 21-40
Date Published
2002
Length
20 pages
Annotation
In focusing on a Finnish initiative to combat economic crime, this article discusses the pros and cons of this pro-criminalization strategy in the face of critical criminology's warnings regarding the danger of criminalization as a response to social problems.
Abstract
In 1996 the Finnish Government passed a decision-of-principle to combat economic crime and the "gray" economy, which included a formal Action Plan that consisted of a 30-year program based on a series of proposals for reforms. This Action Plan defined economic crime as "a criminalized act or neglect which is committed in the framework of, or using, a corporation or other organization." The illegal or "gray" economy refers to activities in which statutory taxes and payments have not been paid, either because the activities have occurred in secret or because incorrect, misleading, or insufficient information was given about the activities. The Action Plan both consolidated and established a series of reforms in legislation, regulatory agencies, enforcement practice, and research activities. The Finnish Government passed a second Action Plan in 1998 and a third in June 2001. In arguing for the criminalization of the exploitative and economically harmful behaviors of powerful economic entities in society, this paper explains that such behaviors can be equal to or more serious than the harms caused by the street crimes that no society wants to tolerate. Just as society has affirmed the importance of controlling and sanctioning the crimes of the powerless and the marginalized groups in society, so it should pursue the criminalization of those behaviors by the powerful that have the potential for more serious economic, physical, and social harms. 10 notes and 46 references