White Collar Crime Timner & Eitzen (1989): Definition: Newburn (2007): Focus is always on crimes on the ‘streets’, not crimes on the ‘suites’. Newburn (2007): The study of crime focuses of crimes of the powerless rather than the powerful Definition: “A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation” Sutherland (1949) Sutherland (1949) coined the term ‘White-Collar Crime’ when setting out to show that crime was not just a working-class phenomena.

What might be classed as ‘White-Collar Crime?’ My Name Is… Fraud What might be classed as ‘White-Collar Crime?’ Fiddling Expenses Embezzlement Forgery Collusion (Price fixing) Insurance Scams Tax Evasion

For the benefit of the company Croall (2001): Often doctors will falsify prescriptions and patient records to claim more funding from the NHS. One GP made over £700,000 over 5 years doing this. In 2007, the millionaire Conrad Black (former owner of the Daily Telegraph was jailed for 6 years after defrauding shareholders out of millions of dollars. In 2002, Worldcom (Telephone company in the USA) was forced to explain why $4 Billion was missing from it’s accounts. Shares dropped from $64 to 20 cents & investors lost millions. Corporate Crime: Crime committed by companies against employees or the public. For the benefit of the company Occupational Crime: Crime committed against a company by an employee. For their personal benefit As the definition of White Collar Crime is so vague it can be split into two main types:

Occupational Crime: Ditton (1977) & Mars (1982) found that many employers (in a wide range of occupations), thought that it was a ‘perk’ of the job & legitimate to steal from their workplaces. > Why might stealing from the office be seen as ok but stealing from someone’s home not be? > How might this be linked to labelling theory? > How might Marxists view this type of crime? > What methodological issues might you encounter if you were to research the extent of occupational crime.

Immediate activity No notes, no discussion, no text books Complete the revision test on ethnicity and achievement.

Explaining Occupational and Corporate Crime Based on what you have learnt already, can you think of any explanations as to why occupational crime occurs? Explaining Occupational and Corporate Crime Strain Theory & Anomie (Merton): Means & Goals Marxism: Box Mystification and criminogenic corporations Sutherland (1949) Differential association Nelkin 2012 De-labelling

Corporate Crime Corporate Crime covers a wide area of offences and is heavily linked to the topic of White Collar Crime examined by Marxists in particularly. Corporate Crimes are offences committed by corporations/ businesses such as: > Not having correct permits/ licences > Failing to comply with health & safety/ other legal regulations (As you can see this covers a very broad definition of crime) > This differs to ‘Occupational Crime’ as it relates to companies (or people representing companies) committing crimes for the gain of the company as opposed to people committing crimes against their company. > Despite the seriousness and huge scale of corporate crimes we often only hear about low-level street crime – Why might this be? > Can you think of any examples of what the term Corporate Crime might cover?

Slapper & Tombs (1999) suggest that there are 6 main types of Corporate Crime: 1) Paperwork & Non-Compliance: > Having incorrect/ no permits or licences and/or failing to comply with legal regulations (often health & safety regulations ) > E.g. Herald of Free Enterprise disaster 1989: Capsized & a 197 people died as rules governing the closer of bow doors was neglected. 2) Labour Law Violations Crimes against employees : > Includes crimes such as failing to pay legally required minimum wages, ignoring legal working hour restrictions or failing to provide correct safety equipment for workers. > E.g. GAP using child labour in sweat shops

3) Unfair Trade Practices: Crime against customers > Includes crimes such as false advertising, price-fixing and illegally obtaining information on rival businesses. > E.g. UK Supermarkets were fined £116 Million in 2007 for fixing the price of milk and cheese, costing shoppers £270 Million more than they should have been paying. > These are offences such as misrepresentation, incorrect labelling & false advertising. They also include the production of dangerous & unsafe articles, counterfeiting & failing to recall faulty goods.

4) Financial Offences: > Includes crimes such as tax evasion and concealment of losses & debts. > E.g. In 2001 Enron hid debts of around $50 Billion – the company collapsed and many people lost their jobs and investments. 5) Environmental ‘Green’ Crime: > E.g. Companies knowingly damaging the environment and breaking laws on levels of pollution released into the environment. E.g. VW diesel emissions which were 40 times above the US legal limit When the government and businesses co operate to pursue their goals and crime is committed in the course of this co operation e.g. the involvement in the torture of prisoners in Iraq by private security firms contacted by the US government 6) State corporate crime:

Corporate Crime & Official Statistics Corporate Crimes are often missing from Official Statistics or at the most the yare under-represented when compared to ‘typical’ working-class low-level street crimes such as burglary, knife crime, vandalism and vehicle crime. > How might this be explained? (Draw on your knowledge on theories of crime). Powerful People R/C Control the Media Hard to Detect Police Priorities Often not dealt with by the CJS Invisible crime

Exam Q Outline 3 reasons why white collar and corporate crimes may have low rates of prosecution. (6 marks)

Official Statistics & White-Collar Crime What are the implications of the under-representation of white-collar crimes in official statistics for the view that most criminals are working class? Official statistics tell us that most crime is working-class crime. White-collar crime is under-represented within these statistics and are thus misleading 1) Difficult to Detect - ‘Invisible Crime’. 2) ‘Victimless’ Crime. 3) Crime may benefit all involved e.g. Bribery. 4) Difficult to Investigate. Why might White- Collar crime be under-represented within official statistics? 5) Lack of awareness. 6) Institutional Protection. 7) Lack of Convictions – Middle-Class offenders.

White-Collar Crime is linked to the following: REMEMBER: White-Collar Crime is linked to the following: > Marxism > Corporate Crime > Transnational Crime > Environmental ‘Green’ Crime > State Crime > Computer-based Crime > Globalisation & Crime > The Social Construction of Crime Statistics Based on what you now know about White-Collar Crime, how does it relate to the Marxist Theory of Crime?

Our essay question Item B Some sociologists focus on the ‘crimes of the powerful’. Crime committed in the interests of businesses and other large institutions can be far more harmful and costly than the street crimes that we tend to think of a ‘real crime’. Corporate crimes can involve breaking criminal laws but may also include breaking other kinds of law. Some sociologists argue that corporate crime results from pressures to succeed, leading to employees pursuing business aims by illegitimate means. However , others claim that this is the product of capitalism. Applying material from item B and your knowledge, evaluate sociological explanations of corporate crime. (30 marks)