WHITE COLLAR CRIME Lecture 2: Studying White Collar Crime and Assessing Its Costs

Shared Fundamental Characteristics And Beliefs Many approaches, many shared characteristics and beliefs: Assumptions about the nature of reality, human nature, the basis of morality, and the character of society. More privileged members of society have more influence than less privileged members.

Moral hypocrisy permeates the realm of WCC Power and conflict play a role in shaping law and maintaining social order. Humans are fundamentally rational but self- interested, and are capable of making free choices for which they can be held accountable.

2 Major Approaches Posivistic – assumes that WCC can be studied “scientifically” Humanistic – believes best way to study WCC is through interpretive observation and qualitative methods.

Challenges To Study Of Wcc Complexity – lack of consensus on definitions and core concepts Gaining access for research – cannot appear to threaten the corporation; use familiar terminology; provide a benefit Obtaining statistics – no uniform crime data Obtaining research support – most funding tends to go to projects exploring conventional crime

Case Study In-depth study of a single case. Goal is to provide a comprehensive exploration of a particular case, to ultimately explain the underlying reason the event occurred. Provides a concrete understanding of the dynamics and realities of a particular case. Major limitation: case may be atypical.

Experiments Posivistic Approach Examines the effects, if any, of an independent variable on a dependent variable. Requirements: (1) control group; (2) experimental group.

Surveys Typically used to study opinions, attitudes, and beliefs. Often difficult to obtain a representative sample. Often difficult to obtain a high enough response rate. Contribute to study of WCC by identifying patterns of involvement, rationalizations, and attitudes related to WCC issues.

Observational Research Direct observation of individuals, a group, or an organization over a period of time. Limited application due to difficulty gaining access to criminal enterprises and social control agencies. Most commonly used in studies of regulatory agencies.

Secondary Data Analysis/Statistical Data Commonly statistical information collected by various official agencies (e.g., Department of Health data, Environmental Protection Agency data, etc.) Use is limited by the quality and accuracy of the data. The use of statistical data is problematic because can be open to a variety of interpretations.

Archival Data (Written Document) Analysis Large amount of records (e.g., investigative files). Limited by the selective nature of what is recorded and incompleteness. Single most credible source of information.

Content Analysis Systematically analyzes the representation of something in the media to find underlying forms and structures in social communications. Easily accessible.

Cross-cultural Comparative Studies Compares the treatment of WCC in two or more countries. Sensitizes to parallels and differences in the response to WCC in different countries.

Co$t$ & Consequences Direct Costs – Usually economic (e.g., market value, original cost, replacement cost, etc.) – Defined in terms of the victim’s losses. – Direct economic losses from WCC are measurably greater than direct economic losses attributable to conventional criminal behavior.

Indirect Costs – Costs proximately caused by WCC (e.g., higher taxes, increased cost of goods).

Physical Costs – Typically associated with conventional crime (e.g., injuries suffered due to an assault). – Physical costs of WCC include death and injury from polluting the environment, malnutrition caused by fraud involving aid agencies in third- world countries, development of fatal conditions, and birth defects.

Victims Of WCC Workers/Employees Hazardous/illegal conditions in the workplace Practices that deprive of just compensation and other labor-related rights

Consumers Price-fixing Unsafe products Fraudulent/unethical practices Taxpayers Defense contract fraud

Governmental Entities and Organizations Overbilling (e.g., Medicare/Medicaid fraud) Business Competitors/ Partners/ Shareholders/ Investors/ Pension Holders