White Collar Crime

• What is the focus of Sociology LT13?

  Crimes of the powerful, specifically middle class white collar crimes
• What are the two main types of white collar crime?

  Corporate crime and occupational crime
• Who is an example of corporate crime mentioned in the study material?

  Nick Leeson for fraudulent trading leading to Barings bank collapse
• What is occupational crime?

  Crime committed at the expense of an organization
• Why do the powerful often avoid criminalization of their actions?

  They can shape the law to avoid criminalization
• What approach do postmodernists take towards crime?

  They adopt a transgressive approach, viewing crime as acts causing harm, regardless of legality
• What types of harms does corporate crime create according to Tombs (2013)?

  Physical, environmental, and economic harms
• What are examples of financial crimes mentioned?

  Tax evasion and money laundering
• What is a state-corporate crime?

  Harms caused by government institutions and businesses cooperating
• What is an example of a state-corporate crime?

  The Challenger space shuttle disaster in 1986
• Why is the scale of white collar corporate crime vast?

  High-status professionals occupy positions of trust and respectability
• What fine did KPMG pay for its role in fraud?

  $456 million
• How do health professionals abuse their trust?

  By making false claims against healthcare providers
• Why are white collar and corporate crimes considered relatively invisible?

  They are not visible to the eye and often removed from official definitions of crime
• What is a significant problem caused by the invisibility of white collar crime?

  Official statistics underestimate middle class crime
• What role does biased media coverage play in the perception of corporate crime?

  It reinforces the belief that crime is primarily a working class problem
• Why is there a lack of political will to tackle corporate crime?

  Government crackdowns focus on street crime
• What makes corporate crimes difficult to detect?

  Their global nature and complexity
• What is de-labelling in the context of corporate crime?

  Corporate crime is often treated as a civil law matter rather than a criminal law matter
• How has the visibility of corporate crimes changed since the financial collapse in 2008?

  Corporate crimes have become more visible due to media and protest groups
• What does Merton’s strain theory suggest about crime?

  Crime results from the inability to achieve societal goals through legitimate means
• How does Box (1983) apply Merton’s concept of ‘innovation’ to corporate crime?

  Businesses may turn to illegal means when they cannot achieve profit goals
• What did Clinard and Yeager (1980) find regarding businesses and law-breaking?

  Businesses break the law more when financial performance declines
• What do some suggest about occupational crime and successful individuals?

  It can arise when successful individuals face financial difficulties and innovate to sustain their lifestyle
• What does Sutherland (1949) suggest about crime?


  Crime is learned from others in a social context
• How can a business culture influence corporate crime?

  A culture that justifies crime can socialize employees into criminality
• What do Sykes & Matza (1957) suggest about deviant subcultures?

  There is little evidence of distinct deviant subcultures; individuals drift in and out of delinquency
• What does labelling theory suggest about crime?

  Whether an act counts as a crime depends on whether it has been labelled as such
• How do middle class individuals negotiate non-criminal labels for their deviance?

  They are more able to negotiate these labels compared to lower classes
• How do corporate organizations avoid labelling?

  They can afford expensive lawyers and accountants to disguise illegal activities
• What is selective law enforcement?

  It refers to the tendency of the criminal justice system to investigate and prosecute white collar crimes less frequently
• What do Marxists argue about the relationship between labelling theory and corporate crime?

  Labelling theory fails to consider the structural origins and causes of white collar crime
• How does Chambliss view global capitalism?

  He argues it is criminogenic, creating pressures for white collar crime
• What is an example of corporate tax avoidance mentioned?

  Companies like Starbucks, Google, and Facebook paying little or no corporation tax in the UK
• What do Marxists claim about capitalism's control of the state?

  It allows the powerful to avoid making or enforcing laws that conflict with their interests
• What is the cost of tax fraud compared to benefit fraud?

  The cost of tax fraud is four times that of benefit fraud
• How do Marxists view selective law enforcement?

  They see it as serving an ideological function, creating the belief that crime is a working class problem
• What is the ideological function of prosecuting some corporate crime?

  It creates the illusion that the law operates equally, preventing social unrest
• How do Marxists view corporate crime in poorer developing countries?

  They argue that companies exploit these countries by selling unsafe products and paying low wages
• What do postmodernists like Katz (1988) argue about motivations for white collar crime?

  They suggest that thrill-seeking and risk-taking may motivate white collar crime