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WHITE COLLAR CRIME
Lecture 2: Studying White Collar Crime and Assessing Its Costs
Shared Fundamental
Characteristics And Beliefs
Many approaches, many sharedcharacteristics and beliefs:
• Assumptions about the nature of reality,human nature, the basis of morality, and thecharacter of society.
• More privileged members of society havemore influence than less privilegedmembers.
• Moral hypocrisy permeates the realm ofWCC
• Power and conflict play a role in shapinglaw and maintaining social order.
• Humans are fundamentally rational but self-interested, and are capable of making freechoices for which they can be heldaccountable.
2 Major Approaches
• Posivistic – assumes that WCC can bestudied “scientifically”
• Humanistic – believes best way to studyWCC is through interpretive observationand qualitative methods.
Challenges To Study Of Wcc
• Complexity – lack of consensus on definitions andcore concepts
• Gaining access for research – cannot appear tothreaten the corporation; use familiar terminology;provide a benefit
• Obtaining statistics – no uniform crime data
• Obtaining research support – most funding tends togo to projects exploring conventional crime
Case Study
• In-depth study of a single case.
• Goal is to provide a comprehensive exploration of aparticular case, to ultimately explain theunderlying reason the event occurred.
• Provides a concrete understanding of the dynamicsand realities of a particular case.
• Major limitation: case may be atypical.
Experiments
• Posivistic Approach
• Examines the effects, if any, of an independentvariable on a dependent variable.
• Requirements: (1) control group; (2) experimentalgroup.
Surveys
• Typically used to study opinions, attitudes, andbeliefs.
• Often difficult to obtain a representative sample.
• Often difficult to obtain a high enough responserate.
• Contribute to study of WCC by identifyingpatterns of involvement, rationalizations, andattitudes related to WCC issues.
Observational Research
• Direct observation of individuals, a group, or anorganization over a period of time.
• Limited application due to difficulty gainingaccess to criminal enterprises and social controlagencies.
• Most commonly used in studies of regulatoryagencies.
Secondary Data Analysis/Statistical
Data
• Commonly statistical information collected byvarious official agencies (e.g., Department ofHealth data, Environmental Protection Agencydata, etc.)
• Use is limited by the quality and accuracy of thedata.
• The use of statistical data is problematic becausecan 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 ofsomething in the media to find underlying formsand structures in social communications.
• Easily accessible.
Cross-cultural Comparative Studies
• Compares the treatment of WCC in two or morecountries.
• Sensitizes to parallels and differences in theresponse to WCC in different countries.
Co$t$ & Consequences
Direct Costs
– Usually economic (e.g., market value, originalcost, replacement cost, etc.)
– Defined in terms of the victim’s losses.
– Direct economic losses from WCC aremeasurably greater than direct economiclosses attributable to conventional criminalbehavior.
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 injuryfrom polluting the environment, malnutritioncaused 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 andother 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