Transcript shared fundamental characteristics and beliefs

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