1 9 13 Chapter 1 Introduction and Overview of White Collar Crime WCC Confusion on what constitutes WCC o Not just corporate financial crime o Ranges across every spectrum o Ex Deaths associated with an earthquake would appear to be unrelated to WCC But what if it is a consequence of greedy developers paying off corrupt governmental inspectors to evade proper building codes Don t assume what the news says is correct How to define WCC o Payne 2013 describes three factors to distinguish WCC s 1 white collar crimes are committed during the course of one s job Can be vague such as work from home or contractor 2 the offenders occupational role plays a central feature in the perpetrations of the crime Their position in their line of work 3 the offenders occupations is viewed as legitimate by society Sketchy and difficult sometimes to tell the difference Simply put it s an economic crime committed by fraud deception or collusion Why study WCC o Payne offers six reasons to study WCC 1 white collar crime is a serious problem in our society and costs far more in damage than property crimes Costs exponentially more economically o Higher s on all kinds of taxes Emotional and psychological problems higher too 2 white collar crime affects everyone large of victims crime developed 3 by studying WCC offending we learn more about all types of in the 2000s hacking and computer crimes are rising 4 effective prevention and intervention systems and policies to be 5 to provide info about potential careers related to WCC 6 insight into current culture and subculture The complex nature of WCC o WCC is Complex and intertwined throughout long time spans Involves large organizations Numerous individuals in different positions Complicated transactions carried out over long periods of time o Because this field of study is complex one must understand Economics Management Law Sociology Psychology Ways to research WCC o Surveys Common research strategy for WCC Groups who are surveyed CJ officials general public victims of WCC and WCC offenders Judges might be reluctant to answer questions for fear of incriminating their reelection Types of surveys On site administration Face to face interviews Telephone interviews o Benefit anonymity Mail Surveys o Con low response rate o Know the strengths and weaknesses of all 4 types o Field research Payne pg 6 Definition strategies where researcher enters a particular setting and gathers data through their observations in those settings Difficult to observe so this method is less useful o Experiments Definition studies where the researchers examine how the presence of one variable the causal or independent variable produces an outcome the effect of dependent variable Classic experimental design control and experimental group Quasi experimental design used for most WCC o Mimic the experimental designs but lack certain elements of the experimental design such as randomization o Best we can do but far from ideal o Case studies Definition allows researchers to select a particular crime criminal event or phenomena and study the features surrounding the causes and consequences of those events Ex Cullen Maakestand and Cavender 1987 Ford Pinto Case Pintos would blow up when hit from behind because of bad placement of gas tank o Archival research 1 11 13 Archival research Definition refers to studies that use some form of record or archive as a database in the study o Types of archives Case records Pre sentence reports Media reports Case descriptions of specific WCC The Scientific Perspective and WCC How to relate the principle of science to WCC o Objectivity researchers must be value free and unbiased o Parsimonious keep explanations as simple as possible o Determinism that the behavior is caused or influenced by preceding events or factors o Skepticism social scientists must question and re question o Relativism all things are related o WCC how WCC is defined the nature of WCC and how the CJ system responds to WCC The System Perspective and WCC Technological system Political system Educational system Religious system Social system Social services system Occupational system Corporate system Civil Justice system Criminal justice system Regulatory system Economic system Know the difference between these systems Payne pg 17 Obtaining Statistics on Conventional Crime Primary sources of data on conventional crime o Official statistics Uniform Crime Reports UCR Compiled by the FBI from individual police agency reports Provides raw counts of events NO additional information Includes data on Offenses known to police Detailed homicide data SHR Crimes cleared by arrest Persons arrested Number employment of law enforcement personnel The Dark figure of crime The crimes that go underreported Unfortunately WCC is not reported accurately it is just o National Incident Based Reporting System NIBRS mixed in UCR 2 0 Collects additional data on each reported incident of crime Includes information about offense parties involved and property stolen if any Provides information of 57 offenses as well as their circumstances player and location Problem because of the extensive detail it is hard to record all the details of every crime NYC created there own type of NIBRS and doesn t get reported to NIBRS National crime Victimization Survey NCVS o Nationally representative sample of households asked about the victimization experiences o Conducted annually since 1973 by the Census Bureau o Provides information on Number of offenses The victim The offender The offense time place weapons used nature of injury and economic consequences o DOES NOT collect information regarding WCCs What does it all mean NO real WCC equivalent to UCR or NCVS data Data must be obtained from various sources such as o Governmental agency and annual financial reports o Newspapers o Journals o Independent surveys FINCEN Financial Crimes Enforcement Network o Mission to enhance the integrity of financial systems by facilitating the detection and deterrence of financial crime o In charge of enforcement of anti money laundering and fraud preventions rules for 100k banks credit unions money service businesses insurance companies securities brokers casinos and mutual funds o Provides estimates of Suspicious Activity in monthly reports o Reports on Mortgage loan fraud Money laundering Check CC fraud Chapter 2 Understanding WCC Definitions Extent and Consequences E A Ross Was a prominent sociologist The criminaloid o The business man who
View Full Document