Privileged Deviance

White Collar Crime

Corporate Crime
Government Deviance
 Overview
The term "white-collar crime" was coined in
1939 during a speech given by Edwin Sutherland
to the American Sociological Society.
Sutherland defined the term as "crime
committed by a person of respectability and high
social status in the course of his occupation.”
Many white-collar crimes are especially difficult
to prosecute because the perpetrators are
sophisticated criminals who have attempted to
conceal their activities through a series of
complex transactions.
 “White-collar crime”
Edwin Sutherland also stated that white collar
criminals were:
"the upper, white-collar class, which is
composed of respectable, or at least respected,
business and professional men.“ (Sutherland,
1945)
Sutherland also used the term to refer to illegal
activities committed to benefit businesses and
corporations, now known as corporate crime
 Corporate Crime
Corporate crime = A crime committed by
corporate employees or owners to financially
advantage a corporation.
It may involve acts like committing fraud,
polluting the environment, making unsafe
products, and permitting dangerous work
environments. (Gomme)
 Corporate Crime vs. “White-collar
crime”
Today, white collar crime usually called “occupational
deviance” and the term now generally used for crimes
committed on behalf of a corporation or business
organization is “corporate crime or organizational
crime”.

Most corporate acts, like false advertising, anti-trust

violations, environmental pollution, or dumping
products on the market below cost, are not regulated
by criminal law but by various regulatory laws.
 Corporate or Organizational Crime
Can be divided into major types according to who
the victim is:
1. Deviance against employees
Includes workplace hazards
2. Deviance against customers
Unsafe products and foods
Fraud and deceptive advertising
Anti-trust violations (i.e. the chocolate industry)
3. Deviance against the government (tax evasion)
4. Deviance against the environment
 Infamous Corporate Criminals
 Enron's Jeffrey Skilling(24 year prison
term)- fraud and other crimes in the collapse
of the former energy giant
 Adelphia Communications' John Rigas (30
year prison term) - convicted of conspiracy,
bank fraud and securities fraud
 Tyco's Dennis Kozlowski (25 year prison
term) - grand larceny, falsifying business
records
 the Portus hedge fund - multiple counts of
fraud, money laundering and possession of
property
 Norbourg Asset Management Ltd - About
9,200 investors in mutual funds managed by
Quebec based Norbourg Asset Management
Ltd lost their money due to management
malfeasance Allegedly, $130 million was
misappropriated.
Corporate Crimes Sites
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2005/06/17/tyco-0506
17.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5396406
http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2006/12/13/skillingpri
son.html
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/Default.aspx?id
=3032230&p1=0
http://www.primetimecrime.com/Recent/Greed
%20Corruption/Corporate%20scandals.htm
White Collar Crime
Criminologists now use the term white-
collar crime in reference to illegal acts
committed for personal gain by people in
positions of trust.
For example, making personal long-
distance calls on an employer’s account
or billing for fictitious travel expenses.
 White Collar or Occupational
Deviance
Includes:
1. Employee theft
2. Embezzlement
3. Financial fraud
Cheating on income tax
4. Computer crime
online theft and fraud such as identity theft, or
stealing credit card and social security #
5. Professional deviance such as medical
misconduct, sexual exploitation of patients, over-
or double-billing by doctors and lawyers and
“legal lawlessness”
 White Collar vs. Blue Collar or Street
Crime
White collar is occupationally related, and the criminal is
a relatively respectable, upper-class person, especially
business managers and executives.
What distinguishes the commission of white-collar crime
from that of street crime and blue-collar crime is how the
act is executed
i.e. the skill, sophistication, and the resources of power,
influence or respectability for avoiding detection,
prosecution, and conviction.
Blue-collar criminals lack power, influence or
respectability and therefore are more frequently caught.
 Penalties
The common penalties* for white-collar offenses :
fines,
 home detention,
community confinement,
costs of prosecution,
forfeitures,
restitution,
supervised release, and
imprisonment.

*sanctions can be lessened if the defendant takes

responsibility for the crime and assists the authorities in
their investigation
What Makes White Collar Deviance Unique?
Use of power, influence, respectability to minimize
detection
Rational execution of the deviance to maximize profits
Also, three less obvious differences:
The white-collar deviant's noncriminal self-image, often with
victim's cooperation
 i.e. Seeing their embezzlement as borrowing rather than stealing money
 Seeing themselves as victims.
 Denial of criminal intent: claim behavior is a mistake, not crime.
The victim's unwitting cooperation
 Victim does not bother to check the work history or reputation of
company
Society generally relatively indifferent to white-collar
deviants, making little effort to catch or punish them
 Causes of White-Collar Deviance
White-collar deviants have stronger criminal
motivation: fear of loss/greed (Bonger’s theory?)
Criminal opportunity sometimes comes from white-
collar deviant's higher position in a company, because of
easier access to the company's resources.
The combination of high position, status, and prestige
can provide opportunity for illegal activities for both
individuals and corporations.
Weaker social control encourages white collar deviance
i.e. regulations controls vs. criminal controls
Law enforcers tend to focus efforts on street criminals
Governmental Deviance
Abuse of power by public officials
Corruption, accepting bribes and kickbacks
(Brian Mulroney, for example?)
Election irregularities
Right now, liberals in Alberta are claiming
that many voters were unable to get into polls
Use of official or government-condoned
violence (for example Rodney King beating in
Los Angeles)
 Government Deviance (cont.)
Governments have the power and resources to cover
up or ignore deviant acts
“the wriggle of the wiggle” (Thio)
Strategies like “no comment”, or refusal to make
public certain facts or documents
Accuse the accusers – Harper is planning to sue
Dion for saying the conservatives tried to “buy”
Cadman (the MP who died)
Insisting deviant action was necessary (end
justifies means) i.e. Trudeau and the FLQ