PICT103 Lecture Notes - Lecture 12: Ridicule, Cyber Spying, Stuxnet
5 Jun 2018
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Course
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PICT3
Crimes of the Powerful
PART 1: White collar and corporate crime
What is white collar crime?
• Key theorist – Edwin Sutherland (1883-1950)
• ‘...a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the
course of his occupation’ (Sutherland 1949:9).
• Opportunities for criminal activity presented by and within work environment
• Is a feature of the act (crime) not the actor (offender)
Types of white collar crimes
• Embezzlement
• Employee pilfering and theft
• Fraud (real estate, insurance, tax)
• Computer crime (theft of identity or informations
• Insider trading
White collar crimes often violate a combination of
• Civil laws
• Criminal laws
• Administrative rules
What is corporate crime?
• Offences and acts of omission or commission by corporations
• ‘Corporate crime involves offences committed by companies or their agents
against members of the public, the environment, creditors, investors or
corporate competitors.’(Grabowsky and Braithwaite, 1997: 2)
• Organisational rather than individual
• Not necessarily for direct profit – other motivations include organisational/ team
prestige, corporate culture, urge to ‘win’, etc.
Types of corporate crime
Abuse of power, fraud and economy c exploitation that can result in:
• Death/injury of workers and consumer s
• Unsafe work practices/places
• Unsafe process
• Discriminatory employment practice
• Price fixing
Harms of WC and C crime
White collar and corporate crimes can also result in:
• Environmental destruction
• Recession – global financial crisis
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
• Breed distrust in social and economic institutions
• Lower public morale
• Undermine faith in government and business
Avoiding scrutiny and accountability
• Powerful individuals and corporations are able to avoid accountability for harmful
actions
- Position can give states, legitimacy
- Access to legal power
- Spin doctors and control over maid
- 'creative' accounting practices
- Influences on legislators
• Individuals hide within organisation - diffusion of responsibility
• International mobility
PART 2: Radical Criminology
Early radical criminology
• Williem Bonger argued people are naturally averse to crime
• Natural state disrupted by capitalism which fostered individual egoism
• Crime also resulted from
- Survival (crime scouted from poverty/economic necessity – proletariat)
- Alienation (disillusionment with iniquities of capitalism)
- Power (bourgeoisie expect form scrutiny)
Features of radical criminology
• Criminalisation affects those groups who lack economic/political power
• Often a strong Marxist influence - crime held o be the result o economic inequality
and exploitation
• Called 'racial criminology' because there is a necessity for radical social change to
adequately address crime and justice
• Only redistribution power can significantly improve society
Corporate structure criminogenic?
• Legal duty to pursue shareholder profit above other considerations
• Drive to externalise whenever possible means others (e.g. taxpayers) bear costs
• Distance between owners, executives and workers encourages a lack of transparency
and risk taking
• Corporate personhood means that legally a corporation is a ‘person’
• But liability is diffused – no-one held personally accountable for criminal acts
find more resources at oneclass.com
find more resources at oneclass.com
Document Summary
What is white collar crime: key theorist edwin sutherland (1883-1950) A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (sutherland 1949:9): opportunities for criminal activity presented by and within work environment. Is a feature of the act (crime) not the actor (offender) Types of white collar crimes: embezzlement, employee pilfering and theft, fraud (real estate, insurance, tax, computer crime (theft of identity or informations. White collar crimes often violate a combination of: civil laws, criminal laws, administrative rules. What is corporate crime: offences and acts of omission or commission by corporations. Abuse of power, fraud and economy c exploitation that can result in: death/injury of workers and consumer s, unsafe work practices/places, unsafe process, discriminatory employment practice, price fixing. White collar and corporate crimes can also result in: environmental destruction, recession global financial crisis, breed distrust in social and economic institutions, lower public morale, undermine faith in government and business.
