Chapter 10: White-Collar and Organized Crime

White-Collar Crime -- The Initial Statement

At least one eminent criminologist has called the concept of white-collar crime "the most significant . . . development in criminology, especially since World War II . . ."(1) The roots of the concept go back to 1939 when Edwin Sutherland first coined the term "white-collar crime" in his presidential address to the American Sociological Society. Details of that address are discussed elsewhere in this chapter. His speech, however, concluded with the following five points:

1. White-collar criminality is real criminality, being in all cases in violation of the criminal law.
2. White-collar criminality differs from lower-class criminality principally in an implementation of the criminal law, which segregates white-collar criminals administratively from other criminals.
3. The theories of the criminologists that crime is due to poverty or to psychopathic and sociopathic conditions statistically associated with poverty are invalid because, first, they are derived from samples which are grossly biased with respect to socioeconomic status; second, they do not apply to the white-collar criminals; and third, they do not even explain the criminality of the lower class, since the factors are not related to a general process characteristic of all criminality.
4. A theory of criminal behavior which will explain both white-collar criminality and lower-class criminality is needed.
5. A hypothesis of this nature is suggested in terms of differential association and social disorganization.

Source: Edwin Sutherland, "White-Collar Criminality," American Sociological Review, vol. 5 (February, 1940), pp. 1-12.

 

Summary

This chapter distinguishes between white-collar and organized crime. Unfortunately, the observations made about both forms of crime, as valid and usefully descriptive as they may be, rarely rise above the level of organized conjecture. Hence, it is impossible at this point to describe a theory of white-collar crime, or a theory of organized crime, except insofar as those concepts can be ensconced within other theoretical perspectives—as was the case with Sutherland's attempt to explain white-collar crime in terms of differential association.

While both white-collar and organized crime are apparently prevalent in the United States today, and organized and white-collar criminals share similar motivations directed toward acquiring wealth and social position, there appears to be considerable variation in commitment between the two types of offenders. Organized criminals evidence a long tradition of criminal involvement, often in the form of racketeering, which is largely unknown to most white-collar offenders. Similarly, organized crime wraps its members in a kind of deviant subculture with a detailed code of conduct which affects its members throughout their life cycles. White-collar criminals, on the other hand, have typically achieved positions of power and social respectability through conformity and approved forms of achievement, and often come from cultural backgrounds that are supportive of adherence to the law. Hence, most white-collar offenders are probably drawn to criminal activity for the immediate financial rewards it offers, while organized criminals are more apt to see crime as a way of life and to condemn the conformist activity of others.

If such differences are true, then white-collar crime may be effectively prevented by strict enforcement efforts which, by their very example, serve as a strong general deterrent to other would-be offenders. Organized criminal groups, on the other hand, given their long-standing commitment to criminal activities, are unlikely to be impacted by such threats.

Discussion Questions

Note: you may be requested by your instructor to e-mail the answers to these questions to his or her office. If so, be sure to add your name (or other identifying information) to your answers, since your e-mail address may not tell your instructor who you are.

Click here for e-mail homework form!

1. What is the difference between organized crime and white-collar crime? What linkages, if any, might exist between the two?
2. What types of white-collar crime has this chapter identified? Is corporate crime a form of white-collar crime? Is occupational crime a form of white-collar crime?
3. Describe a typical organized crime family, as outlined in this chapter. Why does a crime family contain so many different "levels"?
4. What is money laundering? How might money laundering be reduced or prevented? Can you think of any strategies this chapter does not discuss for the reduction of money laundering activities in the United States? If so, what are they?
5. What strategies for combating the activities of organized crime are discussed in this chapter? Which seem best to you? Why? Can you think of any other strategies that might be effective? If so, what are they?

Notes

(1) Donald J. Newman, "White-Collar Crime: An Overview and Analysis."

Back to Criminology Today Home Page
Back to Chapter Links

© Prentice-Hall, Inc. A Simon & Schuster Company Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458

Legal Statement