AC 1.1 Analysis of Different types of crime
(White collar, Honour, Hate crime)
White Collar Crime
White collar crime is committed in order to achieve a financial benefit or gain within a person’s
occupation. In general, there are three sectors in which white collar crime can fall under-
professional, organised, or corporate. Professional white-collar crime is typically committed by
government officials or people of high status and name in an industry such as that of Bernie Madoff
and his Ponzi scheme, and is obtained through non-violent means. Organised white-collar crime is
usually committed by a group with a hierarchal internal structure for profit through violent and non-
violent means. Corporate is committed by people at ‘corporate level’, the top management of a
business or company where the offender profits through the company. We can see corporate white-
collar crime being committed by Mr. S a bank manager who has for up to 2 years been making
fraudulent expense claims (within the company he works for) where he has inflated prices to more
than what was/ he actually spent in order to fund his extravagant lifestyle and obtain a financial
benefit. Other forms of white-collar crime can include tax evasion, embezzlement and a range of
schemes which can directly or indirectly cause financial loss to victims and a financial gain to
offenders. The main victims of this type of crime include the general public, taxpayers, businesses,
and employees of businesses who have suffered from this offence. The main victim in the case of
Mr. S is the bank he works for who have been likely suffering a loss due to his expense claims and
indirectly a bad reputation should his crime be reported to the police.
White collar crime is not often heard of and not often prosecuted due to the complex means the
offenders go to conceal their offence, as seen by Mr. S who managed to get away with this crime for
2 years. The cover of their ‘respectable appearance’ and high position in the company (Mr. S a bank
manager), means suspicion is less likely to be aroused. Bernie Madoff (now serving 150 years) a
‘respectable businessman’ who earned over $50 billion over a course of 17 years through his Ponzi
scheme. He did this by getting people to invest in his scheme and pay them interest through the
payments of new investors, the likely victims being those who have recently retired looking to invest
their money. Furthermore, a lack of media coverage due to wider publication of more violent crimes
means that it is relatively unseen in the public eye and referred to as the ‘invisible crime’. This puts
more people at risk to this crime as they are unaware of its occurrence and the extent that occurs,
therefore, are less likely to look out for it. This crime is considered both criminal and deviant as it
breaks the law, Mr. S breaching the Fraud Act in 2006 and societies values due to the direct and/ or
indirect harm it can cause individuals or businesses.
Honour Crime
Honour crime is committed in response to shame or dishonour being brought to a family or
community and is typical of Hindu or Muslim families where family honour is of foremost
importance and honour crime part of some traditional and cultural values. It can take a variety of
forms through beatings, acid attacks, mutilation (e.g., FGM- female genital mutilation) and even
murder. Mrs. S is at risk of being a victim of an honour killing due to her family’s opposition to her
marrying a Non-Hindu British man which in their eyes has brought dishonour to the family. Often, it
also referred to members of the family becoming too ‘westernised’ such as the case of Shafilea
Ahmed killed by her parents. This was due to her refusing to follow their strict traditional Pakistani
ways which led them to believe she had become too ‘westernised’ and therefore was bringing
shame upon the family, to prevent further disgrace they murdered her.
, Due to an emphasis on females having to follow certain rules in order to not disgrace the family
means the typical victims are female and offenders typically males high up in the family’s hierarchy.
Often living in large communities, pressure is quite high for the ‘discipline’ of those not following
tradition. Mrs. S is at substantial risk of becoming a victim of her family’s beliefs and therefore this
crime should they follow through with their plan to murder her. There is little awareness of this
crime as the differences in culture can sometimes mean it goes unreported, it is believed to be the
appropriate way in which ‘disgraceful’ acts are treated and punished. Furthermore, due to the lack
of knowledge about these crimes even occurring it remains unknown to the rest of local societies
and communities. This crime is criminal and deviant in UK society as it goes against our norms/ rights
of free will and the right to live, while in some Asian societies it is still deemed socially acceptable.
Hate Crime
Hate crime is usually any crime that is motivated by prejudice against someone’s protected
characteristic such as their belief, race, or sexual orientation. In David’s case (Mrs. S’ son) he is
homosexual and decided to tell his friends. This information has spread resulting in him receiving
verbal and physical abuse and bullying from others within his school. Furthermore, a site has been
created containing homophobic comments about him. This crime (as seen in David’s case) can take a
number of forms such as assault, criminal damage or even as far as murder which links to the case of
Stephen Lawrence, murdered in 1993 by a gang of white youths believed to be due to their prejudice
against his race.
The victims can be anyone with a protected characteristic, however, typically fall under 5 sections-
race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation or if they are transgender. David falls under the
strand of having a differing sexual orientation which is only becoming recently more acceptable in
some societies. We can see those in his school harbour a strong prejudice against his sexual
orientation resulting in them bullying him for it. These characteristics typically receive a lot of
prejudice and therefore a large amount of hate crimes against them. The offenders (in the case of
the students at David’s school) are anyone who hold prejudice against a characteristic such as those
in the 5 strands, and whose views differ widely from that of the victim. This crime is both criminal
and deviant especially in recent years where there has been more acceptance of these
characteristics and their part of a person’s identity. Often hate crimes are composed of two sectors,
the breaking of a legal act and secondly an aggravating factor such as their ‘hate’ towards a
protected characteristic which would likely increase their sentence.
AC 1.2 Explain why these crimes go Unreported
White Collar Crime
White Collar crime can remain unreported for a number of reasons. Personal reasons often include
not being affected by the crime, we can suggest Mrs. S who was fond of her husband’s extravagant
lifestyle, if aware of her husband’s criminal activity did not report it due to the little affect it had on
her if anything it had a positive effect on her lifestyle. Similarly, disinterest plays into the lack of
effect on someone’s life so therefore as they are not directly affected, they have little care for the
crime being committed and little care how it affects others leading them to not ‘waste time’
reporting it.
White Collar Crime is often quite complex and hard to follow, as well as this, offenders keep their
illegal transactions well-hidden making them hard to trace. This can make it extremely hard to
notice/understand that it is taking place therefore making it hard to report especially if there is a
limited trace. We can suggest that this is one of the ways Mr. S got away with his fraudulent expense
(White collar, Honour, Hate crime)
White Collar Crime
White collar crime is committed in order to achieve a financial benefit or gain within a person’s
occupation. In general, there are three sectors in which white collar crime can fall under-
professional, organised, or corporate. Professional white-collar crime is typically committed by
government officials or people of high status and name in an industry such as that of Bernie Madoff
and his Ponzi scheme, and is obtained through non-violent means. Organised white-collar crime is
usually committed by a group with a hierarchal internal structure for profit through violent and non-
violent means. Corporate is committed by people at ‘corporate level’, the top management of a
business or company where the offender profits through the company. We can see corporate white-
collar crime being committed by Mr. S a bank manager who has for up to 2 years been making
fraudulent expense claims (within the company he works for) where he has inflated prices to more
than what was/ he actually spent in order to fund his extravagant lifestyle and obtain a financial
benefit. Other forms of white-collar crime can include tax evasion, embezzlement and a range of
schemes which can directly or indirectly cause financial loss to victims and a financial gain to
offenders. The main victims of this type of crime include the general public, taxpayers, businesses,
and employees of businesses who have suffered from this offence. The main victim in the case of
Mr. S is the bank he works for who have been likely suffering a loss due to his expense claims and
indirectly a bad reputation should his crime be reported to the police.
White collar crime is not often heard of and not often prosecuted due to the complex means the
offenders go to conceal their offence, as seen by Mr. S who managed to get away with this crime for
2 years. The cover of their ‘respectable appearance’ and high position in the company (Mr. S a bank
manager), means suspicion is less likely to be aroused. Bernie Madoff (now serving 150 years) a
‘respectable businessman’ who earned over $50 billion over a course of 17 years through his Ponzi
scheme. He did this by getting people to invest in his scheme and pay them interest through the
payments of new investors, the likely victims being those who have recently retired looking to invest
their money. Furthermore, a lack of media coverage due to wider publication of more violent crimes
means that it is relatively unseen in the public eye and referred to as the ‘invisible crime’. This puts
more people at risk to this crime as they are unaware of its occurrence and the extent that occurs,
therefore, are less likely to look out for it. This crime is considered both criminal and deviant as it
breaks the law, Mr. S breaching the Fraud Act in 2006 and societies values due to the direct and/ or
indirect harm it can cause individuals or businesses.
Honour Crime
Honour crime is committed in response to shame or dishonour being brought to a family or
community and is typical of Hindu or Muslim families where family honour is of foremost
importance and honour crime part of some traditional and cultural values. It can take a variety of
forms through beatings, acid attacks, mutilation (e.g., FGM- female genital mutilation) and even
murder. Mrs. S is at risk of being a victim of an honour killing due to her family’s opposition to her
marrying a Non-Hindu British man which in their eyes has brought dishonour to the family. Often, it
also referred to members of the family becoming too ‘westernised’ such as the case of Shafilea
Ahmed killed by her parents. This was due to her refusing to follow their strict traditional Pakistani
ways which led them to believe she had become too ‘westernised’ and therefore was bringing
shame upon the family, to prevent further disgrace they murdered her.
, Due to an emphasis on females having to follow certain rules in order to not disgrace the family
means the typical victims are female and offenders typically males high up in the family’s hierarchy.
Often living in large communities, pressure is quite high for the ‘discipline’ of those not following
tradition. Mrs. S is at substantial risk of becoming a victim of her family’s beliefs and therefore this
crime should they follow through with their plan to murder her. There is little awareness of this
crime as the differences in culture can sometimes mean it goes unreported, it is believed to be the
appropriate way in which ‘disgraceful’ acts are treated and punished. Furthermore, due to the lack
of knowledge about these crimes even occurring it remains unknown to the rest of local societies
and communities. This crime is criminal and deviant in UK society as it goes against our norms/ rights
of free will and the right to live, while in some Asian societies it is still deemed socially acceptable.
Hate Crime
Hate crime is usually any crime that is motivated by prejudice against someone’s protected
characteristic such as their belief, race, or sexual orientation. In David’s case (Mrs. S’ son) he is
homosexual and decided to tell his friends. This information has spread resulting in him receiving
verbal and physical abuse and bullying from others within his school. Furthermore, a site has been
created containing homophobic comments about him. This crime (as seen in David’s case) can take a
number of forms such as assault, criminal damage or even as far as murder which links to the case of
Stephen Lawrence, murdered in 1993 by a gang of white youths believed to be due to their prejudice
against his race.
The victims can be anyone with a protected characteristic, however, typically fall under 5 sections-
race, disability, religion or belief, sexual orientation or if they are transgender. David falls under the
strand of having a differing sexual orientation which is only becoming recently more acceptable in
some societies. We can see those in his school harbour a strong prejudice against his sexual
orientation resulting in them bullying him for it. These characteristics typically receive a lot of
prejudice and therefore a large amount of hate crimes against them. The offenders (in the case of
the students at David’s school) are anyone who hold prejudice against a characteristic such as those
in the 5 strands, and whose views differ widely from that of the victim. This crime is both criminal
and deviant especially in recent years where there has been more acceptance of these
characteristics and their part of a person’s identity. Often hate crimes are composed of two sectors,
the breaking of a legal act and secondly an aggravating factor such as their ‘hate’ towards a
protected characteristic which would likely increase their sentence.
AC 1.2 Explain why these crimes go Unreported
White Collar Crime
White Collar crime can remain unreported for a number of reasons. Personal reasons often include
not being affected by the crime, we can suggest Mrs. S who was fond of her husband’s extravagant
lifestyle, if aware of her husband’s criminal activity did not report it due to the little affect it had on
her if anything it had a positive effect on her lifestyle. Similarly, disinterest plays into the lack of
effect on someone’s life so therefore as they are not directly affected, they have little care for the
crime being committed and little care how it affects others leading them to not ‘waste time’
reporting it.
White Collar Crime is often quite complex and hard to follow, as well as this, offenders keep their
illegal transactions well-hidden making them hard to trace. This can make it extremely hard to
notice/understand that it is taking place therefore making it hard to report especially if there is a
limited trace. We can suggest that this is one of the ways Mr. S got away with his fraudulent expense
