Crimes of the powerful
White Collar Crime — Sutherland
A crime committed by a person of respectability& high status in the
course of [their] occupation
Occupational crime —Pearce & Tombs
Committed by employees for personal gains
Often against org.
Corporate crime
Committed by employees for their org. in pursuits of its goals
E.g. deliberately mis-selling products → ↑profits / health & safety
violations / fixing price
*included criminal laws + civil and administrative laws
Reasons for why corporate crime might be seen as more harmful than ‘street’
crime
Lack of media attention
Limited coverage to corporate crime
Reinforce the stereotype that crime = WC phenomenon
Described crime in sanitised lang. – technical infringement rather than
real crime
E.g. embezzlement = ‘accounting irregularities’ , defrauding
customers = ‘ mis-selling’
Lack of political will
Focused on street crime
Used Crime Survey to discover extent of street crime but not
corporate crime
Complex
Law enforcers often understaffed, under-resourced + lack technical
expertiseto investigate effectively
✘ necessarily know they are a victim
Unaware that they are victims (e.g. buying wrong mortgages)
Feel powerless against big org. Thus never report
TYPES OF CRIME
Financial Crime
e.g. tax evasion/ illegal accounting
Victims – shareholders/ tax-payers
Example:
Amazon = accused of continuing to underpay corporation tax
in the UK despite nearly tripling the payment from a key
British division to £ 14m
✘ reveal profits/ corporation tax payments for its entire UK
operation, including retail business/ logistics/ warehouses
Tax avoidance – frauds/ ✘ paying what some consider to be
a fair share of corporation tax on their UK earnings
, Crimes against consumers
E.g. false labelling / selling unsafe products
Example:
Nestles = accused of getting 3rd world mothers hooked on
baby formula
Reliance on baby formula caused a million infant deaths every
yr. Through diarrheal diseases
Unethical marketing practices
Profits= prioritised over the well-being of consumers
Raise concerns of public health
Crimes against employees
e.g. paying less than minimum wages / sexual discrimination
Examples:
40 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas that bilowed
out of Union Carbide India’s pestide plant in the middle of the
night
2-3 Dec 1984 – 574 ppl. = posioned, 5300 = died
Agreed to pay $470 m to victims
Health & safety violations
Leads to death & health issues of employees
Crimes against environment
Illegal pollution of air/ water/ land
e.g. toxic waste dumping
Examples:
Brazilian Amazon – criminal networks involved in
deforestation threaten & attack those who try to stop them
Posed significant challenge to Brazil’s commitment under the
Paris Climate deal
Corporate interests = deriveb by econ. gain, often at the
expense of environment & human rights
State corporate crime
Harms committed when govt. Institution & bus. Corporate to pursue
their goals
Examples:
Thousands of private higher edu. Colleges students = ✘
registered to take recognised exams
Charged £6000, but did not point out that they are eligible for
cheap loans & in some cases grants
Abuse of government funding
Financial fraud
SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF CORPORATE CRIME
Rational Choice Theory
Key Terms
Caught
White Collar Crime — Sutherland
A crime committed by a person of respectability& high status in the
course of [their] occupation
Occupational crime —Pearce & Tombs
Committed by employees for personal gains
Often against org.
Corporate crime
Committed by employees for their org. in pursuits of its goals
E.g. deliberately mis-selling products → ↑profits / health & safety
violations / fixing price
*included criminal laws + civil and administrative laws
Reasons for why corporate crime might be seen as more harmful than ‘street’
crime
Lack of media attention
Limited coverage to corporate crime
Reinforce the stereotype that crime = WC phenomenon
Described crime in sanitised lang. – technical infringement rather than
real crime
E.g. embezzlement = ‘accounting irregularities’ , defrauding
customers = ‘ mis-selling’
Lack of political will
Focused on street crime
Used Crime Survey to discover extent of street crime but not
corporate crime
Complex
Law enforcers often understaffed, under-resourced + lack technical
expertiseto investigate effectively
✘ necessarily know they are a victim
Unaware that they are victims (e.g. buying wrong mortgages)
Feel powerless against big org. Thus never report
TYPES OF CRIME
Financial Crime
e.g. tax evasion/ illegal accounting
Victims – shareholders/ tax-payers
Example:
Amazon = accused of continuing to underpay corporation tax
in the UK despite nearly tripling the payment from a key
British division to £ 14m
✘ reveal profits/ corporation tax payments for its entire UK
operation, including retail business/ logistics/ warehouses
Tax avoidance – frauds/ ✘ paying what some consider to be
a fair share of corporation tax on their UK earnings
, Crimes against consumers
E.g. false labelling / selling unsafe products
Example:
Nestles = accused of getting 3rd world mothers hooked on
baby formula
Reliance on baby formula caused a million infant deaths every
yr. Through diarrheal diseases
Unethical marketing practices
Profits= prioritised over the well-being of consumers
Raise concerns of public health
Crimes against employees
e.g. paying less than minimum wages / sexual discrimination
Examples:
40 tonnes of deadly methyl isocyanate (MIC) gas that bilowed
out of Union Carbide India’s pestide plant in the middle of the
night
2-3 Dec 1984 – 574 ppl. = posioned, 5300 = died
Agreed to pay $470 m to victims
Health & safety violations
Leads to death & health issues of employees
Crimes against environment
Illegal pollution of air/ water/ land
e.g. toxic waste dumping
Examples:
Brazilian Amazon – criminal networks involved in
deforestation threaten & attack those who try to stop them
Posed significant challenge to Brazil’s commitment under the
Paris Climate deal
Corporate interests = deriveb by econ. gain, often at the
expense of environment & human rights
State corporate crime
Harms committed when govt. Institution & bus. Corporate to pursue
their goals
Examples:
Thousands of private higher edu. Colleges students = ✘
registered to take recognised exams
Charged £6000, but did not point out that they are eligible for
cheap loans & in some cases grants
Abuse of government funding
Financial fraud
SOCIOLOGICAL EXPLANATION OF CORPORATE CRIME
Rational Choice Theory
Key Terms
Caught
