The idea of white-collar crime was coined in 1939 by Edwin Sutherland, a sociologist. Sutherland defines white-collar crime as a crime committed by a person with high social status in his work (Sutherland, 1949). Sutherland spoke at the American Sociological Society Meeting in 1939, and expressed his concern for the lack of attention for certain crimes. These crimes were those of high-status people, such as corporate or “white-collar” workers.
The actual term of white-collar comes from the white shirts that men who work in the corporate world wear. The opposite of white-collar is blue-collar. Blue-collar workers are often manual laborers, who work with their hands. White-collar workers were known for working with their mind, using knowledge …show more content…
However, they all are similar in that they occur in the work place, and the offenders committing the crime are motivated by financial gain (White-Collar Crime, 2016). Many white-collar criminals are smooth talkers, and can finesse their own gain (Sutherland, 1940, p. 10). A big factor of white-collar crime is fraud. Fraud is criminally deceiving systems so that which a person will receive a financial gain. One of the highest offending categories among fraud is corporate fraud (White-Collar Crime, 2016). During a study, it was found that between 1996 and 2004, the US had 216 cases of corporate fraud (Dyck, Morse, Zingles 2010, p. …show more content…
There have been numerous studies on why these crimes are being committed. The most common thread between the answers is that people commit these crimes for financial or personal gain. Criminologists agree that white-collar crime occurs in an occupational context, is motivated by financial or personal gain, and is not characterized by intentional violence (Friedrichs, 2009, p. 5). It is a wide misconception that the people who commit these crimes intend to harm others. The offenders are trying to help themselves, not directly harm other parties involved. White-collar crimes are all about some sort of personal gain, whether it be monetary related or not. However, the selfish actions that they commit can lead to the direct harm of innocent people. In the study of criminology, it is common to think of harm as some sort of physical act. This can be offenses like murder, rape, battery, or assault (Friedrichs, 2009, p. 9). The world of white-collar crime is different, because there is no physical interaction. That means that there is no opportunity to physically harm someone else. Virtual harm can be just as damaging though. As previously stated, identity theft can destroy someone’s entire life. They would cease to exist in the financial world. Trying to recover your identity can be emotionally grueling as
The actual term of white-collar comes from the white shirts that men who work in the corporate world wear. The opposite of white-collar is blue-collar. Blue-collar workers are often manual laborers, who work with their hands. White-collar workers were known for working with their mind, using knowledge …show more content…
However, they all are similar in that they occur in the work place, and the offenders committing the crime are motivated by financial gain (White-Collar Crime, 2016). Many white-collar criminals are smooth talkers, and can finesse their own gain (Sutherland, 1940, p. 10). A big factor of white-collar crime is fraud. Fraud is criminally deceiving systems so that which a person will receive a financial gain. One of the highest offending categories among fraud is corporate fraud (White-Collar Crime, 2016). During a study, it was found that between 1996 and 2004, the US had 216 cases of corporate fraud (Dyck, Morse, Zingles 2010, p. …show more content…
There have been numerous studies on why these crimes are being committed. The most common thread between the answers is that people commit these crimes for financial or personal gain. Criminologists agree that white-collar crime occurs in an occupational context, is motivated by financial or personal gain, and is not characterized by intentional violence (Friedrichs, 2009, p. 5). It is a wide misconception that the people who commit these crimes intend to harm others. The offenders are trying to help themselves, not directly harm other parties involved. White-collar crimes are all about some sort of personal gain, whether it be monetary related or not. However, the selfish actions that they commit can lead to the direct harm of innocent people. In the study of criminology, it is common to think of harm as some sort of physical act. This can be offenses like murder, rape, battery, or assault (Friedrichs, 2009, p. 9). The world of white-collar crime is different, because there is no physical interaction. That means that there is no opportunity to physically harm someone else. Virtual harm can be just as damaging though. As previously stated, identity theft can destroy someone’s entire life. They would cease to exist in the financial world. Trying to recover your identity can be emotionally grueling as