Synopses & Reviews
Nearly six decades have passed since the concept of
white-collar crime was introduced and systematic scholarly investigation of it began. Although it has proven to be one of the most challenging and controversial topics in sociology, the concept has taken firm root in lay and scholarly lexicons where it is widely understand and used to denote a type of crime that differs fundamentally from street crime. One way it is different is the backgrounds and characteristics of it perpetrators; the poor and disreputable fodder routinely encountered in police stations and in studies of street crime are seldom in evidence here. Most if not all white-collar offenders by contrast are distinguished by lives by
privilege, much of it with origins in class inequality.
This reader begins together under a unifying theoretical approach the current state of knowledge about and debate over white-collar crime. Editors' introductions preface each of the six chapters in the book, and each of the thirty-one carefully chosen selections --- both classic and contemporary -- has been significantly edited for readability and suitability for the college student. The readings address conceptual conflicts as well as empirical studies of the strucutre of opportunities, the characteristics of white-collar offenders and their decision making, and the various approaches to controlling white-collar offering. Additionally, the book includes twenty-one specially designed panels that call-out particular issues from the readings by offering case examples taken from local and regional newspapers. Together, the readings and the panels offer the student both analysis and examples of white-collar crime.
Synopsis
Crimes of Privilege: Readings in White-Collar Crime examines the current state of knowledge about and debate over white-collar crime. One of the most challenging and controversial topics in sociology, white-collar crime differs fundamentally from street crime because those who commit it typically lead lives of privilege. Written by top scholars in the field, the thirty-one selections in this book include both previously published works as well as original papers. All have been significantly edited for readability and suitability for students. Organized by rational-choice theory, the readings examine the nature and sources of white-collar crime opportunities, the characteristics of white-collar offenders, white-collar criminal decision-making processes, and diverse approaches to controlling white-collar crime. Crimes of Privilege: Readings in White-Collar Crime also includes twenty-one panels chosen or prepared specifically to illustrate issues discussed in the readings. Taken primarily from local and regional newspapers or from exemplary studies of white-collar crime, some panels summarize key research on the topic while others show that a great deal of white-collar crime occurs close to home; white-collar crime is not a problem confined to Washington, D.C., to Wall Street, or to the world's largest corporations. Crimes of Privilege: Readings in White-Collar Crime provides students with a critical overview of issues and problems in white-collar crime. It is an essential text for undergraduate and graduate courses that focus on deviance, social problems, and white-collar crime.
Table of Contents
Preface
1. Conceptual Issues and Skirmishes
Introduction
White-Collar Criminality, Edwin H. Sutherland
Is "White-Collar Crime" Crime?, Edwin H. Sutherland
Collaring the Crime, Not the Criminal: Reconsidering the Concept of White-Collar Crime, Susan P. Shapiro
Organizational Crime, Alber J. Reiss, Jr. and Michael Tonry
Crime and Capitalist Business Corporations, Frank Pearce
2. Victims and Costs
Introduction
The Neglected Victims and Unexamined Costs of White-Collar Crime, Elizabeth Moore and Michael Mills
Personal Fraud and Its Victims, Richard M. Titus
White-Collar Crime Victimization, Michael Levi
Consequences of Victimization by White-Collar Crime, Neal Shover, Greer Fox, and Michael Mills
Victims of Fraud: Comparing Victims of White-Collar and Violent Crime, Linda Ganzini, Benston McFarland, and Joseph Bloom
3. White-Collar Criminal Opportunities
Introduction
"Heads I WIn, Tails You Lose": Deregulation, Crime, and Crisis in the Savings and Loan Industry, Kitty Calavita and Henry N. Pontell
From Fiddle Factors to Networks of Collusion: Charting the Waters of Small Business Crime, Hugh D. Barlow
Transaction Systems and Unlawful Organizational Behavior, Diane Vaughan
Opportunity and Crime in the Medical Profession, John Liederbach
Fire in Hamlet: A Case Study of a State-Corporate Crime, Judy Root Aulette and Raymond Michalowski
4. Decision Making
Introduction
Poverty of Theory in Corporate Crime Research, Donald R. Cressey
A Rational Choice Theory of Corporate Crime, Raymond Paternoster and Sally Simpson
Organizational Culture and Organizational Crime, Andrew L. Hochstetler and Heith Copes
Profits, Pressure, and Corporate Law-Breaking, Anne Jenkins and John Braithwaite
Rational Choice, Situated Action, and the Social Control of Organizations, Diane Vaughan
5. Sources and Characteristics of White-Collar Offenders
Introduction
Who Is the White-Collar Criminal?, Hazel Croall
Gender and Varieties of White-Collar Crime, Kathleen Daly
Corporate Control, Crime, and Compensation: An Examination of Large Corporations, D. Bilimoria
Toward Understanding Unlawful Organizational Behavior, Diane Vaughan
Characteristics and Sources of White-Collar Crime, Nicole Leeper Piquero and Alex Piquero
Competition and Motivation to White-Collar Crime, James W. Coleman
6. Controlling White-Collar Crime?
Introduction
On Theory and Action for Corporate Crime Control, John Braithwaite and Gilbert Geis
Prosecuting Corporate Crime: Problems and Constraints, Michael L. Benson
Corporate Crime and Criminal Justice System Capacity: Government Response to Financial Institution Fraud
An Evolving Compliance Model for Tax Enforcement, Valerie Braithwaite and John Braithwaite
Cooperative Models and Corporate Crime: Panacea or Cop-Out?, Laureen Snider