The types and impact of white collar crimes Term Paper

The types and impact of white collar crimes - Term Paper Example A far neglected area of crime, is this negligence owing to the fact that attention has been brought to it only recently, or is it more so because the ‘criminals’ who commit these crimes are generally affluent and in a position of high social impact, thereby making them different from the stereotypical poor man turning to crime? But why is that white collar crime generally goes by unnoticed and white collar criminals go by unpunished? Is it the nature of the crime, or the nature of the offender? What constitutes these crimes and what are their effects? Along with a brief history and explanation of white crime these will be the questions the essay will be aiming to answer. Background What is white crime? White crime or white collar crime is a considerably different form of crime than the stereotypical image of street crime that the word ‘crime’ instantly conjures up in our mind. It is a more subtle, under-the-table form of crime, where rather than harm others, the main impact is to benefit one’s self (Shover, 2006). ... but the term ‘White Collar crime’ was first used by an American sociologist, Professor Edwin Hardin Sutherland, in an address to the American Sociological Society in 1939. After the World War II, in the era of the Great Depression, money was so scarce and the situation so desperate that people wanted to seek benefit in any way that they could. Considering themselves overworked and underpaid, they began to exploit their positions to their own personal advantage (Strader 2002). Sutherland defines the term ‘white collar crime’ as ‘offense committed by an individual or group of individuals who belong to respected and high social class in the course of his occupation’, Sutherland (1949) which basically meant individuals or corporations performing illegal activities which benefited their business in a certain way. Sutherland wished to draw notice to this far neglected area of crime, neglected mainly due to the fact that the ‘criminals’ gu ilty of these crimes were generally of a higher social status and position, taking them out of the stereotypical definition of a criminal, making them easier to overlook. They were workers who had earned their working positions legally through a certain amount of influence or education, therefore making them appear to be responsible, hard-working citizens of society (Gerhard, 2006). Interpretation of the exact nature of these crimes greatly varies and is not always exactly clear. For example, embezzlement and fraud is quietly obviously a crime, but is false, misleading advertisement a form of white crime or is it simply a business strategy? Is the dumping of toxic waste considered a white crime or is it simply negligence? There are wide varying definitions of what white crime actually constitutes, but they are classified by