StudentShare
Contact Us
Sign In / Sign Up for FREE
Search
Go to advanced search...
Free

White-collar crime and criminal theories - Essay Example

Cite this document
Summary
The purpose of this theory in the explanation of white collar crime entails the explanation of the circumstances under which offenders choose to engage in crime. According to…
Download full paper File format: .doc, available for editing
GRAB THE BEST PAPER95.3% of users find it useful
White-collar crime and criminal theories
Read Text Preview

Extract of sample "White-collar crime and criminal theories"

White Collar Crime and Criminal Theories One of the notable theories that remarkably explain white collar crime is the rational choice theory. The purpose of this theory in the explanation of white collar crime entails the explanation of the circumstances under which offenders choose to engage in crime. According to the rational choice theories, there tends to be situational factors that can be regarded as the main causes of white-collar crime. The theory stipulates that certain factors within the institution can be used as the basis upon which white-collar crime can be explained.

There is a connection between white-collar crime and rational choice. Based on the rational choice theory, individuals engage in crime deliberately, and they have the conscious that the act they engage in is criminal. The theory also holds that people engage in white-collar crime on their own and as a result of their own free will (Shover & Hochstetler 2).The rational choice theory states that individuals willing to engage in white-collar crime first evaluate their actions. Based on their evaluation of the situation, the individual then makes an assessment on whether there is a possibility that they will complete the action without any sanctions.

The rational choice theory is also states that people who carry out white-collar crime tend to be motivated to do so because of the desire to make illegal gains (Shover & Hochstetler 4). The theory further argues that the entities and individuals engaging in white-collar crime know the consequences of such a crime, but they choose to ignore these consequences and engage in crime regardless of the consequences. For example, a white-collar crime like fraud is carried out intentionally with the aim of getting unscrupulous gains.

Corporate entities also engage in white-collar crime intentionally since they know the consequences of such crime (Vito and Jeffrey 63).The other theory, which explains white-collar crime, is the social disorganization theory. According to this theory, the factors around a person have a profound impact on the possibility to commit a crime. The conflicts and inconsistency of institutions play a key role in determining whether the white-collar crime will be committed (Payne 224). The key theorist who advanced the social disorganization theory was Edwin Sutherland.

According to him, the social disintegration of society can be regarded as the basis upon which white-collar crime takes place. The disorganization of institutions contributes to white-collar crime since it enables criminals to have an easy way. White-collar crime becomes rampant when an organization is in disunity since people can commit crime and go unnoticed (Vito and Jeffrey 144).The social disorganization theory is also based on the premise that social disorganization makes people break the law and disregard the rules in an organization.

As a result, criminals found an easy way to carry out crime and engage in criminal behaviour. This theory also holds that systematic crime in an organization emanates from social disorganization. This means that white-collar crimes tend to be rampant since social disorganization leads to the occurrence of patterned, organized and repetitive crimes. Thus, social disorganization theory contends that white-collar crime can be explained on the basis of disunity and lack of harmony in an organization (Krohn et. al. 227).

Works CitedKrohn, Marvin D, Alan J. Lizotte, and Gina P. Hall. Handbook on Crime and Deviance. Dordrecht: Springer, 2009. Print. Payne, Brian K. Crime and Elder Abuse: An Integrated Perspective. Springfield, Ill: Charles C Thomas, 2005. PrintShover, Neal & Hochstetler, Andy. Choosing White-Collar Crime, 2006. Web. 25 March 2013.http://assets.cambridge.org/97805216/65544/frontmatter/9780521665544_frontmatter.pdfVito, Gennaro F, and Jeffrey R. Maahs. Criminology: Theory, Research, and Policy. Sudbury, Mass: Jones & Bartlett Learning, 2012. Print.

Read More
Cite this document
  • APA
  • MLA
  • CHICAGO
(“White-collar crime and criminal theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words”, n.d.)
White-collar crime and criminal theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words. Retrieved from https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1618972-white-collar-crime-and-criminal-theories
(White-Collar Crime and Criminal Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words)
White-Collar Crime and Criminal Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1618972-white-collar-crime-and-criminal-theories.
“White-Collar Crime and Criminal Theories Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 Words”, n.d. https://studentshare.org/miscellaneous/1618972-white-collar-crime-and-criminal-theories.
  • Cited: 0 times

CHECK THESE SAMPLES OF White-collar crime and criminal theories

Why White Collar Crimes are Committed

hellip; These occurred between the years of 2001-2002 but the criminal acts went on years before hand.... These occurred between the years of 2001-2002 but the criminal acts went on years before hand.... This is obvious by the fact that if ethic's and concern for other investors had been deciding factors, these criminal actions of fraud and embezzlement (among others) would have never taken place.... White Collar crime has not been a wide scale issue, presented by the media until recently....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Trusted Criminals: White Collar Crime

Law officers and criminologists use biological and psychological theories to explain roots and causes of white collar crime.... In general, this criminal activity is influenced by diverse social factors and reflects social situation in a particular country (Friedrichs, 2006).... The relationship between biological and genetic characteristics and the life consequence of criminal behavior is observed for other events: life expectancy, mobility, automobile accidents, and suicide. Biological influences on white collar crime are evident in sex differences between males and females....
3 Pages (750 words) Assignment

How Might Different Types of Offenders Best Be Deterred From Crime

hellip; There are avid differences between those who commit crime and then those who follow along the correct societal norms in society.... Therefore with the use of rational theory, criminologists often assume that those who commit criminal acts had the option of rationalizing their decision against those of the basic social norms.... Therefore, because these types of offender's are generally rational in their though processes and in their actions to engage in criminal activity, law enforcement would have to use a varied deterrence technique to try and sway and deter this types of offenders from repeating their criminal intentions and also to prosecute them correctly through the judicial system (Uggen & Piliavin 1998)....
12 Pages (3000 words) Essay

White Collar Criminals: The Street Thugs Uptown Cousins

opular perceptions about what constitutes a crime can be illustrated if one examines two instances of offenses, one that falls in the stereotypical notion and the other in the white-collar crime category, as under:Scenario-1: A mugger waylays a person on a dark, desolated street and demands he parts away with his possessions.... The victim recognizes this act as a crime, and the police register a case against the perpetrator.... In the second instance, though the company has gained an undue benefit of a larger sum, the incident has neither been acknowledged as a crime nor has anybody taken cognizance of it....
7 Pages (1750 words) Essay

Strain Theory in Digital Crime

According to the theory, people are pressurized to commit crime and moreover, an individual has his own requirements and expected opportunities that are formed on the basis of social structures and in case of unavailability of desired needs and opportunities, an individual is made to commit a crime (Siegel, 2011).... Digital crime and Digital Terrorism.... The criminals committing crime under strain theory are usually socially deprived individuals or… It is not always the condition that only the socially and economically deprived people commit crimes for monetary success but others who are sound in terms of acquirement of wealth Crime theories No: Roll No: Crime theories The theory that I have selected and that can result in digital crime is Strain Theory....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

Bureau of Justice Statistics

Lincoln and Pager in their research have positively identified the perception of a neighborhood that the black population is associated with crime and poor housing.... Profiling is therefore like making a landscape of criminals that joins various pieces of theories to make a picture of a potential white-collar criminal.... hellip; Studies also linked criminality with poverty and the image of a tough guy as a criminal.... The Study of New Foundation entitled Color of Crime found out that there is “more black-on-white than black-on-black crimes, blacks are 250 times more likely to do criminal violence to whites than the reverse....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay

Unit 3 Theoretical Criminology Anomie Theory

Of interesting to note is that mertonian approaches leaned towards white-collar crime and the anomie theory was used in explaining this kind of crime.... Using strain theory, one may attempt to explain how various factors such as homelessness, poverty, lack of opportunity and parenting largely contribute to the formation of crime and crime (Warner and Flower 511).... ndeed, the above fact can be used to account for white-collar crime.... Notably, criminals adopting cultural endorsed objective or goals of financial success illegally mainly characterize white-collar crime....
2 Pages (500 words) Essay

White Collar Crime

white-collar crime: Detection, prevention and strategy in business enterprises.... Criminology: theories, Patterns, and typologies.... hellip; For instance, since the introduction of Ponzi schemes by Charles Ponzi in 1920 the schemes have become a venue for the rich to make more money White Collar crime Affiliation White Collar crime White-collar crimes are committed by professional who are well educated and who understand various ways of strategizing, as well as, formulating ways of making more money....
1 Pages (250 words) Essay
sponsored ads
We use cookies to create the best experience for you. Keep on browsing if you are OK with that, or find out how to manage cookies.
Contact Us