White Collar Crime - Report Example

White Collar Crime Corporate or ‘white-collar’ crime describes a varied number of illegal nonviolent offences perpetrated within a business or government to gain influence or money. White collar crime could involve such practices as willful pollution, theft of the competition’s trade secrets, laundering money, taking kickbacks or bribes, embezzlement of corporate funds and counterfeiting. Although these types of crimes cause no direct bodily harm, many people are severely hurt financially as well as physically because of unsafe and illegal working conditions and environmental pollutants. Some have postulated that criminal behavior in general is biological in nature, others that the reasoning’s are related to social and physical environmental situations. These can include a person’s learned responses that come from growing up in a high crime area, feelings of inadequacy and/or that they have been cheated from having a better life. A person may think they cannot break the cycle of deviant behavior as society has determined it their lot in life so they conform to this perception. Still others blame criminal behavior on the hierarchal make-up of society; that laws are specifically made by the aristocracy to rule over those in the lower social classes. Psychological factors and cognitive development also have been theorized to play a role in criminal behavior. The answer could be one or a combination of these theories. The code of ethics in corporate America involves determining the right course to take in the interest of increased profitability and not the interests for the welfare of society or respect for the laws that govern it. Though there are a few exceptions that prove the rule, the vast majority of corporate executives in America serve only their insatiable appetite for wealth without regard for the well-being of others, even those within their own corporation. Recent corporate scandals of epic proportions have illuminated this scandalous and unforgivable state of affairs. The self-serving goals of corporate America have created a value system not only separate but in opposition to that of society. The end result justifies any means by which to achieve it including the destruction of the environment as well as the financial gouging of customers and employees. Though non-violent by nature, the result of white collar crime is hardly harmless. A bribe to a company or government official to gain influence directly infringes upon the right of people to be treated fairly. For example, if a state official accepts a kickback from an energy company to sign a contract that supplied less than competitively priced electricity, that official is stealing from everyone supplied by that energy provider (Evans, 1999). White collar crime causes much more overall harm to society than does all other crimes combined. According to FBI statistics, robbery and burglary cost the country close to four billion dollars per year. White collar crime costs Americans many hundreds of billions of dollars per year. The savings and loan scandal is estimated to have costs between $300 and $500 billion. Fraud in the health care system costs $100 to $400 billion per year. Other scams such as auto repair and securities fraud costs $40 and $15 billion per year respectively (Mokihiber, 2003). The employees of corporations suffer most directly such as those of Enron which lost their jobs and retirement funds following the collapse of the energy giant. Corporate piracy became a news item in the 1980’s when the term ‘hostile takeover’ became a part of everyday language. During this time and extending into the 1990’s, other corporate excesses including the revelations of excessive salaries for top management and substantial employee layoffs became so commonplace it was hardly worthy of news reports. These patterns of somewhat acceptable extremes culminated in contemptibly deceptive excesses which inevitably toppled corporate giants such as WorldCom, Enron, Tyco, Global Crossing and Arthur Anderson among others in the 2000’s. Bernard Ebbers, former CEO of WorldCom, is currently serving a 25-year term in prison for the part he played the $11-billion accounting fraud which caused the downfall of his company which is MCI today. Ebbers testified that he had nothing to do with the fraud but had retired two months prior to its collapse at about the same time the company was posting a nearly $4 billion profit. Soon after his departure these hefty profit were shown to be a paperwork deception. (“Bernard Ebbers”, 2005). White collar crime has been identified by several theorists to be caused for many reasons, such as employees who perceive themselves to be treated unfairly who seek retribution, (general strain theory). The breakdown of families and/or pressures from misguided associations (Social Disorganisation Theory) can also cause an individual to be disassociated from the community leading to systematic and repetitive criminal activities. Additionally, the Opportunities Theory plays a role in all crimes. People strive for three main goals through their employment. The first, not surprisingly, is monetary gain. Money, or the lack of, causes strain which leads to delinquent behaviour in otherwise law abiding citizens. The second is a need for respect and a feeling of status, a factor especially present in males. Personality characteristics which are often associated with masculine traits are frequently exhibited through delinquent behaviour. If an individual cannot achieve this perceived status legitimately, they may resort to criminal activities. The third goal is autonomy which refers to individual empowerment, a valued asset within any society. Although strain generated by a perceived lack of autonomy has been shown to mainly affect the lower classes and adolescents, because this is a perception of position in a society or corporation, it is also linked to white collar crime as well. Agnew suggests that “the need for autonomy can result in delinquency and crime, as the individual tried to assert autonomy, achieve autonomy, and relieve frustration against those who have denied the individual autonomy” (Agnew, 1994: 425-426). The Socialization Theory dictates that criminal behaviour is a learned response because of long-term associations with groups or persons who habitually practice criminal activities. This theory is normally more suitable to forms of deviant crimes such as drug use and prostitution. According to the theory, “each person is surrounded by people, definitions, norms, and behavior patterns that differ in that some are favorable to law violation while others are not. Whether or not a person becomes deviant will be a function of the relative mixture of these pro-criminal and anti-criminal experiences” (Petee, 1987). The opportunity to commit crimes is enveloped with a theory unto itself and it crosses the lines of all manners of criminal behaviors. When presented with an open opportunity to make a gain, people, depending on their social make-up decide on whether to commit a crime. During the past couple of decades, corporate scandals of the highest magnitude have shocked us all and been the focal point of many debates on many levels of the corporate, governmental, academic and public spectrum. History has repeated itself enough times recently and a society interested in healing a capitalist system that has served it so well should enact measures that would stop the seemingly endless cycle of corruption within corporations. When the people decide they want a moral, decent and ethical society, then maybe they will refocus their efforts. Instead of imposing their morality on individuals in the form of disallowing gay marriages, for example, society should consider uniting in an effort to demand that government and corporations officials act in a moral and ethical manner. Works Cited Agnew, Robert. “Delinquency and the Desire for Money.” Justice Quarterly. Vol. 11, N. 4, (1994), pp. 411-427. “Bernard Ebbers Given 25-year Prison Sentence.” CBC News. (July 13, 2005). Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. December 9, 2006 Evans, Bryan R. “The Cost of Corruption.” Campaigning Policy. (1999). Tearfund. December 9, 2006 Mokhiber, Russell. “Top 100 Corporate Criminals of the Decade.” Corporate Crime Reporter. (April 16, 2003). December 9, 2006 Petee. “Sociology 530.” Handbook of Social Psychology; Handbook of Sociology. (1987). December 9, 2006 < http://www.nd.edu/~rwilliam/xsoc530/deviance.> Read More