White-Collar Crime

White-Collar Crime

1. Examples

   • Libor rates
     • Recent recording released in April 2017 implicates the Bank of England in manipulating Libor rates
     • Judge claimed Hayes did it to gain status, seniority and remuneration
     • Hayes currently the only individual convicted, despite the practice being widespread Degree-educated
     • In 2015 former city trader Tom Hayes was convicted of conspiracy to defraud for manipulating Libor rates. He has been jailed for 14 years which has since been cut to 11 years
   • Tax evasion
     • In 2012 Amazon and Starbucks came under fire for failing to pay their fair share of taxes, using legal offshore financial centres where taxes were lower
     • Amazon paid £2.4m in tax, just below the £2.5 it received from the Scottish government to expand its warehouses
   • Green crime
     • In 1984 the Union Carbide chemical company leaked poisonous gas, affecting half a million people
     • Leaks led to deaths, birth defects, blindness and the pollution of the crime site

2. Under-representation

   • WCC is hard to detect and are relatively invisible. Offenders appear to be doing their normal jobs and a justified at being present at the scene. Cover-ups and networks of influence means crimes are never discovered
     • Sayer (2015): the rich largely shape the law so that they are unlikely to end up in prison. For instance, they ensure that governments do not close loopholes that allow tax evasion
   • Croall (2007): crimes are often victimless, often done against 'the taxpayer' or 'the NHS'. There is less obvious personal harm. Clarke (1990): these are 'complaintless' harms
   • Croall (2007): victims may lack expertise to know whether they are being misled or defrauded and may be unaware of any harm done to them. Often happens with pollution, food adulteration, false advertising, etc.
   • Offences often only lead to reprimands from regulatory bodies and government agencies, like the Environment Agency. Corporations may not wish to report embezzlement because it would damage their reputation
     • Offenders may be dealt with internally instead
   • Juries may hold the stereotype that crime is mainly a working-class phenomenon and that respectable middle-class individuals like themselves are just lapsing from otherwise good behaviour
   • Even if offences like fraud are suspected, the involve some form of technical and insider knowledge. Investigation requires a lot of skills and expert knowledge which local and national police forces may lack

3. Control theory

   • Individuals who carry out corporate crimes are socialised into an aggressive management culture which encourage ruthless business practices. Corporate crime may be seen as extensions of normal business practice
   • Nelken (2012): strain and control theories converge. Individuals trying to maintain lifestyles will innovate by using illegitimate means to resolve financial difficulties and expectations
   • Helps to explain offences committed by people who are affluent and very successful in terms of society's values and goals

4. Marxism

   • Slapper and Tombs (1999): capitalism is criminogenic, pushing corporations to make profit by illegal means. Includes concealment of profits, fraud and false advertising
   • Laws reflect the interests of the rich and the ruling-class. Snider (1991): states only pass health and safety laws because of public outcry or union agitation. Strengthened reluctantly and weakened wherever possible
     • E.g., Sayer (2015)
   • Argue that the law are selectively enforced to protect the interests of capitalism

5. Differential association

   • Sutherland suggests that if people associate with others who also support illegal activities, they will commit crime themselves
   • The aggressive management cultures in business circles may generate a climate for corporate crime

6. Strain theory

   • Criticism of Merton's study is that successful middle-class people have legitimate means of achieving their goals
   • However, the middle-class may still have a sense of relative deprivation and want more than they can achieve through legitimate means
   • Crime is driven by greed and power. They are forms of innovation and attempts to maintain profits in competitive markets

7. Edgework

   • Katz (1988) and Lyng (1990, 2005) suggest crime is a seductive, pleasurable experience. Thrill-seeking and risk=taking may be the motivation, not material gain
     • Nelken (2012): cites evidence from world of finance. There is a subculture in which young men strive for living life in the fast lane and making hard choice, valuing these as much as money itself

8. Labelling

   • Croall (2007): corporate crime is often not accompanied by an intent to harm, like dumping of toxic waste, so appear less criminal
   • Nelken (2012): Offenders employ accounts and lawyers to redefine their crimes as non-criminal oversights