People draw conclusions and profile the average committed street crimes by race, gender, and social classes. White-collar crimes are probably not as common as street crimes to the average person. Not everyone hears about every crime and some crimes manage to slide around the news. Society usually thinks of crime as violent or unethical abuse of some sort (leaving a baby in the car on accident). Poverty, social environments, and peer pressure influences decisions for people who committee white-collar crimes.
Society views of crime are mostly based on personal profiling of offenders and conclusions of the average convicts. A person who reads the newspaper every single day concludes a description of criminals through what they see and read. Elliott (2010) writes, “The media are quick to report crimes involving individuals that the public would normally espouse as pillars of success” (pg. 1). People think highly of celebrities and successful socialites and the public are appalled when socialites commit white-collar crimes. Media plays important parts of societal views and standards. A store that gets robbed a lot in a certain neighborhood is always on the local news channel. There would be a mental imprint telling you not to go to that store or go at night alone.
People are used to turning on the television and seeing convicted murders who fit the typical profile. The not so typical profile such as Martha Stewart or John Rigas is upsetting because their crimes are not the usual norms of society. People symbolize social norms by following the rules of society and maintaining individual society roles. Physical crimes are often more upsetting to people than white-collar crimes. Mooney, Knox, & Schacht (2011) write, “Nonetheless, many white-collar criminals go unpunished” (pg. 124). People who commit white-collar crimes probably think the sentence for getting caught will not be extreme punishment. Therefore, some white-collar criminals take the risk and label their behavior as accepting.
The economical depletion makes poverty, unemployment, and business struggles worse within communities. Elliot (2010) writes, “Certainly, the global economic crisis we are currently experiencing sets the stage for desperate financial measures” (pg.2). Financial problems affect all social classes in different ways. Someone working at a fast food chain that gets paid minimum wage may have trouble financially. There may be children they must support by any means necessary.
...se responsible for the creation of law and the enforcement of said laws are contributing to the carnival mirror by targeting young, black, males from urban centers in particular. A focus on street crimes over white collar crimes is a discriminatory practice by the capitalist system. Corporate crimes create societal damages but are often not recognised since resources are allocate to the fight against crimes committed by the lower classes. By allowing the system to continue operating in this capitalist fashion, false consciousness continues and the working class suffers.
White-collar crime is the financially motivated illegal acts that are committed by the middle and upper class through their legitimate business or government activities. This form of crime was first coined by Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as “a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” (Linden, 2016). Crime has often been associated with the lower class due to economic reasons. However, Sutherland stressed that the Criminal Justice System needed to acknowledge illegal business activity as crime due to the repercussions they caused and the damage they can cause to society (Linden, 2016). Crime was prevalently thought to only be
The media plays a huge role in forming people's perceptions of crime. Without the media we would remain ignorant to occurrences outside our direct social groups. The media and especially news coverage therefore provides us with an important point of contact with the rest of society. In evaluating its effect on popular perceptions of crime it becomes important to consider where most of the information comes from and how representative it is on actual criminality. If it takes "facts" (the truth, the actual event, a real thing) or if it is heightened to a crime myth. With a myth being based upon "exaggeration" or heightening of "ordinary" events in life. Crime myths become a convenient mortar to fill gaps in knowledge and to provide answers to question social science either cannot answer or has failed to address. Myths tend to provide the necessary information for the construction of a "social reality of crime (Quinney, 1970)." As crime related issues are debated and re debated, shaped and reshaped in public forms, they become distorted into myth, as largely seen in the mass media.
white-collar crime” (Shapiro, S. P.). It is no surprise to anyone that positions of trust regularly decentralize to corporations, occupations, and “white-collar” individuals. Nevertheless, the concept of “white-collar crime” involves a false relationship between role-specific norms and the characteristics of those who typically occupy these roles. Most of the time, it is the offender that is looked at more than the crime itself and assumptions about the individuals automatically come into play. It has be to acknowledged that “ class or organizational position are consequential and play a more complex role in creating opportunities for wrongdoing and in shaping and frustrating the social control process than traditional stereotypes have allowed” (Shapiro, S. P.). The opportunities to partake in white-collar crime and violate the trust in which ones position carries are more dependent upon the individuals place in society, not just the work place. The ways in which white-collar criminals establish and exploit trust are an important factor in truly exploring and defining the concept of white-collar crime.
Today, worldwide, there are several thousands of crimes being committed. Some don’t necessarily require a lethal weapon but are associated with various types of sophisticated fraud, this also known as a white-collar crime. These crimes involve a few different methods that take place within a business setting. While ethical business practices add money to the bottom line, unethical practices are ultimately leading to business failure and impacting the U.S. financially.
Why does white collar and corporate crime tend to go undetected, or if detected not prosecuted? White collar and corporate crimes are crimes that many people do not associate with criminal activity. Yet the cost to the country due to corporate and white collar crime far exceeds that of “street” crime and benefit fraud. White collar and corporate crimes refer to crimes that take place within a business or institution and include everything from tax fraud to health and safety breaches. Corporate crime is extremely difficult to detect for many reasons.
Shover, N, & Hochstetler, A. (2006). Choosing white-collar crime. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.
White collar crimes do not garner as much media attention as that of violent crimes (Trahan, Marquart, & Mullings 2005). This is an odd fact because white collar crimes cost society much more than violent crimes do (Messner & Rosenfeld 2007). While there are many different definitions for white collar crime, Schoepfer and Piquero describe it as a nonphysical crime that is used to either obtain goods or to prevent goods from being taken (2006). People who commit these crimes are looking for personal or some sort of organizational gain and are being pressured to be economically successful from the idea of the American dream. The authors suggest that there are two types of people who commit crimes, those who have an immense desire for control and those who fear losing all they have worked hard for (Schopfer & Piquero 2006). Both groups have different reasons for turning to crime, but both groups commit the crime to benefit themselves. It was found that higher levels of high school drop outs were directly correlated to levels of embezzlement in white collar crime (2006). Because they are drop outs, they are less likely to be successful legitimately and turn to crime more often than their graduate
1. Reiman explains that the idea that white collar crime is taken less seriously is because it protects the elite classes. For example, if the public believes they should fear the poor more than the rich, the rich can commit more crimes and go unnoticed because the population is focused on the poor Reiman explains that that the way crime is explained does not exactly fit what we think crime is. He explains that the notion that white-collar crime being harmless is based on the idea that white collar crimes do not end in injury or death is false because more people’s lives are put at risk than “lower class” crimes. Reinman thinks it is necessary to re- educate the public on white-collar crimes for economic
White collar crime is viewed as non-violent and treated differently than other types of crimes; some that are even violent in nature. In general, personal and public perception can vary from one individual to another. “A recent survey conducted by the National White Collar Crime Center (NWCCC) confirm that the public considers certain white collar crimes as more serious than some street crimes, according to Drs. Marilyn Price and Donna Norris” (Perri, J.D., CFE, CPA, 2011, p. 23). Even though white collar crimes do not seem a violent as someone that commits murder; there is still major damage done. For example, a fraud victim goes through a lot of hardship. They can be harassed, have their identity stolen and lose everything. This in many cases can be looked at as a severe crime. Valuables taken during a burglary can be replaced easily, but someone’s identity and livelihood cannot be given back. Most white...
To conclude, the perception of crime is greatly impacted by how media portrays victims of crime, criminals and law enforcement officials are viewed. Often media organisations over-dramatize crime problems to gain consumer attention. The misperception of crime to society impacts how the community live, and how the media presents an inaccurate view of the real level of crime within society. It is believed that the nature of crime in our society is not accurately presented by the
The foundation of our country, the keystone to our democratic system, is the integrity of social institutions that we not only assume we can trust but have come to rely on for most aspects in our daily lives. The integrity of these social institutions can only be achieved through building blocks such as internal controls and independent, verifiable information. White collar criminals build a sense of false integrity around them in order to gain the trust of their victims, ranging from the young to the very old. Friedrich’s (2010) Trusted Criminals defines the foundation to white collar crime, the level of trust we have for those in power. We trust those in charge, those with power, and those who represent the integrity of our social institutions.
Over the years and with various mediums crime has illustrated in many different ways, ranging from the facts driven newspapers to the films that make the audience feel sympathy for the criminal. Although there is a significant amount of research conducted on the role the media plays in instigating people into the world of crime, there is a distinct lack of research and information on why the media is saturated with real life criminals-turned-celebrities and why the public continues to be fascinated by them. The information collected from a wide variety of sources indicate that criminal’s stories provide a source of entertainment and fascinate the general public and there will always been a strong desire to read or watch the next story. The majority of my literature agrees with my hypothesis and gives detailed examples and research into the subject matter.
Throughout society there are both individuals and groups of people with a wide range of perceptions about crime and justice. These perceptions are influenced by the media and what the media presents. Media presents crime stories in ways that selectively distort and manipulate public perception, thus creating a false picture of crime. Therefore the media provides us with perceptions and social constructions about our world. Firstly I will be discussing the role of the media in constructing knowledge about crime. I will begin by explaining why the media is important, and go further to explain that media representations construct knowledge of crime and since knowledge about crime is constructed it does not necessarily capture reality in fact crime stories are often sensationalised. I will then link this to my central argument that the media shapes people’s perceptions of crime and how this is important as it can lead to changes in the law. I will then explain what it is that the public or society needs to be aware of when reading and watching media reports about crime. We need to be aware of bias and moral panics that are created by the media and how the media shapes or influence’s public perception through this, it is important for us to be aware of misleading or false crime stories so that we are not swayed by the media in believing what they want us to believe.
Their crimes are more widespread, affecting millions of families probably by fraud of services that everyone should have the rights to such as insurance and health care. They may also swindle a majority out of their money for false promises. We don’t punish white-collar criminals justly because they have never directly impacted victims of their crimes but indirectly lessen their means of life financially. It is typically the non violence factor of their crimes that lessen their charges compare to a mugger that may assault their victims.