When it comes to measuring the amount and cost of white collar crime, it is very difficult to collect information, unlike conventional crime. The FBI use the traditional Summary Reporting System, in which "law enforcement agencies tally the number of occurrences of Part I offenses, as well as arrest data for both Part I and Part II offenses, and submit aggregate counts of the collected data in monthly summary reports either directly to the FBI or indirectly through state UCR Programs." For white collar crimes, the Summary Reporting System covers all of the offense that fall under white collar. But since white collar crimes are not conventional crimes, the only way to receive information are by arrest information giving by police. The reason …show more content…
for this is because "The arrest rates for the offenses of embezzlement fraud and forgery/counterfeiting are much lower than the arrest reach for property crime or for total crimes in general. Also the summary reporting system was developed in the 1920s, when Edwin Sunderland was establishing the idea of white-collar crime. Because white collar crime was not enacted in the summary reporting system, many of its laws were developed in three time periods.
The progressive era where they pass antitrust laws, the new deal which they pass the social welfare laws, and during the 1960s when they pass the customer protection laws. With all these laws being passed through out different time periods, the summary reporting system was unable to keep up with new laws due to its well documented limitations, which white-collar crime was a part of. The FBI is lamented the new system able to measure white-collar crime with the National Incident Based Reporting System or NIBRS. In using NIBRS, white-collar crime is spilt into two groups: group A and group B. Most agencies list white-collar crimes in group B where "all other offenses" are categorized in. Like the summary arrest data, because it's categorized under "all other offenses", it's hard for anyone to figure out white-collar offenses from other types of offenses. During 1997 through 1999, "white-collar crime accounted for approximately 3.8 percent of the incidents reported to the FBI". The NIBRS also have 53 data elements divided into six segments, but most of those elements are not implemented to white collar
crime. Because the data elements are only applicable for crimes against people, white collar offenses are mostly crimes against properties. "Four data elements of particular interest for measuring white-collar crimes are offender suspected of using..., location type, property description, and type of victim." Since white-collar deals with mostly crimes against properties, "property values associated with white collar incidents appear to be more secure than are property crimes in total". Considering NIBRS was created to help out law enforcement, there data is collected from local or state agencies and not federal agencies, where white collar crime falls under. As well as investigation and regulatory of corporate white collar crime are handled by regulatory agencies and professional associations, not the police or other law enforcement agencies. Many white collar offenses are reported to the UCR program, only if the charges are filed which is uncommon for cases of corporate crime. Because victims report crimes to law enforcement and law enforcement report crimes to the UCR, there have been problems in reporting these crimes. Also, "many victims are unaware that they have been deceived or are too ashamed to report the offenses" and "corporations tend not to report white-collar crime perpetrated against themselves because it may negatively affect the reputation of the company". Because of the limited amount of offense that is provide the UCR, there is also a limited amount of information given as well.
The installment of new security could even be a problem, for people who operate these new security systems could also be a potential thief. There is an approach among many enterprises that it is simpler to easily excuse the employee who committed the offense, instead of dealing with the law and the officers; and follow through with the money and time by prosecuting in order to seek restitution. Sometimes the firm does not to acquire the negative publicity that has to do with the internal offense, especially when their reputation is predominant to their company model. White-collar crime is often categorized as a crime without a victim, damaging only large, objective corporations. Recent news broadcasts portray nothing could be farther from the absolute truth.
The UCR is a cooperative effort for nation-wide law enforcement agencies to report on national crime statistics. According to the FBI's "Summary of the Uniform Crime Reporting Program," every month, "18,000 city, university and college, county, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement agencies voluntarily report data on crimes brought to their attention" (as cited in "Uniform Crime Reports"). The UCR first began in the 1920s and 30s. By 1930, the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) was made responsible for compiling the data, though the FBI does not and has never collected the crime statistic data itself. The UCR divides crimes into two major categories called Part I offenses and Part II offenses. Part I reports data on "violent and property crimes" ("Uniform Crime Reports"). The list of crimes included under the violent crime classification is "aggravated assault, forcible rape, and robbery" ("Uniform Crime Reports"). The list of crimes classified under property crimes
The National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS) is information that is gathered by the U.S Census Bureau. Unlike UCR this information is not given by law enforcement officials, but by a household survey that is conducted about twice a year. When the survey is being commenced they place the crimes into two different categories; person crimes and property crimes. NCVS has four objectives when obtaining information; “(1) to develop detailed information about the victims and consequences of crime, (2) to estimate the number and types of crimes not reported to the police, (3) to provide uniform measures of selected typed of crimes, and (4) to permit comparisons over time and types of areas.” (NACJD)
The Uniform Crime Report, according to Balkan (2015), while it doesn’t focus on the white collar crimes as much does focus on the part one offense like homicide and most of the part two offenses as well—the National Crime Victimization Survey actually excludes the serious crimes such as part one offenses. With that said, the Uniform Crime Report as many would agree is more inferior to other crime reporting alternatives. Balkan (2015) points out that the National Crime Victimization Survey will ask the additional questions to determine offender characteristics such as age, gender, race, and so
In the article Victims and Offenders in Two Crime Statistics Programs: A Comparison of the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) and the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS), (herein after NCVS and NIBRS will be called “systems” when referencing the statistics of the nature of the crimes), the comparison of the two reporting systems for crimes are similar. These two reporting systems are a visual representation of the crimes that are reported. They do not account for crimes that are not reporting or crimes that are reported after the date. They report crime only when there is an official report, such as one by the officer that comes to the scene of the crime to take statements from the individuals. NCVS and NIBRS are only report burglary, larceny, aggravated assault, and vehicle theft. They do not report on more serious crimes such as rape or murder.
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
E.). There are various costs of white-collar crime, although an accurate measurement is not easy, they are hard to asses as well as very complex. There are enormous financial losses, sometimes physical damage as a result of negligence, as well as social costs: weakened trust in a free economy, confidence loss in political organizations, and destruction of public morality. “White collar crime could also set an example of disobedience for the general public, with citizens who rarely see white-collar offenders prosecuted and sent to prison becoming cynical about the criminal justice system” (Conklin, J. E.). White-collar crime is undeniably a crime and often encompasses elaborate
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.
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.
It is customary to divide the categories of crimes, according to their violence ratio. For example, there are violent crimes, typically thought of as street crime, such as first degree, second degree, manslaughter and non-violent crimes such as blackmail, bribery, embezzlement, and forgery. However, the term “violent” can be applied to both street crimes and white collar crimes. Although street crimes are usually thought of as taking something by force, white collar crimes are typically perpetrated by a “respectable person”. The Department of Justice defines white collar crimes as “those classes of non-violent illegal activities which principally involve traditional ideas of deceit, deception, concealment, manipulation, breach of trust,
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
The Uniform Crime Report, which was developed in the 1930s, is commonly used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a record of crimes committed all across the United States. These crimes, which fall under two categories, Part I and Part II offenses, are reported by local police to the Federal Bureau of Investigation each year. Part I offenses are considered to be the more serious of crimes recognized by society. Such examples of this are homicide, forcible rape, robbery, arson, motor vehicle theft, etc. Part II offenses are those that are considered less serious, such as fraud, simple assault, drug abuse, gambling, stolen property, embezzlement, etc. Part I crimes can also be subdivided into what are known as violent crimes and property crimes. (Barkan, 2012). However, there are both some positive and negative aspects of this type of crime measurement. The following paper will explore the small amount of pros and numerous cons associated with the Uniform Crime Report.
White collar crime has been discussed more frequently in the last few years. The news has made society aware that white collar crime occurs almost as often as other criminal activity. In fact, white collar crime is one of the most costly crimes. It is a billion dollar criminal industry. White collar criminals seem to continue to engage in the criminal practices because there is no set standard in the penalties given to those that are caught.
Fraud and white-collar crime are common forms of crimes that people commit in various aspects and positions in the corporate world. Fraud and white-collar crimes have similar meaning as they refer to the non-violent crimes that people commit with the basic objective of gaining money using illegal means. The cases of white-collar crimes have been increasing exponentially in the 21st century due to the advent of technology because fraudsters apply technological tools in cheating, swindling, embezzling, and defrauding people or organizations. White-collar crime is a complex issue in society because its occurrence is dependent on many factors such as organizational structure, organization culture, and personality traits. Thus, the literature review examines how organizational structure, organizational culture, and personality traits contribute to the occurrence of white-collar crimes.