NCJ Number
149856
Date Published
1994
Length
14 pages
Annotation
White-collar crime is the term used by social scientists to describe crimes committed by businesses that are not usually the focus of law enforcement efforts, but the lack of a national white-collar crime reporting system hampers the ability to understand the phenomenon and to develop appropriate prevention and control strategies.
Abstract
Scholars agree that the definition of white-collar crime lacks precision and covers an extremely broad spectrum of illegal activities by both individuals and organizations. Drawing on their analysis and critique of existing definitions of white-collar crime, the authors propose a tripartite division of the concept into business and professional crimes, occupational crimes, and individual fraud. They note that the problem of counting white-collar crimes involves two issues: (1) selecting the types of statutory or regulatory violations to be included as white- collar crimes, and (2) determining how an included white- collar crime is to be operationalized. Steps in and benefits of developing a national white-collar crime reporting system are described, and costs associated with white-collar crimes are noted. 32 references and 6 notes