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Dilemmas of Corruption Control

NCJ Number
175692
Author(s)
James Jacobs
Date Published
1999
Length
0 pages
Annotation
This video of a lecture from the series "Perspectives on Crime and Justice" identifies and discusses some of the obstacles and dilemmas that must be addressed in any strategy for combating corruption among public officials.
Abstract
Dr. James B. Jacobs first notes the importance of preventing and rooting out corruption among public officials, because such corruption not only may involve criminal behavior but may also have the effect of undermining effective government functioning and public confidence in the government. He then identifies a number of dilemmas that obstruct the planning of strategies to counter corruption. First, there are no data on the rate of official corruption, which not only has a bearing on the determination of its seriousness and prevalence, but also prevents an objective assessment of the effectiveness of strategies to counter it. Second, there is no consensus among researchers on variables that might be used to collect data on corruption, which leads to a third dilemma, i.e., the lack of agreement on the definition of corruption. In the latter case, there is disagreement about whether corruption should encompass only violations of formal laws or also include questionable ethical and moral behavior by public officials. A fourth dilemma is the lack of a frame of reference or proven strategy upon which to base legislation designed to prevent and sanction behavior deemed corruptive of proper governing. A fifth dilemma is that such legislation tends, therefore, to be indeterminate and cumulative, without having any means to determine which laws are cost-effective. Other dilemmas pertain to the cost of anticorruption controls whose effectiveness cannot be measured, the negative side effects of existing anticorruption laws, and the conflicts of interest involved in the investigation and prosecution of public corruption. Questions from the audience follow the lecture.