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Criminaloid Revisited

NCJ Number
89378
Author(s)
M L Rothman
Date Published
1982
Length
214 pages
Annotation
This dissertation examines case descriptions of criminal conduct provided in Federal presentence investigation reports, going beyond legal categories to develop a typology of white-collar crime based on the perpetrators' and victims' underlying behavior and the social context in which such behavior takes place.
Abstract
The presentence reports used were a sample of those prepared for defendants convicted of eight white-collar crimes: antitrust, bank embezzlement, bribery, credit and lending institution fraud, false claims and statements, income tax violations, postal and interstate wire fraud, and securities fraud. The typology recombines the behaviors prosecuted under each of these statutory headings into a classificatory scheme having only four categories. Fraud involves an intentional misrepresentation or nondisclosure made in order to fool the victim. Taking is theft, distinguished from fraud because its victims do not react to false display: something is taken from them, not given to defendants. In collusion, parties who are supposed to be adversaries or at arms length secretly agree to cooperate. Omission involves the refusal or neglect of a duty to perform; the culprit does nothing. The study explores some of the implications of the typology for criminological theory and practice. Footnotes and over 100 references are supplied. (Author abstract modified)