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Controlling Unlawful Organizational Behavior - Social Structure and Corporate Misconduct

NCJ Number
91718
Author(s)
D Vaughan
Date Published
1983
Length
186 pages
Annotation
To gain insights into the operations of corporate crime, this book analyzes the case history of a Medicaid provider fraud in which a large drugstore chain initiated a computer-generated double billing scheme that cost the State and Federal governments half a million dollars in Medicaid funds that the company believed were rightfully theirs.
Abstract
The text analyzes why the crime was committed, how it was detected, and how the case was built. The theoretical aspects of the book scrutinize the complex interworkings of business and government, explaining the roles of large organizations as victims, offenders, investigators, and prosecutors. Throughout the discussion, questions are asked about organizational misconduct that are different for those previously asked by sociologists. For example, the author questions what there is about the routine activities of organizations, their environment, structure, processes, and transactions with other organizations that pressures them toward unlawful solutions to their dilemmas. It is suggested that the broader context of American society may actually foster such illegal actions by organizations. Arguing that the corporation may be as much a victim of the regulatory system as a victimizer, the author concludes that organizational misconduct could be decreased by less regulation and more sensitive bureaucratic responses. Chapter notes, an index, and over 100 references are provided. (Author abstract modified)

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