White collar crime

White collar crime is a nonviolent crime committed by someone for financial gain. White collar crime is different from conventional crime in that it involves deceit and concealment while conventional crime involves violence or force. The term trusted criminals are relevant in white collar crime in that white collar crime is a crime committed by trusted people in important business positions. The characteristics of white collar criminals include people of high social status, better educated, employed, own big homes, and have less criminal justice involvement. The characteristics of conventional street criminals include have no education, no jobs, poor, and consider a crime is the sole or major means of livelihood (McComas et al. 2016). Conventional and white collar criminals are not the same. The white collar criminals commit the crime typically for the purpose of financial gain while conventional criminals have varying reasons for committing the offense. White collar criminals do not usually commit the crime because they are impoverished or because of social status, but because they have an opportunity. They also commit the crime because of greed.

White collar crimes affect the society emotionally and financially. The actions of white collar criminals may destroy the lives of many people as victims experience depression, isolation, anger, shame, and self-blame. Victims of white collar crime can be voluntary those exploited by swindlers and speculators who promise a fast buck and involuntary victims exploited in the commercial transaction that composes the normalized professional and economic activities (Roberson & Dimarino 2013). We measure the white collar crime's cost through examining the monetary impact on the business and society. However, it is hard to measure the cost in human costs. It is hard to measure the cost of white collar crime because the crime encompasses many different types of crime and some are debatable.

The difference between an informant and whistleblower is that the informant usually seeks remuneration for their disclosure while the whistleblower does not as they do not receive any benefit from their disclosure. A person with knowledge of wrongdoing may not come forward because of fear of losing their job and destroying a reputation. The motivation for coming forward can be as a result of the whistleblower possessing an intrinsic sense of justice or integrity. There are laws established to protect the whistleblowers so that they can speak out if they notice malpractice in an organization.

White collar criminals get lighter sentences because those accused as white collar offenders can afford fees of the best lawyers and they may have friends among the senior ranks of the judiciary, political elite, and law enforcement agencies (Simpson & Benson 2014). White collar criminals hide their transgression because it helps to prevent victims from uncovering the offenses and entering the complaint process. The criminals are usually afraid of destroying their reputation that they have been establishing for many years. Deterrence plays a role in the sentencing of white-collar crime. Deterrence supports that certainty and severity of punishment will deter criminals; thus, white collar criminals will deter from committing crimes based on severity, swiftness, and certainty of the consequences (McComas et al. 2016).

The local law enforcement is less likely to investigate white collar crime because they do not have sufficient resources to conduct the investigation. The large law enforcement agencies are more likely to investigate the crime since they have the necessary resources needed to proceed with investigations.

Asset forfeiture involves the confiscation of assets by the state, and it plays a role in white collar crime through reducing the incentive for conducting illegal activities. It helps eliminate the offender’s ability to command resources for continuing with illegal activities.

Reference

Fredericks, A., Weatherby G & McComas, R (2016). White Collar Crime: Recidivism, Deterrence, and the Social Impact. Forensic Res Criminal Int J 2(1)

Roberson, C & Dimarino, F (2013). Introduction to corporate and white collar crime. CRC Press

Simpson, S & Benson, M (2014) Understanding white collar crime. Routledge

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