WHITE-COLLAR CRIME

White-Collar Crime

White-Collar Crime

Introduction

Although American sociologists during the mid twentieth century originally defined and used the concept of white-collar crime , it has long since entered into a more general public consciousness. Law enforcement officers, prosecutors, and defense attorneys view white-collar crime as a significant category of criminal activity. The subject is taught in most American law schools. The term has appeared in substantive criminal law legislation, and journalists and politicians refer to it regularly. In addition, the phrase and its equivalents are increasingly used outside the United States, both in English and in translation.

As use of the term has proliferated, however, so too has the range of its meanings. While social scientists, in general, have tended to emphasize the social status of the offender, lawyers and legal academics have tended to focus on the nature of the offense. Even within these general camps, however, there is tremendous variation in how people use the term. In fact, it may be that white-collar crime is now a general umbrella term invoked as much for polemical and for marketing purposes as for scholarly or analytical ones.

White-Collar Crime in the Law

Since the 1970s, white-collar crime has developed into a standard subject in the curriculum of American law schools. Scores of law school courses are now devoted to the subject, and the instructors of such courses can choose from a significant number of casebooks, treatises, and other materials. Countless “continuing legal education” programs, sponsored by dozens of bar associations, are also devoted to the subject. Most of this curriculum deals with general principles of corporate criminality and a few specific offenses such as mail and wire fraud, perjury, obstruction of justice, conspiracy, and the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, 18 U.S.C. §§ 1961-1968 (2000). Beyond this, there is little consensus. While some ...