CRIMINOLOGY

Introduction to criminology

Introduction to criminology

Introduction

When you hear the phrase white-collar crime you immediately associate it with the scandals in the financial and business circles, and complex machinations of executives. In the past 2 decades or so has been the number of highly publicized examples of white collar crimes, including Robert Maxwell, who defrauded his company, Mirror Group Newspapers pension funds. Criminologists argue that such crimes are more prevalent, more serious and more damaging to society than other crimes, such as street crime (Croall, 1992). In contrast to this view has been relatively little research and analysis of white-collar crime in the conventional criminological theories, texts and journals, in particular in the UK (Levy, 1987).

Discussion

Regardless of the prevalence of white-collar crime, criminologists early to give him attention; they saw crime as a form of deviant behaviour, which in itself is regarded as a by-product of poverty (which existed in the 18 and 19 cc.) Marxist doctrine (19th and 20 century) were of the opinion that a crime has been made the result of class struggle. White-collar crime was not at this time, but she was kind of crime was suggested by the same thought as the typical crimes of those times. It was Edwin Sutherland who first put the white-collar crime and criminological agenda since considerable controversy has always surrounded by her definition, answers and reasons (Croall, 1992). Attempts to define what is meant by white-collar crimes in the literature to bring in an ambiguous manner, it is unclear in a range of crimes we have in mind (Maguire, Morgan and Reiner, 2002).

Edwin Sutherland defined white-collar crimes, such as:

"Around .... crime committed by a person respectability

and high social status in the course of his occupation “(Sutherland, 1949, quoted by Croall, 1992:8).

Sutherland Thus different white-collar crime from the upper class crime, which was not a professional, and the crimes committed by the criminal world who lack respectability and high social status. White-collar crime, therefore, only to crimes committed in the course of a legitimate occupation. Sutherland went on to analyze various forms of white collar crime in his definition, includes activities that were not, at that time, a certified criminal law, but which, when violations of civil or administrative law are punishable by law (Croall, 1992). Some scholars argue that inadequate consider Sutherland and his adherents do not always satisfy the legal criteria for a crime, Tappan (1947) goes so far as to insist on the requirement for criminal conviction in court (Maguire, Morgan and Reiner, 2002). Restricting interest to those crimes that can only be found in a standardized crime statistics say, to deprive the term of all its meaning and definition of Sutherland suggests that white-collar crime category of idle and that white-collar criminals as well as the most common offenders, young , helpless and unsuccessful (Steffenmeiser, 1989). Various commentators have done almost the opposite argument, complaining that many white-collar criminals are just technically criminal, social and not considered at the same level with ordinary crimes, so no need ...