White collar crime paper topics

Running head: WHITE COLLAR CRIMES 1

WHITE COLLAR CRIMES 6

White Collar Crimes

Tiara Miller

Dr. Clinton Miller

CRJ 105

Spring Quarter

July 8, 2015

White Collar Crimes

Criminal activities range from bloody violent crimes to crimes that do not present any physical threat or injury to the society. White collar crime is the topic in the heart of my research. White collar crimes can be defined as those crimes that result to financial gain through the use of deceit and persuasion. This type of an offense is very brutal and one offender could affect thousands and millions of people unlike violent crimes. Such crimes are committed by people with access to large amounts of money at their disposal and normally those that commit such crimes are people that one may not suspect, the men in suits and that is why people always fall prey to such fraudsters (Friedrichs, 2009). This research will focus on this topic pointing out why it is of interest, it further focuses on why white collar crime is becoming difficult to eradicate as the research outcomes. A reaction to this is on how best we can eradicate white collar crimes.

The research question is why white collar crime is becoming a challenge to control. The hypothesis in the topic is that white collar crimes gaining popularity and there will be such incidences in the future if something is not done. In addressing the topic, the research shall focus on literature on white collar crimes which will contribute to an in depth knowledge about white collar crimes.

There are so many scams of white collar crimes which range from intellectual property theft, insurance theft, identity fraud, business frauds and even frauds involving government officials. Several factors have contributed to the fact that these crimes have always existed despite efforts to track and hunt down the culprits. Finding out why these crimes have always happened despite their devastating effects like costing investors, wiping out savings and leaving families bankrupt as well destroying multibillion companies is the basis of my research.

To begin with, due to the nature of the crimes where blood may not be shed at all, unlike other crimes like murder, or drug abuse, burglary and gangster crimes, the society has ended up treating fraudsters with a lot of respect. To some extent, the society has even blamed victims for their loses arguing that it was their fate. Such perceptions have affected the way the law enforcement has ended up dealing with such cases making such cases fail to get the attention they should deserve yet they affect millions of people unlike other offenses (Braithwaite, 1982) .

On a different perspective, most of the police resources have been priories for violent crimes. Some cases involving white collar jobs are never priories and the research unveils reasons surrounding this. Firstly, there is lack of enough police resources and personnel to track down such cases. Secondly, there is lack of trained personnel to deal with involving and dangerous investigations surroundings some white collar crimes. The few officers’ only focus on the most serious economic crimes leaving a lot of crimes uninvestigated (Podgor, 2007). The few officers available only focus on their duties as set by the government. The situation in United Kingdom for exam has only 500 officers specialized in economic crime investigations of which half of them are diverted to more serious crimes.

Moreover, the leniency with which the law has dealt with economic crimes like white collar crimes has made it a challenge in combating such cases. With jails being perceived as places for violent criminals, this has made law makers lenient on fraudsters who have the public image of non –violent people. Such people have had low penalties to pay for their deeds like being fined, being put under probation or even receiving warnings. Some of them even easily buy their way out by hiring the best lawyers ever available and evading justice is that easy (Ogren, 1972). U S Attorney perceives Canadian courts as lazy with snail-like operations on cases involving white collar crimes.

With the changing trends in the society which includes new advanced technology, new crimes keep cropping up providing new avenues for white collar crimes (Benson, 2009). In addition, older generations are easily victimized and this makes escalating such crimes a challenge. Again, jurisdictional limitations have limited the eradication of these crimes since fraudsters take the advantage the fact that authorities fighting this crime do not extend to foreign countries. Cross border investigations have been faced by low processing as well as a lot of expenses making it difficult to conduct.

The problems associated with white collar jobs show that there is need for solutions as this crime is gaining more popularity than violent crimes. Firstly, there should be a centralized system of retrieving and disseminating information. Such a system has the advantage of being in a sole position to collect and keep a clear record of information aiding the efforts of those against these crimes. With so many agencies and systems collecting, information, there is a lot of confusion and lack of accountability. Secondly, more police officers should be recruited and given the special training needed for carrying out fraudulent investigations.

White collar crimes should be considered as serious and offensive as violent crimes and therefore there should be an established department permanently to deal with such crimes and not as part time. Again, resource allocation on white collar crimes should be equal to those allocated to other crimes (Conyers, 1979). Investigations should be carried out by different units with different specialties such that there are no inter agency rivalries since this has sabotaged investigations previously. Again, weak links will always be available and instead of trying to figure out the solution to a complex scam, it would be quite easier to deal with deal with the weak points of a problem by dividing it into different stages of investigation with a stepwise refinement strategy. Finally, the public should be educated on establishing the history and reputation of item providers before they commit their investments. They should not be lured by the image of getting rich easily or making cheap quick money as this make people easily duped.

References

Benson, M. L., Madensen, T. D., & Eck, J. E. (2009). White-collar crime from an opportunity perspective (pp. 175-193). Springer New York.

Braithwaite, J. (1982). Challenging just deserts: Punishing white-collar criminals. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 723-763.

Conyers Jr, J. (1979). Corporate and White-Collar Crime: A View by the Chairman of the House Subcommittee on Crime. Am. Crim. L. Rev., 17, 287.

Friedrichs, D. (2009). Trusted criminals: White collar crime in contemporary society. Cengage Learning.

Podgor, E. S. (2007). The challenge of white collar sentencing. The Journal of criminal law and criminology, 731-759.

Ogren, R. W. (1972). Ineffectiveness of the Criminal Sanction in Fraud and Corruption Cases: Losing the Battle against White-Collar Crime, The. Am. Crim. L. Rev., 11, 959.