Organizational crime and organizational criminology are about organizations. Organizational crime is white-collar crime committed with the support and encouragement of a formal organization and intended at least in part to advance the goals of that organization. The distinction between organizational crime and occupational crime is not easy to maintain. Growing interest in organizational crime and corporate crime has been matched by increasing interest in organizational culture. The problem of organizational crime has received attention from investigators only in the 20th century.
While organizational crime cannot be punished with prison terms, they can be heavily fined, ordered to make restitution, placed on probation, forced to forfeit property, suffer public and stakeholder recriminations, and can be forced out of business. Blue-collar Crime, Green-collar Crime, Red-collar Crime, and Pink-collar Crime also occur in organizations. There are new forms of crime in organizational crime involved in the pursuit of legitimate business objectives.
Cultural explanation and organizational crime
Neal Shover, Andy
Hochstetler. Organizational crime has
received attention from investigators. Growing interest in organizational crime and
corporate crime has been matched by interest in organizational culture. The influence of hierarchy and agency
as constraints on organizational culture has received insufficient attention. We interpret
the appeal of organizational culture despite the absence of demonstrated predictive value,
and we call for additional research on sources of variation in organizational crime.
Criminological theory
and organizational crime - Braithwaite, John
Abstract: To understand the circumstances that lead to organizational crime, we need to
consider the insights of strain theories on the distribution of legitimate and
illegitimate opportunities, of labeling theory on the
way stigmatization can foster criminal subculture formation,
of subcultural theory as applied to organized business subcultures of resistance to
regulation, and of social control theory. It is
contended that an integration of these perspectives into a theory of organizational crime
is possible; a continuity can be established with the mainstream traditions of
criminological theory in the domain of organizational crime.
Rethinking
organizational crime and organizational criminology - Lippens R.
Abstract: Organizational crime and organizational criminology, obviously, are,
or should be about "organization''. New forms, and new modalities of
organizational morality are taking shape. This,
as will hopefully become clear, is of importance to organizational
criminologists who, inevitably, though often implicitly, have been researching
and writing about organizational or business ethics and morality for some time
now. This essay suggests an alternative way of conceptualizing life and
regulation in contemporary organizations.
Developing the Process Model of Collective Corruption
Donald Palmer, Michael W.
Maher.
There are two explanations of organizational crime. The dominant one assumes that people
make discrete decisions and develop positive dispositions to engage in crime before
embarking on criminal behavior. An emerging
alternative assumes that people often embark on criminal behavior through a
process and without first developing positive dispositions. The authors review
the dominant explanation of organizational crime, delve into its two main
variants, and provide examples of each.
The Origins and Development of the Concept and Theory of State-Corporate
Crime
Ronald C. Kramer, Raymond J. Michalowski, David
Kauzlarich.
The important contributions made by Richard Quinney to the study of corporate crime and
the sociology of law, crime, and justice have
influenced the development of the concept of state-corporate crime. This concept has been
advanced to examine how corporations and governments intersect to produce social harm.
The creation of this concept has directed
attention to a neglected form of organizational crime and inspired numerous empirical evidence studies and theoretical refinements.
Organizational Crime,
Auditors and Liberal Government - Philip D. Bougen
This paper has three themes, circumstances under which organizational crime is committed
and measures designed to prevent it, role and responsibilities of
company auditors in preventing organizational crime, and the practices of liberal
government in Ireland with respect to organizational crime. Abstract: Organizational crime often comes to the forefront of public attention in the
aftermath of the disclosure of a spectacular case of corporate crime, as politicians and
regulators examine the details and consider appropriate responses. An example of
organizational crime in Ireland is presented. In considering
organizational crime as an illustration of the failure of liberal government.
Corporate Crime - An Organizational Perspective - Peter Wickman and Timothy
Dailey, R C Kramer.
Sponsoring Agency: Western Michigan University. Organizational goals, organizational structure, and organizational environment are the
major organizational factors that influence the commission of corporate crimes. Abstract: Corporate crime is the illegal or socially harmful behavior that results from
deliberate decisionmaking by corporate executives in accordance with the operative goals
of their organizations. An analysis of corporate crime must include an examination of the nature of the internal
structure of the organization and the influence of this structure on organizational
behavior.
On the Relationship between Organized and White-Collar Crime: Government, Business
and Criminal Enterprise in Post-Communist Russia. Journal European
Journal of Crime, Criminal Law and Criminal Justice. Abstract: Analyzes the emergence of a new form of crime in organizational
crime involved the pursuit of legitimate business objectives.
Organizational Crime: Two Models of Criminogenesis - Martin L. Needleman,
Carolyn Needleman.
Sociological interest in the "criminogenic" features of organizational structure
has tended to focus on crime-coercive corporate systems that compel their members to
commit illegal acts as the price of successful system membership. Using the securities industry as an
illustration, we review some elements we feel may be characteristic of crime-facilitative
systems, and suggest some directions for further investigation. To yield a coherent and
testable theory of organizational crime, research in this area now needs to move beyond
simple identification of corporate criminogenesis, and on to specification of the
conditions under which various types of criminogenesis are likely to occur.
THE SAVINGS AND LOAN DEBACLE, FINANCIAL CRIME, AND THE STATE -
K. Calavita, R. Tillman,
H. N. Pontell.
Abstract: The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s was one of the worst financial
disasters of the twentieth century. We argue here that much financial fraud of the sort
that contributed to this debacle constitutes "collective embezzlement," and that
this collective embezzlement may be the prototypical corporate crime of the late twentieth
century. We further argue that the state may have a different relationship to this kind of
financial fraud than to manufacturing crime perpetrated on behalf of corporate profits. In
the conclusion, we suggest that an understanding of the relationship between financial
fraud and state interests may open up new regulatory space for the control of these costly
crimes.
CAN THE GENERAL THEORY OF CRIME ACCOUNT FOR COMPUTER OFFENDERS: TESTING LOW SELF-CONTROL AS A PREDICTOR OF COMPUTER CRIME OFFENDING - David Robert Foster, Master of Arts, 2004. Thesis directed by: Professor Sally Simpson, Department of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Many theorists disagree entirely with the general theory’s view of white-collar crime. Rather than self-control explaining all types of white-collar crime, critics claim that some forms of white-collar crime, such as organizational crime, are better explained by differences in corporate or organizational norms and values.