Deck 7: Deviance and Organizations

Question 1

What is white collar crime and how is it committed?

Answer 1

White collar crime refers to non-violent, financially motivated crimes typically committed by business professionals and government officials. This type of crime is often characterized by deceit, concealment, or violation of trust and is usually committed for financial gain.

White collar crimes can take many forms, including embezzlement, insider trading, bribery, fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion. These crimes are often committed through manipulation of financial records, exploitation of loopholes in regulations, or abuse of positions of power.

For example, embezzlement may involve a company executive siphoning off funds from company accounts for personal use, while insider trading may involve a corporate insider using non-public information to make stock trades for personal profit.

Overall, white collar crimes are typically committed through sophisticated and deceptive means, often exploiting the trust and confidence of others for personal financial gain. These crimes can have far-reaching consequences for individuals, businesses, and the economy as a whole.

Question 2

What are the types of police corruption? What industries support police corruption and what are the other kinds of supports fostering police corruption?

Answer 2

Police corruption can take various forms, including bribery, extortion, abuse of power, and collusion with criminal organizations. Some of the industries that support police corruption include the drug trade, illegal gambling, and human trafficking. These industries often seek to bribe or coerce police officers into turning a blind eye to their illegal activities or actively participating in them.

In addition to these industries, there are other kinds of support that foster police corruption. This can include a lack of oversight and accountability within police departments, a culture of silence and loyalty that discourages officers from reporting misconduct, and a lack of resources and training for officers to resist the temptations of corruption. Furthermore, political and institutional corruption can also play a role in enabling and perpetuating police corruption.

Overall, police corruption is a complex issue that is supported by a variety of factors, and addressing it requires a multi-faceted approach that targets both the root causes and the enablers of corruption.

Question 3

In what ways can corporate be considered deviant? What are the effects of price fixing? Name the questionable dealer practices found in the automotive industry and in the meat packing industry.

Answer 3

Corporate deviance can manifest in various ways, such as engaging in illegal or unethical behavior to maximize profits or gain a competitive advantage. One common form of corporate deviance is price fixing, where companies collude to set prices at artificially high levels, thereby reducing competition and harming consumers. The effects of price fixing can include higher prices for consumers, reduced choices in the marketplace, and a lack of innovation and efficiency.

In the automotive industry, questionable dealer practices can include deceptive advertising, misleading sales tactics, and the sale of defective or unsafe vehicles. These practices can harm consumers by leading them to make uninformed purchasing decisions and putting their safety at risk.

In the meat packing industry, questionable practices can include the mistreatment of animals, unsanitary conditions in processing plants, and the mislabeling of products. These practices can have negative effects on animal welfare, public health, and consumer trust in the industry.

Overall, corporate deviance in these industries can have wide-ranging negative effects on consumers, competitors, and society as a whole. It is important for companies to adhere to ethical and legal standards in their business practices to ensure fair and transparent market competition and protect the well-being of consumers and the public.

Question 4

What are Clinard and Yeager's recommendations for controlling corporate deviance?

Question 5

In what ways does organized crime resemble legitimate business What are the characteristics of organized crime? What roles, historically, have immigrant populations had in the development of organized crime and why? What are the profit sources for organized crime?

Question 6

It is estimated that the annual loss from employee theft is approximately $8 billion.

Question 7

Employees who felt that their employers were genuinely concerned with the workers' best interests reported the least theft.

Question 8

Donald R. Cressey says that in order for someone to violate their position of financial trust, only two things must occur: they must define a financial problem as non-shareable and realize the possibility of resolving it by embezzlement.

Question 9

The Knapp Commission found that the majority of corrupt police officers in New York were described as meat-eaters.

Question 10

The Knapp Commission found that gambling, narcotics, construction, "chop-shops," and bars were the main sources of police corruption.

Question 11

Support for police corruption is built into the law enforcement system because of public encouragement of corruption, police solidarity, and laws that encourage corruption.

Question 12

Over half of the 25 largest U.S. corporations have not been convicted of or have settled serious criminal charges against them in the last ten years.

Question 13

The Ford Company could have prevented approximately 180 "burn deaths" and 180 "serious burn injuries" annually by spending an additional $11 per car.

Question 14

It is permissible according to federal guidelines to allow sixty insect fragments or one rodent hair per 100 grams of chocolate.

Question 15

The cost to society of property crimes far exceeds the cost of corporate crime.

Question 16

The fact that corporate executives are almost immune from being held personally responsible for corporate actions promotes business deviance.

Question 17

An estimated 15 % of the costs of local and state political campaigns are financed by organized criminals.

Question 18

Organized crime is part of an alliance between government and criminals.

Question 19

Organized crime had its birth with the passing to the Eighteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.

Question 20

The principal sources of income for organized crime are illegal goods and services, more specifically narcotics.

Question 21

In 1939 Edwin H. Sutherland coined the term ___________ to mean crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.

Question 22

___________ are persons who use their positions of trust to acquire the employer's money for their own use.

Question 23

The Knapp Commission described two types of corrupt officers: The ___________ and the ___________.

Question 24

_______________ made illegal the monopolizing of trade and any contract, combination, or conspiracy attempting to eliminate competition.

Question 25

____________ remains the single most compelling factor in behavior deviancy by industry.

Question 26

The three main characteristics of organized crime are: It provides illegal goods and services, _________, and the use of violence for enforcement.

Question 27

The acquisition of legitimate businesses by organized criminals may represent an attempt to phase into ___________.

Question 28

Edwin H. Sutherland argued that white collar crime challenged the notion, prevalent during the 1930s, that crime was caused primarily by:

A) differential association
B) poverty and individual pathology
C) class conflict
D) inadequate social control

Question 29

The term white collar crime is misleading because:

A) Sutherland did not recognize that upper status as well as middle status persons commit crime
B) many of the behaviors do not violate the traditional criminal code
C) most of the behaviors are trivial and do not harm anyone
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 30

The term referring specifically to the theft of goods by employees is:

A) embezzlement
B) shrinkage
C) pilferage
D) misappropriation

Question 31

A study by Donald Horning of an electronics assembly plant found that workers were most likely to steal:

A) company property
B) personal property of other workers
C) property of uncertain ownership
D) essentially worthless property

Question 32

Research indicates that employee deviance is most influenced by:

A) fellow workers
B) formal reactions by management
C) training programs
D) employment screening programs

Question 33

According to research by Donald Cressey, the steps toward embezzlement involve all of the following except:

A) a non-shareable problem
B) a problem which can be secretly resolved by embezzlement
C) the learning of techniques from other embezzlers
D) the neutralizing of a self-concept as an embezzler
E) none of the above

Question 34

A frequent verbalized motive among embezzlers is that:

A) their families or friends drove them to it
B) they have no control over their actions
C) they are only borrowing the money
D) they associated with persons who encouraged them to embezzle
E) the employer is a sucker for hiring them

Question 35

According to your textbook, employees often lack feelings of responsibility toward employers because:

A) many employees are basically irresponsible
B) there is a tradition of conflict between employees and organizations
C) unions actively foster anti-business attitudes among their members
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 36

Among other things, the study of white-collar crime illustrates how the type of crime committed is a function of:

A) social disorganization
B) individual pathology
C) situation and opportunity
D) value consensus

Question 37

The term "meat-eaters" refers to police:

A) who are informants
B) who work with prostitutes
C) who spend most of their time seeking payoffs
D) who refuse to testify against fellow officers
E) none of the above

Question 38

The great majority of corrupt law officers are informally described as:

A) dope-eaters
B) meat-eaters
C) skag-eaters
D) grass-eaters
E) weed-eaters

Question 39

Which of the following was not mentioned by the Knapp Commission as being linked with police corruption in New York City?

A) gambling
B) narcotics
C) prostitution
D) construction
E) none of the above - - all were mentioned

Question 40

Knapp Commission findings on police corruption in New York City support:

A) the "rotten apple" theory
B) the findings that large-scale police corruption occurs only at the lower ranks
C) the finding that changes in the laws cannot diminish corruption
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 41

According to your textbook:

A) when police corruption occurs, it usually involves only an exceptional few in a department
B) corrupt police are often emotionally disturbed
C) the best way to diminish police corruption is by more efficient pre-employment screening procedures
D) corruption is practically assured by the structure of the law enforcement system
E) b and c above

Question 42

Which of the following appear to be factors that encourage police corruption?

A) the public's encouragement of petty graft
B) police social isolation and solidarity
C) the types of laws police are expected to enforce
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 43

The "Electrical Conspiracy" was a classic case of corporate:

A) price fixing
B) their competitors engage in similar practices
C) encouragement of dangerous working conditions
D) price cutting to eliminate competitors
E) none of the above

Question 44

According to your textbook, auto dealers often engage in deviant practices because:

A) auto makers do not screen the backgrounds of those who pick up the dealer franchises
B) their competitors engage in similar practices
C) manufacturers apply excessive pressures to sell cars
D) dealers lack ethical directions from auto makers
E) none of the above

Question 45

According to your textbook, the single most important factor promoting corporate deviance is:

A) pressure for profit
B) the lack of ethics training for businesspersons
C) industry size
D) the lack of professionalization within occupations
E) none of the above

Question 46

A study by Marshall B. Clinard found which of the following to be strongly related to corporate deviance?

A) industry size
B) degree of product diversification
C) a firm's growth rate
D) all of the above
E) none of the above

Question 47

Research by Clinard and Yeager revealed which industries to be the most criminal?

A) meat packing, electronics, and banking
B) food distribution, hospital supplies, and entertainment
C) utilities, iron & steel, and transportation
D) oil, pharmaceutical, and motor vehicle
E) paper products, clothing manufacturers, and news media

Question 48

According to your textbook, the most successful deterrent to corporate deviance is probably:

A) closer ties between the federal government and business
B) more public outrage over business offenses
C) more ethical training in business schools
D) slowing down of business growth rates
E) more government support of failing businesses

Question 49

Organized crime flourishes on a large scale in the United States primarily because:

A) its victims are afraid to complain
B) its products satisfy a public demand
C) its large-scale organization and wealth make it
D) its foreign ties make it difficult for U.S. authorities to penetrate
E) c and d above

Question 50

Probably the greatest danger of organized crime lies in its:

A) products
B) violence
C) alliances with government officials
D) connections with foreign elements
E) extortion of honest businesses

Question 51

The official U.S. government version of organized crime's __________ is challenged by scholars.

A) degree of organization
B) connections with foreign governments
C) involvement in the union movement
D) involvement in gambling
E) none of the above

Question 52

Members of the earliest organized gangs in New York were of:

A) Italian descent
B) Irish descent
C) French descent
D) English descent
E) Sicilian descent

Question 53

Prohibition was important for organized crime because it was a period when the gangs acquired:

A) closer ties with the Sicilian Mafia
B) the means for greater violence
C) greater organization and respectability
D) the organization to enter the international drug trade
E) none of the above

Question 54

Today the principal source of income for organized crime is:

A) gambling
B) narcotics
C) racketeering
D) loan sharking
E) bootlegging

Question 55

Which of the following activities have been entered by organized crime?

A) cigarette bootlegging
B) hazardous waste disposal
C) garbage disposal
D) all of the above
E) none of the above