Deck 1: What Is White-Collar Crime

Question 1

Explain how Sutherland defined white-collar crime and identify one unusual features of his definition.

Answer 1

White-collar crime refers to a crime or illegal act committed by a person of high social status and respectability in the course of his/her occupation. The unusual features are:
1. The definition focuses on the characteristics of the actor rather than providing a description of the prohibited act.
2. Sutherland included violations of civil law and administrative regulations in his definitions.
3. The definition specifies the location of the act, i.e., as occurring in an occupation.

Question 2

How did Herbert Edelhertz define white-collar crime and what is one way that his definition differs from Sutherland's?

Answer 2

Edelhertz defined white-collar crime as a non-violent property crime committed by non-physical means and by concealment or guile. His definition focuses on the act rather than the actor. His definition differs from Sutherland's in that he does not mention social class or status and he does not require that the offense occur in an occupational setting.

Question 3

Discuss why Sutherland's definition of white-collar crime is so highly debated, even today.

Answer 3

Included offenses sanctioned through civil and criminal court proceedings:
-Was not limited to criminal court offenses in part because nature of white-collar criminals had power and position to evade criminal courts
Included social status and respectability in the definition:
-This means that social status cannot be used to explain or predict white-collar crime
-It also means that social status cannot be used to explain variation in the opportunities to engage in white-collar crime
-And, it cannot be used to examine how variation in offenders' statuses influence society's reaction to the crime

Question 4

Why do researchers prefer offense-based definitions of white-collar crime over offender-based definitions?

Question 5

The person who first used the term white-collar crime was:

A) Herbert Edelhertz
B) Susan Shapiro
C) Stanton Wheeler
D) Edwin Sutherland

Question 6

Four scenarios involving criminal activity are presented below. According to Sutherland's definition, which one of them would he call a white-collar crime?

A) A corporate executive has too much to drink at an office party. While he is driving home intoxicated, he strikes a pedestrian causing serious physical harm.
B) A teenager who works for a fast food chain doesn't charge his friends for the food they order when they come into the restaurant. He just gives them the food for free.
C) An executive for a computer software company learns that his company is going to be bought out by Microsoft, which will raise the price for the company's stock significantly. In violation of securities law, he buys his own company's stock on the basis of this information before it is made available to the general public.
D) A man who does odd jobs fixing up houses promises to install a new roof for an elderly couple who have a leaky roof on their house. Instead of installing the new roof, however, he just adds a few new shingles, plugs some of the holes with tar, and takes off with the couple's money.

Question 7

Herbert Edelhertz came up with an offense-based definition of white-collar crime. He defined it as

A) A non-violent property offenses committed by non-physical means using deceit or deception
B) A criminal offense committed by a person of high social status in the course of his or her occupation
C) An illegal act committed by a corporate executive for the benefit of a corporation
D) A criminal offense committed by an employee against an employer

Question 8

Which of the following is an example of what Herbert Edelhertz would call a "business crime."

A) A man who works as a teller in a bank embezzles money from some of the bank's customer's accounts
B) A telemarketer calls elderly people and tells them that they have won a free vacation in Florida if they will give him a credit card number so that he can make reservations for them. He takes the card number and runs up charges on it
C) A woman underreports her income when she files her income tax form with the Internal Revenue Service
D) A company that manufactures plastic toys illegally disposes of the hazardous waste that is generated during the manufacturing process by dumping it into a nearby stream late at night

Question 9

Herbert Edelhertz's definition of white-collar crime is an example of what type of definition?

A) Offender-based
B) Offense-based
C) Corporate-based
D) Individual-based

Question 10

According to Susan Shapiro, the defining characteristic of white-collar crime is the offender's

A) Occupancy of a position of significant power, influence, or trust in the legitimate institutional order
B) Violation or abuse of trust
C) Use of deceit or guile in the commission of the offense
D) Ability to delegitimize business and government

Question 11

Which of the following is an important contribution made by Edwin Sutherland to our understanding of crime in America?

A) Crime occurs in all social classes
B) So-called respectable people can commit great social harms
C) The law is applied differentially to those who commit street crimes as opposed to white-collar crimes
D) All of the above

Question 12

White collar professionals can include people who hold occupations such as mechanics and plumbers.

Question 13

Society as a whole cannot be a victim of white-collar crime.

Question 14

According to the textbook, offenses that are similar to modern day white-collar crimes have been around since:

A) 1980
B) The Bernie Madoff scandal
C) At least the time of Aristotle
D) The Middle Ages

Question 15

A defining feature of white-collar crime is:

A) The offenders where white shirts
B) It is tied to legitimate business activities
C) It only involves upper-class businesses and occupations
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 16

Sutherland's definition of white-collar crime includes the characteristics of the actor and the scope of their occupation.

Question 17

According to Sutherland's definition of white-collar crime, only upper-class individuals and businesses can engage in white-collar crime.

Question 18

Who commits more white-collar crime?

A) Males
B) Females
C) Males and females engage in white-collar crime equally

Question 19

Sutherland's definition of white-collar crime was:

A) Offender-based
B) Offense-based
C) Corporation-based
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 20

One shortcoming of offense-based definitions of white-collar crime is that it misses some of the most serious forms of white-collar crimes and the wealthiest of criminals.

Question 21

The major criticism of offense-based definitions of white-collar crime is:

A) It only captures the crimes of the most powerful individuals
B) It only captures the crimes of minorities
C) It misses the crimes of middle-class offenders
D) It misses the crimes of the most powerful offenders

Question 22

Social status is not related to white-collar crime.

Question 23

Only organizations and corporations - not individuals - can engage in white-collar crime.