Deck 2: Who Is the White-Collar Offender

Question 1

Discuss the Yale study's findings regarding the description of the white-collar criminal and describe the limitations of the study.

Answer 1

The researchers only studied 8 federal offenses; The researchers only studied 7 federal districts; The researchers included only cases that were convicted in federal court; The researchers relied on conviction cases only

Question 2

Who is the white-collar criminal in terms of background characteristics (race, gender, age, education) and describe how that is connected to their opportunity for white-collar crimes.

Answer 2

The majority of white-collar offenders are male, white, and about 40. More have college degrees than common criminals (about 40%), but the majority do not hold college degrees. Although they range in status and position within their organizations, their background characteristics put them in a position to have access to commit white-collar offenses.

Question 3

Discuss the stereotypical white-collar offender, and describe how well the data do or do not "match" or support this stereotype.

Answer 3

Stereotype = no prior criminal behaviors, wealthy. Reality = 40% have prior arrests. Not all are wealthy. Some are repeat offenders - not all first time offenders. There is variation among white-collar offenders but they still "look" different than common criminals in terms of background characteristics and status.

Question 4

What do the "careers" of white-collar offenders look like?

Question 5

According to the Yale study of people convicted of white-collar crimes in Federal courts, the average white-collar offender in terms of race, sex, and age is:

A) Female, black, and under 30
B) Male, black, and about 40
C) Male, white, and over 50
D) Male, white, and about 40

Question 6

Both the Yale study and the Forst and Rhodes study found that approximately what percentage of the people convicted of white-collar crimes in Federal courts have prior arrests?

A) Less than 10 percent
B) Around 20 percent
C) Around 40 percent
D) More than 60 percent

Question 7

According to the Yale study, in which of the following white-collar offenses do women have the highest rate of participation?

A) Antitrust offenses
B) Bank embezzlement
C) Securities fraud
D) Bribery

Question 8

Some research on the personalities of white-collar offenders suggests that they have distinctive psychopathic personality characteristics which may facilitate their crimes. Which of the following is one of those characteristics?

A) Low intelligence and aggressiveness
B) Impulsiveness
C) Superficial charm and egocentricity
D) High levels of empathy for other people

Question 9

According to E. A. Ross, the main problem with criminaloids is that they:

A) Suffer from psychological abnormalities
B) Generally are not very intelligent
C) Are morally insensitive
D) Come from broken homes and abusive family backgrounds

Question 10

According to Sutherland, "white collar" meant:

A) Middle management
B) Business managers and executives
C) Line-level employees
D) None of the Above

Question 11

Which of the following was a shortcoming or limitation of the methodology used in the Yale study?

A) The researchers only studied 8 federal offenses
B) The researchers only studied 7 federal districts
C) The researchers included only cases that were convicted in federal court
D) The researchers relied on conviction cases only
E) All of the above
F) None of the above

Question 12

The Yale researchers mentioned in the book examined PSIs (presentence investigation reports) to conduct their study.

Question 13

White-collar offenders are slightly younger than common criminals.

Question 14

According to the book, over 25% of white-collar criminals are college graduates, compared to _______ of common criminals.

A) Over 20%
B) 10%
C) Less than 5%
D) 0%

Question 15

The similar findings of white-collar criminals' characteristics (e.g., race, gender, age) between the Yale study and Forst and Rhodes' study gives us confidence that the findings reflect reality.

Question 16

Not all white-collar criminals are alike.

Question 17

White-collar criminals are significantly different from common offenders.

Question 18

Which demographic characteristics among white-collar offenders have not largely changed since the 1970s?

A) Race
B) Age
C) Gender
D) Age and Gender
E) Race and Age

Question 19

White-collar crime is no longer exclusively conducted by middle-aged white males.

Question 20

According to the book, approximately _______ out of 10 white-collar criminals have had a prior arrest.

A) 1
B) 2
C) 4
D) 6

Question 21

Yearly data indicate that the majority of sentenced organizations who have been found to commit a white-collar offense are large corporations (with more than 10,000 employees).

Question 22

According to the book, under U.S. law:

A) Corporations are considered accountable for their actions, just as a person can be held accountable
B) Corporations cannot "act," and therefore cannot be held accountable for their actions
C) Only people within a corporation - but not the organization itself - can "behave," and therefore only they can be held accountable for their illegal actions
D) All of the above
E) None of the above