Deck 6: Corporate Violence: Environmental, Workplace, and Manufacturing Offenses

Question 1

Discuss the key features of the opportunity structure for the illegal hazardous waste disposal crime, as discussed in the book.

Answer 1

Legitimate access to the waste.
Separation between offender and victim: leaders do not know or meet the victim, as they could be hundreds of miles away or years away.
Superficial appearance of legitimacy: The company may appear to be disposing of waste properly.

Question 2

Discuss the similarities in opportunity structure between environmental white-collar crime and workplace white-collar crime.

Answer 2

Legitimate access: Offenders (companies or officers) are engaged in legitimate work, look for ways to maximize profit (safety is an extra cost).
Spatial separation between victims and offenders (e.g., leaders vs. workers): managers/leaders who make the safety decisions do not often interact with the workers who are at risk.
Superficial appearance of legitimacy: They often try to maintain appearance of legitimacy (appear to take safety concerns seriously).

Question 3

Discuss the two key features to the opportunity structure for workplace crimes, as mentioned by the book.

Answer 3

They occur incidental to and as a by-product of legitimate economic activities in private workplace, making them difficult to observe or detect from the outside. Workers are unaware of the safety hazards they are exposed to or they are powerless to do anything about it.

Question 4

Discuss how manufacturing crimes fit the key characteristics of white-collar crime, as discussed throughout the book.

Question 5

In regards to the tragedy in Woburn, Massachusetts, the W. R. Grace Company was convicted of:

A) Involuntary manslaughter in the death of children from leukemia
B) Illegal disposal of hazardous wastes
C) Providing false statements to the EPA about hazardous waste
D) Nothing at all

Question 6

Only corporations can break environmental laws.

Question 7

The opportunities for companies to engage in environmental crime are:

A) Plentiful, due to lack of oversight
B) Small, due to lack of oversight
C) Plentiful, due to much oversight
D) Small, due to much oversight

Question 8

At the time, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010 was the largest oil spill in U.S. history.

Question 9

According to the book, which of the following is a way that environmental offenses are exposed:

A) Whistle blowing
B) Inspections
C) Accidental discovery
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 10

Politically, corporations can impact the size and breadth of the resources devoted to the enforcement of environmental crime laws and regulations.

Question 11

Work-related diseases, injuries, and deaths are estimated at _______ per year.

A) Around 50,000
B) Around 100,000
C) Around 500,000
D) Over 1 million

Question 12

________ refers to the unequal distribution of environmental risks and hazards that members of disadvantaged groups are subjected to.

A) Environmental injustice
B) Racial injustice
C) Place-based injustice
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 13

All of the workplace safety and health violations in the U.S. are regulated by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).

Question 14

Deception, abuse of trust, and ______ are techniques used to engage in white-collar crime in workplace settings.

A) Connect-the-dots
B) Concealment
C) Confidentiality
D) Lack of legitimacy

Question 15

______ crimes are those in which unsafe products are knowingly marketed to customers, or when manufacturers put products on the market before they have been fully tested and their safety established.

A) Product
B) Manufacturing
C) OSHA
D) All of the above
E) None of the above

Question 16

What are the two key features of the opportunity structures for workplace crimes, as discussed in the book? (check all that apply)

A) The financial benefit of the crime is not as great as other white-collar crimes
B) Workplace crimes are difficult to observe from the outside
C) Computer access is not needed as much compared to other white-collar crimes
D) Workers are unaware of the risks or are powerless to do anything about it

Question 17

Workplace safety violations and manufacturing crimes are not intended to deliberately harm people.