Deck 4: Occupational Crime and Avocational Crime

Question 1

Approximately what percent of the CUNY students involved in Blumberg's study The Predatory Society reported observing deceptive practices at work?

A) 10%
B) 40%
C) 70%
D) 100%

Answer 1

C

Question 2

The annual dollar losses due to fraudulent or abusive medical billing have been estimated to be in the:

A) tens of millions
B) billions
C) tens of billions
D) trillions

Answer 2

C

Question 3

The deceptive retail practice which is likely to be regarded as most minor and commonplace is:

A) misleading advertisements
B) substituting inferior brands for products sold with expensive brand labels, at higher prices
C) mislabeling lower-octane gas
D) concealing the fact that food is spoiled

Answer 3

A

Question 4

It is probably easiest to cheat on pricing if you are selling:

A) vegetables
B) hygienic products
C) prescription drugs
D) non-alcoholic beverages

Question 5

The claim of the professions to have a "calling" is principally associated with the idea that:

A) you can only enter the professions if you are invited to do so
B) they have an obligation to use their specialized knowledge on behalf of the common good
C) the pursuit of financial gain is inappropriate
D) the autonomy of experts cannot be compromised

Question 6

The classic liberal professions include all but which of the following?

A) Medicine
B) Law
C) Engineering
D) The ministry

Question 7

Which problem is not listed in the text as being committed in auto repair shops?

A) "Bait and switch" repair schemes
B) Intentional misrepresentation of repair needs
C) Part replacement problems
D) Stealing working parts for resale

Question 8

What does "caveat emptor" mean?

A) Let the seller beware
B) Let the buyer beware
C) Let the seller be truthful to the buyer
D) Let the seller get away with anything he can

Question 9

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration estimated that American consumers lose how much due to faulty or unnecessary repairs?

A) Thousands of dollars
B) Millions of dollars
C) Billions of dollars
D) Trillions of dollars

Question 10

The famous Reader's Digest study of auto repair shops found that _____ overcharged or performed unnecessary repairs.

A) a few
B) some
C) most
D) almost all

Question 11

In 1993, Wal-Mart was found guilty of "predatory pricing," which is:

A) pricing higher than permitted by law
B) pricing that is unfair to consumers
C) pricing certain items below cost to destroy smaller competitors
D) pricing in collusion with small retailers

Question 12

Which of the following does not characterize the professions?

A) Higher education and training
B) Specialized technical knowledge
C) Monopolistic or near-monopolistic control over services
D) Policing by client representatives

Question 13

Variations in the amount of surgery, according to a source cited in the text, seem to be a function of all but which of the following?

A) The supply of surgeons
B) The availability of reimbursement for particular classes of surgical patients
C) The type of hospital
D) The objective needs of a patient population

Question 14

Illegal activities associated with small retail businesses are likely to include all but which of the following?

A) Deceptive and fraudulent advertising
B) Exploitation of employees
C) Evasion of sales taxes
D) Antitrust violations

Question 15

The concept of vulnerable consumers is least applicable to:

A) the poor
B) the recently bereaved
C) the dependent elderly
D) the newly deceased

Question 16

Which of the following is not one of the common illegal and unethical activities engaged in by physicians?

A) Fee-splitting
B) Undercutting fellow physicians with lower fees
C) Conflict of interest through clinic ownership
D) Fraudulent billing

Question 17

How many Americans die annually after an unnecessary operation, according to an estimate cited in the text?

A) 160
B) 1,600
C) 16,000
D) 160,000

Question 18

The "structural contradiction" in the physician role is the:

A) tension between the physician's concern with healing the patient and protecting her/his own health
B) conflict between professional autonomy and organizational dominance
C) conflict between the physician's obligations to the patient and role as a profit- seeking entrepreneur
D) the tension between the physician's role as a caretaker for his or her own family and as a caretaker for his or her clients

Question 19

The primary focus of the contemporary scholarly literature on white collar crime has been:

A) corporate crime
B) crimes of small businesses
C) crimes of professionals
D) employee crime

Question 20

Which of the following was discovered in Caplowitz's landmark 1960 study in New York City?

A) Middle class consumers are much more likely to be cheated by retailers than poor consumers
B) Poor consumers pay more for the same or inferior products than do middle class consumers
C) Retailers market higher quality goods in poor neighborhoods because they know the poor pay more
D) Middle class consumers get inferior goods from retailers because they pay less than the poor

Question 21

Which of the following does not generally constrain employers from taking formal action against employee theft which comes to their attention?

A) Uncertainty about how the law defines theft.
B) Fear of demoralizing poorly paid employees.
C) Concern over disrupting production schedules.
D) Anxiety about bad publicity

Question 22

In 2007, directors of financial aid at the University of Texas at Austin and the University of Southern California were found to:

A) be giving students misleading financial information
B) be using unfair bait and switch tactics
C) hold shares in student loan companies which students were referred to
D) have directed students to fraudulent loan companies

Question 23

Sabotage is best defined as an employee:

A) spying on their employer
B) purposely destroying their employer's product, facilities, machinery, or records
C) spreading malicious rumors about their employer
D) violating their employment contract

Question 24

The most appropriate term for theft through misrepresentation is:

A) pilfering
B) larceny
C) chiseling
D) fraud

Question 25

What is the estimated percentage of inventory shrinkage caused by employee theft?

A) As low as 10
B) 40
C) As high as 75
D) 25

Question 26

According to the text, Madonna Constantine, a professor of psychology at Columbia University's Teacher's College, explained the plagiarism charges against her as:

A) gender discrimination
B) institutional racism
C) inconsequential
D) jealousy from colleagues

Question 27

Which of the following was not identified as an important element in embezzlement in Cressey's pioneering study?

A) Hidden financial problems
B) Lack of a conscience
C) Opportunity and knowledge
D) The ability to rationalize

Question 28

Frauds committed by lawyers include all but which of the following?

A) Defrauding insurance companies
B) Overbilling
C) Deducting pro bono work from taxes
D) Excessive billing

Question 29

The text identifies _____ as the clearest example of student white collar crime.

A) date rape
B) illicit drug transactions
C) cheating
D) petty larceny

Question 30

The "power of attorney" granted to lawyers:

A) is principally used to engage in fraudulent activity in cooperation with crooked clients
B) provides lawyers with unusual opportunities to steal from their own clients
C) subjects lawyer dealings with clients to systematic review by the bar association
D) enables lawyers to obtain financial records of other lawyers whom they suspect of fraud

Question 31

The two major types of legal crime are:

A) fraud and theft
B) fraud and intrusion
C) fraud and collusion
D) fraud and money laundering

Question 32

According to Mars' typology of employee theft "donkeys" and "hawks" are most likely to:

A) steal time and engage in creative accounting
B) engage in elaborate, systematic pilferage
C) organize stable, on-going systems of pilferage
D) commit sporadic but large-scale thefts

Question 33

Referring patients to several different practitioners when their symptoms do not warrant such referral is known as:

A) ping-ponging
B) juggling
C) fee-splitting
D) upgrading

Question 34

According to Horning's study of employee crime, which type of property was most likely to be stolen?

A) Personal property
B) Managerial property
C) Company property
D) Property of uncertain ownership

Question 35

Mars' study identified _____ as an especially important factor in work-related theft.

A) the size of the business
B) the wealth of the company
C) workgroup norms
D) the social background of employees

Question 36

Richard Nixon's Vice President Spiro Agnew, a lawyer, was forced to resign from the Vice Presidency following charges that he:

A) masterminded the Watergate break-in
B) was overzealous in his defense of Nixon from Watergate related charges
C) persuaded Nixon Administration officials to perjure themselves
D) had evaded paying taxes

Question 37

Among conventional lower-level employees, those who commit theft are most likely to be:

A) middle-aged, female, and unmarried
B) older, male, and married
C) young, male, and unmarried
D) young, female, and married

Question 38

Which form of high-level employee activity is most likely to be unauthorized, and therefore illegal?

A) Stock options
B) Bonuses
C) Club memberships
D) Expense account padding

Question 39

According to the text, the employees who account for the largest proportion of employee crime losses are likely to be:

A) low level employees
B) new employees
C) managers
D) temporary employees

Question 40

Plagiarism is best defined as:

A) theft of the ideas or work of others
B) misuse of discretionary funds
C) gross negligence in the fulfillment of teaching responsibilities
D) fabrication of fraudulent data

Question 41

The professions generally enjoy great prestige in our society.

Question 42

Which actor was sentenced to three years in prison in 2008 after being convicted of three misdemeanor charges of failing to file income tax forms?

A) Mel Gibson
B) Robert Downey Jr.
C) Colin Farrell
D) Wesley Snipes

Question 43

The two major forms of avocational crime are:

A) income tax evasion and embezzlement
B) insurance fraud and embezzlement
C) check forgery and theft of trade secrets
D) income tax evasion and insurance fraud

Question 44

The establishment of new laws and consumer affairs initiatives ensured the
elimination of unfair pricing practices.

Question 45

Because they are highly regulated, there is little opportunity to overcharge for
prescription drugs.

Question 46

A 1987 replication of the famous 1941 Reader's Digest survey of auto repair
shops found that repair fraud had significantly decreased.

Question 47

The professions have increasingly been criticized for not maintaining more
control over patients and clients.

Question 48

Those actually charged and convicted of white collar crimes are
disproportionately ordinary members of the middle class.

Question 49

Improper and fraudulent activities of retail businesses only cause economic loss.

Question 50

In the United States, the IRS estimates that about _____of individual income tax due to the federal government is not paid.

A) one fifth
B) one third
C) one eighth
D) one fourth

Question 51

High rates of unnecessary repairs have been found in investigations of television,
typewriter, and watch repair shops.

Question 52

E.H.Sutherland is credited with having first clearly defined the concept of
"occupational crime."

Question 53

Pharmacists who regard themselves primarily as businesspeople are no more
likely to commit prescription violations than those who regard themselves
primarily as professionals.

Question 54

The consumer movement in recent times has challenged the old doctrine of
"caveat emptor."

Question 55

Professionals typically enjoy more deference from clients or customers than do
entrepreneurs and retailers.

Question 56

High rates of fraudulent repairs have not been found in all studies of auto repair
shops.

Question 57

Most consumers have faith in fair trade and the legal system, and expect that
reporting their victimization will lead to effective action.

Question 58

Clark & Hollinger's major study of employee crime identified which of the following as a major determinant of employee theft?

A) Employee personality type
B) The opportunity to steal
C) The level of employee benefits
D) Social background of employees

Question 59

Adulteration of liquid products and "short-weighting" of meat products are
significant, but uncommon, forms of retail deception.

Question 60

The concept of "profession" adopted by the text uses it as a synonym for a full-
time commitment to an occupation.

Question 61

Reports of professors fired or compelled to resign in the face of plagiarism
charges never occur.

Question 62

The recognition that physicians can do harm to their patients and should be held
accountable is a wholly modern phenomenon.

Question 63

It has been definitively established that academics are more ethical and honest
than other professionals.

Question 64

Excess performance of surgery, or unnecessary operations, are wholly motivated
by economic rewards.

Question 65

Various studies have indicated that cheating among all students is plummeting.

Question 66

Sutherland regarded the medical profession as less criminal than other
professions.

Question 67

"Overutilization," or billing for superfluous and unnecessary tests and services, is
one form of medical fraud which can be easily proven and prosecuted.

Question 68

The major religious white collar crimes include fraud, child molestation, and
collusion.

Question 69

Situational pressures and fortuitous circumstances appear to play a significant role
in academic cheating.

Question 70

Sexual harassment of colleagues and students by professors is cited as a good
example of academic white collar crime.

Question 71

Court oversight prevents lawyers from defrauding their own clients.

Question 72

The scientific establishment has traditionally conceded that scientific fraud is not
uncommon, but has argued that no outside policing is called for.

Question 73

According to various studies, marginal solo practitioners are especially well
represented among lawyers who have been disbarred from the profession.

Question 74

According to the text, medical societies have historically done an excellent job of
policing the profession.

Question 75

According to the text, hostility toward lawyers is a modern phenomenon.

Question 76

Law firms which represented fraudulent savings & loans were immune from any
legal liability for their actions in those cases.

Question 77

Physicians have typically been accorded significantly less trust and autonomy
than other professionals.

Question 78

Those accused of research-related fraud have typically been obscure researchers
at marginal or low-prestige research centers.

Question 79

In some cases, law firms become aware that their client is engaging in fraudulent
activity, but do nothing because the client is a source of income.

Question 80

Historically, the American Medical Association has been quite indifferent to
preventive health care.