White Collar Crime

Complexities of white-collar crime

White-collar crime is a classification of crime developed in the early 20th Century by Edwin Sutherland. The term is used to describe crimes committed by individuals of high status and social reputation during the course of their occupation (Sutherland 1940, 2). Since no discrete group of offences can be readily recognised as a ‘white-collar crime’, there is a difficulty in identifying the subject matter of this crime (Freiberg 1992, 2), producing ambiguity in the understanding of the crime and its representation in the media. This form of crime has remained a complex phenomenon for social scientists seeking to understand the reasoning behind one’s deviant behaviour (Stephenson-Burton 1995, 133), as the crime …show more content…
This is especially evident in white-collar cases where individual losses are small, but collective financial gain is huge for the perpetrators (Stephenson-Burton 1995, 146). Moreover, the structural perspective of white-collar crime contended that the formation of most businesses has produced opportunities for crime, by allowing the disguise of illegitimate behaviour as legitimate within the competitive structure of corporations (Benson & Simpson 2009, 147 & 158; Vaughan 1992, 127). Through the general representations of white-collar crime in mass media that place an emphasis on one’s deviant morality and greed, the structural embeddedness of white-collar crime tends to be overlooked. Due to the ambiguities of what constitute a white-collar crime, there exist challenges for the general public to fully understand this area of crime. Therefore, there it is crucial for the media to portray this form of crime and victims more accurately, for the purpose of enhancing public’s understanding of the complexities of crime and to avoid …show more content…
This can provide an explanation for why white-collar crimes are underrepresented in the news media and entertainment, as it lacks the resources required to produce dramatic scenes of crime. Additionally, the television news’ reliance on pictures rather than words alone has constituted as the problem of white-collar crime (Stephenson-Burton 1995, 144) because most white-collar crime cases are settled outside of court since the parties involved have the financial means to avoid trials in order to reduce unwanted publicity. Due to the lack of visual spectacle provided by the crime of fraud or business corruption, white-collar crime is less likely to be reported in the news unless it involves the portrayal of well-known individuals, used as a scapegoat for the structural problems of the crime. Similarly, the portrayal of white-collar crime in movies are less likely to be an accurate depiction of social structure, as popular culture tend to sensationalise the crime by placing the focus on representing the lavish lifestyle of the offender, rather than the crime and harms perpetrated. A study conducted in Trinidad has found that individuals who are more likely to see the news and television crime dramas as a realistic and accurate depiction

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