Financial Burdens Of White Collar Crime

The conventional understanding of crime does not include high corporate espionage and embezzlement. The usual definition of criminals focuses on murderers, gang members, thieves and other types of people from that strata. Timmer and Eitzen criticized the field of criminology as being partial towards the crimes of the ‘powerful.’ Criminology was often associated with disregarding the ‘crimes of the suit’ and focusing solely on the ‘crimes of the streets’ (Newburn, 2013, pp.372). Some would even regard white-collar crimes as being more brutal than violent crimes. The actions of a few powerful executives and corrupt businessmen can affect the lives of the masses. Unfortunately, almost everyone is susceptible to falling prey to these kinds of crimes,
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White-collar crime poses a significant danger to the livelihoods of millions of unknown consumer and can harm various aspects of their life, from causing psychological to financial burdens. This type of crime may be regarded as ‘society’s most dangerous foe’ due to the fact that the blame cannot be placed on a single perpetrator, rather it is the joint effort of a corporation. It is difficult to identify the persons responsible behind such a crime as it is done in the privacy of their offices and unlike street crimes, there are no eyewitnesses.
Furthermore, under the current British Government the conviction rates of white-collar criminals have gradually decreased by 20% since 2010. This is not to say that the number of crimes have decreased, rather the rate of policing and actually apprehending these criminals have reduced. Corporate fraud has cost the UK economy close to £73 billion a year, according to the Home Office’s National Fraud Authority (Labour’s Policy Review, 2012,
Victims of white collar crime, as opposed to violent crimes, are usually older and more affluent individuals. Interestingly, the term ‘white-collar’ not only describes the deceivers but also the deceived (Ganzini, McFarland and Bloom, 1990, pp.61). Anxiety disorders and major depressive conditions are prevalent amongst fraud victims. The outcome of a large financial loss could mean a decreased standard of living and a complete change in lifestyles. Many major depression cases have led to a rise in suicide rates with more than 1000 people committing suicide as the unemployment rates increased. As we know, the economic crisis of 2008 was initiated by major white collar crimes taking place within American corporations and as a domino effect, the entire world’s economy was impacted. Previously, the suicide rates for the past 20 years had been dropping steadily in the UK before the recession hit. In 2007 to 2008, the suicide rate increased by 8% amongst men and 9% amongst women (Boseley,