Strain Theory And White Collar Crime
Crimes are happening all day every day in the United States. Crime is a behavior that violates official law and is punishable through formal sanctions (OpenStax 2013:150). Upper-level crimes are now of great interest because of its growth in corporate America today (Roche, Schwartz, Steffensmeier 2013: 449). It is harmful to everyone and comes with extensive consequences (Roche et al. 2013: 449). White collar crimes are illegal activities committed by high status people in their course of occupation. Sociologists have studied several white collar crimes and made their own definitions based on different aspects of the crimes. Reiss & Biderman (Simpson 2013) defined white-collar crime as “violations of law to which penalties are attached and
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This is a perfect theory for white collar crimes. Most white collar crimes occur because they want that sense of accomplishment. Strain theory has five terms, but two of the terms could help define people that commit these crimes. The two terms are innovation and rebellion. People that innovate pursue goals they cannot reach through legitimate means by instead using criminal or deviant means (OpenStax 2013:145). This can show readers that the innovators of white collar crimes commit the crime because they want to reach a goal but cannot achieve it legally. Some examples of goals could be want to become executives, buy nice things for themselves or others, or have society look at them as powerful and intelligent. The final term is Rebellion. Terrorists or freedom fighters look to overthrow a society’s goals through socially unacceptable means (OpenStax 2013:145). Crime is a socially unacceptable means and for someone to commit a white collar crime they are rebelling against the law. Conflict theory looks to social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance (OpenStax 2013:146). Chief executive officers, Presidents, and judges etc. have access to national and international power and their decisions affect everyone in society (OpenStax 2013:146). A lot of upper class or ranked people take advantage of the rules of society so they can continue to succeed. The people who obtain these high class jobs sometimes make it harder for the lower class to succeed just as they have. Control theory’s term commitment refers to the investments we make in the community (OpenStax 2013:149). An example is a well-respected local businesswoman who volunteers at her children’s school, goes to church, and is a member of home owners association has more to lose from committing a crime than a woman who doesn’t have a career or
This is a perfect theory for white collar crimes. Most white collar crimes occur because they want that sense of accomplishment. Strain theory has five terms, but two of the terms could help define people that commit these crimes. The two terms are innovation and rebellion. People that innovate pursue goals they cannot reach through legitimate means by instead using criminal or deviant means (OpenStax 2013:145). This can show readers that the innovators of white collar crimes commit the crime because they want to reach a goal but cannot achieve it legally. Some examples of goals could be want to become executives, buy nice things for themselves or others, or have society look at them as powerful and intelligent. The final term is Rebellion. Terrorists or freedom fighters look to overthrow a society’s goals through socially unacceptable means (OpenStax 2013:145). Crime is a socially unacceptable means and for someone to commit a white collar crime they are rebelling against the law. Conflict theory looks to social and economic factors as the causes of crime and deviance (OpenStax 2013:146). Chief executive officers, Presidents, and judges etc. have access to national and international power and their decisions affect everyone in society (OpenStax 2013:146). A lot of upper class or ranked people take advantage of the rules of society so they can continue to succeed. The people who obtain these high class jobs sometimes make it harder for the lower class to succeed just as they have. Control theory’s term commitment refers to the investments we make in the community (OpenStax 2013:149). An example is a well-respected local businesswoman who volunteers at her children’s school, goes to church, and is a member of home owners association has more to lose from committing a crime than a woman who doesn’t have a career or