The Film Enron: The Smartest Guys In The Room

Criminologists, as well as those struggling to understand why crimes occur, have often been perplexed by white collar crime because it seems to involve far more risk than reward for the perpetrators (LeClair, 2016). One theory to explain white collar crime is that it is a reflection of societal values: this is referred to as structural humiliation (Schlegel & Weisburd, 1992). Structural humiliation suggests that because of the inherently unequal nature of some modern societies, people in respected positions may be empowered to prey upon people in societally marginalized positions (LeClair, 2016). Victims of structural humiliation may be the poor, the elderly, or other groups that traditionally have less social standing and political power (LeClair, 2016). Structural humiliation states that, by societally vilifying a disenfranchised group, we as a culture are essentially creating an environment wherein the disenfranchised are acceptable
The film Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room (2005) demonstrates that Enron, as a company, was managed through patriarchal and authoritarian principles that facilitated, and even encouraged, illegal activity. Enron was a well-respected company that received accolades in the press and was named Fortune Magazine’s most admired company for several years; this created an atmosphere of supremacy and superiority within the business and the top company leaders (Gibney, 2005). Company leaders like Jeffrey Skilling, Lou Pai, and Kenneth Lay fostered an authoritarian environment within the company where whistleblowers or other doubters were humiliated and devalued; at the same time, the company was engaged in illegal and unethical business practices perpetrated against the public (Schwartz, 2002). The authoritarianism within Enron only grew as the company’s financial footing became less secure (Schwartz,