Upper Class Crime: White Collar Crime

White-collar crime is commonly referred as the “upper class crime”, traditional crime is generally more collocated with the lower class. Approaching this research, I had the same theory. Undisputable, all the popular classes of non-violent illegitimate activities which primarily involve “traditional notions of deceit, deception, concealment, manipulation, breach of trust, subterfuge or illegal circumvention", are mostly committed by parties with substantial influence to financial institutions. However, this definition provided by the Department of Justice clearly specifies the illegal purchase of prescriptions and music pirating, which are generally practiced by the middle and lower classes. The majority of Americans are probably unaware
This can involve insider trading, music pirating, not paying taxes, or telecommunication fraud. Such broad spectrum can involve any person in every social class. Furthermore, the types of fraudulent activities can easily be social stratified. For example, a Wal-Mart cashier would probably never be involved in insider trading or bank embezzlement, yet she/he could fail to pay taxes or steal credit card data from customers. On the other hand, a CEO from a very large bank can easily be engaged bank fraud, and a government official can be prosecuted for bribery and corruption. Because white-collar crime is so widespread, one can easily assume why the trends are surging so abruptly. In the current technology age, more and more activities fit into the white-collar crime definition: such fraudulent activities that cannot easily be traced and prosecuted. Throughout my research I found a couple of theories why white-collar-collar crime is perpetuating and prosecution trends are progressively
Both variables go together – fixing one will automatically benefit the other. According to Jay Durgin, “the agencies responsible for prosecuting such criminals lack the proper resources to trace this wide-spread problem.” Foremost, this surge can be largely blamed to work pressure and bonus resentment. Thanks to our technologically advancing society, this fraudulent activity is getting harder to trace and prosecute, which is easier to practice and master. Statics has shown that white-collar crime has increased by 76% after the Great Recession. This steep increase cannot solely be blamed on persons such as Bernie Madoff or massive companies such as BP. According to a PriceWaterhouse Coopers survey the desperation of middle managers “to carry on enjoying a high standard of living are turning to fraud in greater numbers” (White-Collar Crime is Increasing…). From a Microsoft executive to the average Joe sweeping the hallways at Holiday Inn, modern technology makes it easier for nearly anybody to get tangled in the white-collar crime web.

In my interviews, all three patrons agreed that white-collar crime is escalating out of control due to the increasing technological complexity of our communications which allows for more opportunities for white-collar crime. Prosecutions, on the other hand, is falling because the government