Kashmir university

1. Assignment On
Causes of Soco Economic Crimes or White-
collar Crimes
Submitted
To
Dr. Kounsar Jan
Assistant Professor
P.G.Department of Education
University of Kashmir Srinagar
190006.
Submitted By
Irfan Anwar Dar
Enrolmentno 18039123026
M. Ed. Semester; 2nd.
Sociological Foundations of Education-II
Course No; MED172202CR

2. Table of Contents
 Introduction
 Defining “White Collar Crime
 Types of White Collar Crime
 Causes of white collar crimes
 Conclusion
 References

3. Introduction:
White-collar crime is financially motivated nonviolent crime
committed for illegal monetary gain. Within criminology, it was first
defined by sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a crime
committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the
course of his occupation". Sutherland was a proponent of symbolic
interactionism and believed that criminal behavior was learned from
interpersonal interactions. White-collar crime is similar to corporate
crime as white-collar employees are more likely to commit fraud,
bribery, Ponzi schemes, insider trading, embezzlement, cybercrime,
copyright infringement, money laundering, identity theft, and forgery.
Defining “White Collar Crime” A generic term for crimes involving
commercial fraud, cheating consumers, swindles, insider trading on
the stock market, embezzlement and other forms of dishonest
business schemes. The term comes from the out of date assumption
that business executives wear white shirts and ties. It also
theoretically distinguishes these crimes and criminals from physical
crimes, supposedly likely to be committed by "blue collar" workers.
“White-collar crimes include securities fraud (the misrepresentation
of investment information), embezzlement (misuse of funds),
corporate fraud (dishonest and/or illegal actions by a company
employee or executive) and money laundering (giving criminally-
obtained funds the appearance of having a legitimate source). White
collar crime is punishable by fine, imprisonment or both”.
According to Edwin Hardin Sutherland, for the first time in 1939,
defined white collar crimes as “crimes committed by people who
enjoy the high social status, great repute, and respectability in their
occupation”
According to Sayre, white chollar crimes can be called as” Public
welfare offences”. He has classified such offences into eight
categories which may be noted here 1.illegal of intoxicating liquor.,

4. 2) sale of impure or adulterated food or drugs.3). sale of misbranded
articles,4).violation of anti-narcotic acts,5)criminal
nuisances,6)violation of traffic regulations,7)violation of motor
vehicles lawa and 8)violation of generalbregulations passed for
safty,health or well – being of the community
Types of White Collar Crime:
1. Bank Fraud:To engage in an act or pattern of activity where the
purpose is to defraud a bank of funds.
2. Blackmail: A demand for money or other consideration under
threat to do bodily harm, to injure property, to accuse of a crime, or to
expose secrets.
3. Bribery: When money, goods, services, information or anything
else of value is offered with intent to influence the actions, opinions,
or decisions of the taker. You may be charged with bribery whether
you offer the bribe or accept it.
4. Cellular Phone Fraud: The unauthorized use, tampering, or
manipulation of a cellular phone or service. This can be accomplished
by either use of a stolen phone,or where an actor signs up for service
under false identification or where the actor clones a valid electronic
serial number (ESN) by using an ESN reader and reprograms another
cellular phone with a valid ESN number.
5. Computer fraud: Where computer hackers steal information
sources contained on computers such as: bank information, credit
cards, and proprietary information.
6. Counterfeiting: Occurs when someone copies or imitates an item
without having been authorized to do so and passes the copy off for
the genuine or original item. Counterfeiting is most often associated

5. with money however can also be associated with designer clothing,
handbags and watches.
7. Credit Card Fraud: The unauthorized use of a credit card to
obtain goods of value.
8. Currency Schemes: The practice of speculating on the future value
of currencies.
9. Embezz1ement: When a person who has been entrusted with
money or property appropriates it for his or her own use and benefit.
10.Environmental Schemes: The overbilling and fraudulent practices
exercised by corporations which purport to clean up the environment.
11.Extortion: Occurs when one person illegally obtains property
from another by actual or threatened force, fear, or violence, or under
cover of official right.
12.Health Care Fraud: Where an unlicensed health care provider
provides services under the guise of being licensed and obtains
monetary benefit for the service.
13.Insurance Fraud: To engage in an act or pattern of activity
wherein one obtains proceeds from an insurance company through
deception.
14.Money Laundering: The investment or transfer of money from
racketeering, drug transactions or other embezzlement schemes so
that it appears that its original source either cannot be traced or is
legitimate.
15.Tax Evasion: When a person commits fraud in filing or paying
taxes.

6. Causes of white collar crimes
Greed, competition and lack of proper laws to prevent such crimes are
the major reasons behind the growth of white collar crimes .
 Greed:-The father of modern political philosophy, Machiavelli,
strongly believed that men by nature are greedy. He said that a
man can sooner and easily forget the death of his father than the
loss of his inheritance. The same is true in the case of
commission of white collar crimes. Why will a man of high
social status and importance, who is financially secure, commit
such crimes if not out of greed?
 Easy, swift and prolong effect:-The rapid growing technology,
business, and political pressure has introduced the criminals to
newer ways of committing white collar crimes. Technology has
also made it easier and swifter to inflict harm or cause loss to
the other person. Also, the cost of such crimes is much more
than other crimes like murder, robbery or burglary, and so the
victim would take time to recover from it. This would cut down
the competition.
 Competition:-Herbert Spencer after reading ‘On the Origin of
Species’ by Darwin, coined a phrase that evolution means
‘survival of the fittest’. This implies that there will always be a
competition between the species, and the best person to adapt
himself to the circumstances and conditions should survive.
 Lack of stringent laws:Since most of these crimes are
facilitated by the internet and digital methods of transfer
payments, laws seem reluctant to pursue these cases as
investigating and tracking becomes a difficult and complicated
job. Why it becomes difficult to track it is because they are
usually committed in the privacy of a home or office thereby
providing no eyewitness for it.

7.  Lack of awareness:The nature of white collar crimes is
different from the conventional nature of crimes. Most people
are not aware of it and fail to understand that they are the worst
victims of crime.
 Necessity:-People also commit white collar crimes to meet their
own needs and the needs of their family. But the most important
thing that the people of high social status want to feed their ego.
The reasons behind white collar criminals going unpunished are:
 Legislators and the people implementing the laws belong to the
same class to which these occupational criminals belong.
 The police put in less effort in the investigation as they find the
process exhausting and hard, and often these baffling searches
fail to promise favourable results.
 Laws are such that it only favours occupational criminals.
 The judiciary has always been criticised for its delayed
judgement. Sometimes it so happens that by the time court
delivers the judgement, the accused has already expired. This
makes criminals loose in committing crimes. While white collar
crimes are increasing at a faster rate, the judiciary must increase
its pace of delivering judgements.
Conclusion: Criminologist and sociologist Edwin Sutherland first
popularized the term “white collar crime” in 1939, defining such a
crime as one “committed by a person of respectability and high social
status in the course of his occupation.” Sutherland also included
crimes committed by corporations and other legal entities within his
definition. Sutherland’s study of white collar crime was prompted by
the view that criminology had incorrectly focused on social and
economic determinants of crime, such as family background and level

8. of wealth. According to Sutherland’s view, crime is committed at all
levels of society and by persons of widely divergent socio-economic
backgrounds. In particular, according to Sutherland, crime is often
committed by persons operating through large and powerful
organizations. White collar crime, Sutherland concluded, has a
greatlyunderestimated impact upon our society. Sutherland’s
definition is now somewhat outdated for students of the criminal law.
As white collar crime began to capture the attention of prosecutors
and the public in the mid-1970s,2the term came to have definitions
quite different from the one Sutherland used. Indeed, studies have
shown that crimes we generally consider “white collar,” such as
securities fraud and tax fraud, are committed not just by persons of
“high social status” but by people of divergent backgrounds.Thus,
although the term “white collar crime” is a misnomer, it continues in
widespread use. This is probably so because “white collar crime”
provides a convenient moniker for distinguishing such crime in the
public mind from “common” or “street” crime.
References
 Sociology of Indian Society, C N Shankar Rao
 Lilly, J. R., Cullen, F. T. & Ball, R. A. (2011). Criminological Theory:
Context and consequences (5th Ed.). National Check Fraud Center.
 White Collar Crime National Check Fraud Center.