Myths that Cause White-Collar Crime

Presenter: Pamela Cruz

Presenter Status: Undergraduate student

Academic Year: 22-23

Semester: Spring

Faculty Mentor: Bryan Burton

Department: Criminology & Criminal Justice Studies

Funding Source/Sponsor: McNair

Screenshot URL: https://drive.google.com/uc?id=1rtVULz0mypza06vkYuSw0H3Giza4nVvV

Abstract:
Edwin Sutherland in 1939 coined the term white-collar crime and he defined it as a "crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation" (Sutherland, 1949). The public is often unsure what white-collar crime is and is not. Individuals are often inclined to say the following: fraud, embezzlement, money laundering, ponzi scheme, and that offenses tend to be non-violent in nature. Such statements are partly true. There are instances in which white-collar crime is not violent, but that does not mean that such crimes are not physically harmful. White-collar crimes can kill people. This project is trying to reduce the prevailing misconceptions about white-collar crime and educate the public on the dangers of such offenses and ways to protect yourself from it. There are many misunderstandings about white-collar offenses. For this presentation, I will focus on the common belief that white-collar crimes are non-violent. White-collar crimes have three general costs: financial, physical (and mental), and social. I will focus on physically (and psychologically) and harmful cases. Four examples will be explored: Sampoong Department Store in South Korea and the Flint water crisis, the Turkey earthquake, and toxics in the Mohawk community. All these cases have to do with unequal treatment, a hierarchy that is present in most cases, and how educating ourselves on these topics is helpful and important.