[2] It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of their occupation".
Thus, those employed in relatively unskilled environments have fewer opportunities to exploit than those who work in situations where large financial transactions occur.
[10] In contrast, white-collar employees can incorporate legitimate and criminal behavior, thus making themselves less obvious when committing the crime.
In contrast, the corporate world, the identification of a victim is less obvious and the issue of reporting is complicated by a culture of commercial confidentiality to protect shareholder value.
[13] State-corporate crime is “illegal or socially injurious actions that occur when one or more institutions or political governance pursue a goal in direct cooperation with one or more institutions of economic production and distribution.” [14] The negotiation of agreements between a state and a corporation will be at a relatively senior level on both sides, this is almost exclusively a white-collar "situation" which offers the opportunity for crime.
Although law enforcement claims to have prioritized white-collar crime,[15] evidence shows that it continues to be a low priority.
[17] Some examples include human trafficking, money laundering, drug smuggling, illegal arms dealing, terrorism, and cybercrime.
One investigator, Richard G. Brody, said that the murders might be difficult to detect, being mistaken for accidents or suicides: “Whenever I read about high-profile executives who are found dead, I immediately think red-collar crime,” he said.
Whitecollar offenders usually have a criminal history, including infractions that span the spectrum of illegality, but many do not overindulge in vice.
Recent research examining the five-factor personality trait model determined that white-collar offenders tend to be more neurotic and less agreeable and conscientious than their non-criminal counterparts.In the United States, sentences for white-collar crimes may include a combination of imprisonment, fines, restitution, community service, disgorgement, probation, or other alternative punishment.
[25][26] These punishments grew harsher after the Jeffrey Skilling and Enron scandal, when the Sarbanes–Oxley Act of 2002 was passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by President George W. Bush, defining new crimes and increasing the penalties for crimes such as mail and wire fraud.
Certain countries like Canada consider the relationship between the parties to be a significant feature of a sentence when there is a breach of trust component involved.
[33] Examples of these people can be family members, clients, and close friends who are wrapped up in personal or business proceedings with the offender.
When one is committing a crime, whether it be shoplifting or tax fraud, it is always easier to successfully pull off the task with experience in the technique.
The major difference between a shoplifter and someone committing a white-collar crime is that the techniques used are not physical but instead consist of acts like talking on the phone, writing, and entering data.