WHAT IS CRIME?(Street Crime versus

White-Collar & Corporate Crime)

What is Crime?

• Natural definition of crime –• A behavior that is “fundamentally wrong and

deserving of punishment”

• These are violations of natural law• Behaviors viewed as “naturally” or inherently

wrong– Examples?

• Advantages and disadvantages of this definition

What is Crime?

• Legal definition of crime –• A behavior that violates the criminal law.

• These are violations of the criminal law• Behaviors may be considered wrong (or not)• “Legally, a crime occurs when a person acts,

fails to act, attempts to act, or agrees to act in a way that is in violation of the criminal law” (see p. 87).

• Advantages and disadvantages of this definition

What Makes a Crime Serious?

• What does “serious” mean to you? • Harmful (hurts people or property)

• Frequent (happens a lot)• Pervasive (happens everywhere)

• See page 90 for serious crimes

“Serious” crimes don’t include:•Fraud - obtaining money or property through false pretenses (lies, tricks, deceit)•Theft + Lie!

• There are entire industries based on fraud!• e.g., weight loss industry, stretch mark removing cream, cellulite removing cream, “ab” machines, diet industry, cough syrups for small children …• Product shrinkage?

•Embezzlement - obtaining money or property and then misappropriating it•Theft + Violation of Trust!(see pp. 93-94)

“Serious” crimes don’t include:

So?

Are the “serious” crimes:• The most harmful crimes?• The most frequently occurring crimes?• The most pervasive crimes?

Property Crimes 16.4 million

Theft 12.5 million

Burglary 3.2 million

Auto theft 795,000

Violent Crimes 4.9 million

Assault 4.1 million

Robbery 552,000

Rape 204,000

TOTAL 21.3 million (out of 304 million people in US)

… and 16,272 murders & no negligent manslaughters (UCR)http://bjs.ojp.usdoj.gov/content/pub/pdf/cv08.pdf

http://www.albany.edu/sourcebook/pdf/t31062008.pdf

Total “Serious” Crimes Indicated in NCVS (2008)

Less-serious crime???

• “Elite deviance” is not viewed as “serious”

• includes illegal acts by corporations, wealthy individuals

• includes unethical acts, civil and regulatory violations)

• Harmful acts committed intentionally, recklessly, negligently, or knowingly.

• (e.g., “white-collar” crime and “corporate crime”)

Some examples … • Recent corporate scandals include Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco, Qwest, WorldCom ETC …

• Total loss in market value caused by Enron, Global Crossing, Tyco, Qwest, and WorldCom alone was $427 billion.

• Tens of thousands of people lost their jobs

• Hundreds of thousands of employees lost money from their retirement accounts

• Millions lost money from stock market downturn …

What did they do?• Inflated their profits.

• “Cooked the books” to hide debts so investors would invest more money.

• Treated debts as revenue to look more profitable.

• Invented false identities to whom they attributed their losses.

• Insider trading.

• Fraud.

• Promoted worthless stocks.

Pigs at the Trough …• K Mart CEO Charles Conaway received $23 million compensation over two years, after which K Mart filed for bankruptcy, 283 stores closed and 22,000 people lost their jobs• Tyco CEO Dennis Kozlowski received $467 million compensation over four years, after which Tyco’s stock holders lost $92 billion• Enron CEO Kenneth Lay earned $100 million+ the year before Enron’s collapse, after which Enron lost $68 billion, 5,000 people lost their jobs, and workers lost $800 million

Pigs at the Trough …• Corporate executives earned $66 billion by selling company stocks “even while their companies crashed and burned.”• Some forbade their employees from selling their stocks.• This could buy 66,000 homeless people houses, each worth $100,000.• The $427 billion in losses could get every state in the country out of debt or we could give every man, woman, and child living in poverty on the Earth $356!

Costs of elite deviance… • Corporate and white-collar crimes cost at least $1 trillion annually, far more than all street crimes combined:

•Health care fraud – $80 billion

•Insurance fraud -- $80 billion

•Computer fraud -- $67 billion

•Securities and commodities fraud -- $40 billion

•Telemarketing fraud -- $40 billion

•Automotive repair fraud -- $22 billion

•Check fraud -- $10 billion

•Defective products -- $700 billion!

•“Serious” street crime costs about $20 billion annually

Less serious?

• Elite deviance also causes more physical damage than all eight serious crimes combined.

• Tobacco use kills more people (approximately 430,000) than murder (approximately 16,000) and causes more financial loss ($96 billion in direct health care costs) than all street crime combined ($20 billion).

• See http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/

• Intentional? Negligent? Reckless? Knowingly?

• See http://www.tobaccofreedom.org/issues/documents/

Violence too!!! • Far more people are killed and injured by preventable occupational diseases and hazards than by crime every year.

• 55,000 deaths and 3 million injuries

•(as much beyond the control of the workers as being murdered is beyond the control of the murder victim)

• Many of these deaths and injuries result from the negligence or recklessness of people who work for corporations

Violence too!!! •Another 20-30,000 people die from unsafe and defective merchandise.

• Another 40,000 die from car crashes.

•Tens of thousands die from “hospital error.”

• At least 300,000 from poor diets and inactivity!!!

Real Life Example• Jack in the Box! (1993)

• Meat supplier allegedly knew hamburger patties were contaminated with E. Coli bacteria but did not tell restaurant

• Hundreds became sick and dozens were hospitalized after eating undercooked hamburgers from the restaurant

• 3 children died!

• Jack in the Box ignored state regulation of proper cooking temperature

• Jack in the Box ignored customer and employee complaints about undercooked burgers

Why is it calledthe Monster Thick Burger?

Contents:Two-thirds of a pound of beef (fat)

Three slices of cheese (fat)

Four pieces of bacon (fat)

Mayonnaise (fat)

Butter (fat)

Bun (fat)

Why is it calledthe Monster Thick Burger?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a68SrzBiHhYhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wuc2IXdQGTkhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yv7eAzVL-Po

Why is it calledthe Monster Thick Burger?

• Nutrition Facts• Calories: 1417.6

• Calories from Fat: 965.2 (68% from fat)

• Total Fat: 107.2g (165% DV)

• Saturated Fat: 45.8g (229% DV)

• Cholesterol: 229.6mg (77% DV)

• Sodium: 2651.3 mg (110% DV)• http://www.dietfacts.com/html/items/28853.htm

• http://www.dietfacts.com/item.asp?itemid=692

Why is it calledthe Monster Thick Burger?

• Why is it legal to eat this burger?

• What is the purpose of the criminal law?

• (protect citizens from harm)

• So, why is it legal???

Possible Reasons Elite Deviance is Not Viewed as “Serious”

• Acts done by an individual against an individual are deemed most serious

• Indirect nature of harm instead of direct

• Invisible instead of visible

• Not intentional in nature but negligently, recklessly, knowingly committed

• The people who do it are different too!

Possible Reasons Elite Deviance is Not Viewed as “Serious”

Possible Reasons Elite Deviance is Not Viewed as “Serious”

These are the people who make the law and own the mainstream press!!!