White Collar Criminals: The Street Thugs Uptown Cousins - Essay Example

White Collar Criminals: The Street Thugs’ Uptown Cousins Darren Barnett CM104-02 Unit 7 Assignment White Collar Criminals: The Street Thugs’ Uptown Cousins People usually associate crimes with violent acts like homicide, burglary, arson etc and tend to ignore the fact that frauds, embezzlement, misappropriation of money etc are, in fact, more serious offenses. They harbor stereotypical notions about criminals and feel that street thugs, burglars and masked robbers are the only criminals. Thus, they fail to recognize the other category, which can be termed as white collar criminals. When one considers the serious implications of economic crimes on society, it transpires that the guy in a suit, who commits an act of fraud, is equally dangerous to the society as a thug with a loaded gun. The problem is that cognitive biases existing in the community prevent people from realizing that white collar criminals are potential threats to the society. Popular perceptions about what constitutes crime can be illustrated if one examines two instances of offenses, one that falls in the stereotypical notion and the other in the white collar crime category, as under: Scenario-1: A mugger waylays a person on a dark, desolated street and demands he parts away with his possessions. The man hands over his wallet and the thug empties it of its contents of 50 dollars and throws the wallet back at the man. He mutters some threats to him, stuffs the bills into his pocket, and sneaks into a murky alley. Terrified but grateful that he is unhurt, the man summons the police, files a report and goes his way, wondering how widespread crimes have become. Scenario 2: An employee of a heating and air conditioning firm attends a complaint at a home which has been damaged in a recent storm. The HVAC unit outside has been battered and the inspection reveals that it requires some minor repairs. However, the employee reports to the homeowner’s insurance company that the entire system needs replacement as it is completely damaged. Thus, his company gains a hefty profit, by fraudulent means. When one considers both these events, it becomes apparent that in the first episode, a thug waylays a person, robs him of 50 dollars. The victim recognizes this act as a crime, and the police register a case against the perpetrator. In the second instance, though the company has gained an undue benefit of a larger sum, the incident has neither been acknowledged as a crime nor has anybody taken cognizance of it. Thus, it transpires that white collar crimes do occur in the society, which is of much greater magnitude than normal crimes, but people hardly recognize this fact. As can be evidenced from the above episode, insurance frauds have become rampant in the US. However, in most cases, people are unable to even recognize the fact that a fraud has occurred. A recent study revealed that insurance fraud alone coasts the society billions of dollars. According to the Insurance Information Institute, insurance fraud is the second most costly white-collar crime (after tax evasion) in the US, totaling more than $29 billion each year. Moreover, the National Insurance Crime Bureau has documented that fraud raises insurance premiums by nearly $300 per year, per household (Insurance Fraud on Rise 2011). The above statistics are the indicators to the situation in the country and if this continues, it may cause irreparable damage to the society. The enormity of the problem can be understood only when considers the fact that most of the cases of this nature are not even being recognized or reported as crimes. These kinds of white collar crimes, therefore, do not receive adequate attention of law enforcement agencies. The public, in general, are not also aware of the occurrences of white collar crimes. Tax evasion, insurance frauds, embezzlements and other white collar crimes cause devastating harm to the nation’s economy besides impacting its citizens. However, no one pays much attention to this aspect and the media hype always focuses on violent crimes and they sensationalize such occurrences. One of the reasons behind this is the fact that people normally associate the word ‘crime’ to mean a violent, unlawful act like killing or looting. This is due to cognitive biases of the human mind where they associate certain concepts with some specific characteristics and form prejudiced and stereotypical conclusions. Thus, when a person thinks or speaks about crimes they generally connote to violent acts such as killing, arson, looting etc. Larry Siegel, in his work, “Criminology Theories, Patterns & Typologies” contend that white collar crimes, albeit indirectly, causes death and injury of more people than street crimes (Siegel 464). This finding illustrates the gravity of the situation and it is more than the society recognized white collar crime as a menace that threatens human life than any other offense. However, most people do not recognize this fact as they are harbor preconceived notions about crimes and criminals. This can be perceived as one of the reasons why such crimes thrive in the modern society. So far the underlying psychological dynamics of both types of crimes are concerned, it becomes obvious that the street thugs as well as their counterparts in suits share the same inherent qualities. Both have the same motives to cheat others for material gains. Besides, both are remarkably similar in their overall world view, self concept and lack of moral integrity. However, the criminals in the guise of executives seldom receive any exposure and their crimes remains unknown to the public. This, mainly, is due to the bias implanted in the average American mind about crimes and criminals, and they cling onto stereotypes. From early childhood, every person develops an ability to learn the evaluation of people, based on external factors such as physical appearance, income and the quantity and quality of their material possessions. This cognitive learning facilitates the formation of opinions based on their understanding of the value of each element present in a person as well as his wealth or social status. Therefore, cognitive learning is a crucial element that helps a person to understand various occurrences in a society. Thus society’s perception of crime as those involving violence has been transferred to this generation and white collar crimes have not being recognized with due seriousness. H Michael Steinberg, Colorado Economic White Collar Crimes Defense Lawyer, in his article titled, “Colorado Criminal Law – Understanding White Collar Economic Crimes Probation,” acknowledges the fact that “economic crimes are different from the regular images of crimes violent crimes in the minds of the public” (Steinberg, 2011, para. 7). However, he further adds that the attitude of authorities has changed with the passage of time, and with the “realization that economic crimes often have far reaching consequences and are more likely to cause a monetary loss far in excess of those incurred by regular crimes” (Steinberg, 2011, para. 7). The main aspects that emerge from the statements of a law professional are that the implications of white collar crimes are far more severe than violent crimes and also that the authorities have recognized the significance of dealing with such crimes severely. However, this article subtly implies that the public at large are still to recognize them as a more serious threat and one can construe that biased cognitive is the major reason for this. Since economic crime or white collar crimes has assumed such proportions as to become a potential threat to the modern society, the authorities need to take all possible steps to create awareness of these crimes among the public. As can be seen from the example cited earlier, most people who fall prey to this crime do not even recognize the fact that crime has been committed. Thus, most of the cases are not reported. Even widely published corporate scams, like the Enron case, have not been able to bring the gravity of the situation to public attention, though law enforcement authorities may be begun to envision this. Another reason that allows white collar crimes to thrive is due to the fact that the punishments for the crimes are not a par with the gravity of the offense and it is much lesser than those awarded in the case of street crimes. This can be evidenced from the fact that Kansas law provides for a punishment of “17 years imprisonment and a $500,000 fine” (White Collar Crime (Such as Martha Stewarts Case) Vs. Street Crimes (i.e. Drug Deals), 2007, para. 3) for a person convicted of drug trafficking. On the other hand, Martha Stuart, accused of conspiracy in stock trading, has gotten away with “10 months imprisonment and a fine of $250,000” (White Collar Crime (Such as Martha Stewarts Case) Vs. Street Crimes (i.e. Drug Deals), 2007, para. 1). This indicates that when compared to traditional criminals, white collar criminals receive very insignificant punishment. Thus, with a view to abate such crimes, the authorities need to award more stringent punishment to white collar criminals. Even educated people, due to their lack of cognitive understanding of certain developments in the modern society, fail to recognize specific acts or omissions by corporate entities or acknowledge them as crimes. Chernobyl and Bhopal are devastating examples of human tragedy that have entailed from corporate failure to meet the parameters of safety precautions and non adherence to prescribed environmental safety measures. Besides, in the fast paced life today, manufacturing companies or factories spill a lot of waste into oceans or rivers, account for biological waste that endangers humans or animals or emit toxic pollutants that are unsafe for living beings on earth. The consequences of these acts or omissions are by far more disastrous than any stereotypical criminal act. But hardly do the public understand the implications, because such acts have never been defined at any stage of their life for them to recognize those as crimes. But how far a human society can tolerate crimes like these due to improper or inadequately developed cognitive perception? Can the world afford to squeeze it eyelids shut, pretending that nobody notices this? Despite the rampant occurrences of white collar crimes within the society, people hardly recognize or acknowledge such offenses as crimes. Biased cognitive learning and the lack of awareness has created a misconceived notion in them that violent offenses only fall under the category of crimes. However, in the modern world, with the advent of technology and exponential developments, there has also been a surge in such activities like frauds, embezzlements, misappropriation, bribing, identity thefts, corporate scams etc that have far reaching economic consequences. These crimes affect business entities, government agencies as well as private individuals. It is more than time authorities took cognizance of this aspect and initiated appropriate measures to address these types of crimes. Reference List Naso, R. C. (2011). When Money and Morality Collide: White Collar Crime and the Paradox of Integrity. Psychoanalytic Psychology. doi: 10.1037/a0024499 PR, N. (2011, July 6). Insurance Fraud on the Rise. PR Newswire US. Retrieved from EBSCO host. Siegel, Larry (2004). Criminology Theories, Patterns & Typologies. International Edition. Prentice Hall, USA. Steinberg, H. M. (2011). Colorado Economic Crimes (ECU) Probation. Law Office of H. Michael Steinberg. Retrieved Aug. 11, 2011, from http://www.hmichaelsteinberg.com/Colorado-Criminal-Law-Economic-White-Collar-Crimes-Probation.htm White Collar Crime (Such as Martha Stewarts Case) Vs. Street Crimes (i.e. Drug Deals), (2007). Associated Content. Retrieved Aug. 11, 2011, from http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/395536/white_collar_crime_such_as_martha_stewarts.html?cat=17 Read More