Costs associated with occupational and corporate crime - Essay Example

25 May Costs associated with occupational and corporate crime: Occupational crime occurs when employees prioritize their individual gains and disregard the benefit of organization they are associated with. For example, when waiters hide money for themselves which they are supposed to put in cash register, this is occupational crime. Corporate crime is also called white-collar crime. Such crimes are non-violent but cause very big losses. Money laundering and healthcare frauds are common examples.

This essay seeks to scrutinize the various costs associated with occupational and corporate crime. Following discussion will mention different types of costs and harms in addition to exploring problems associated with identifying those costs. Income tax violation is a popular white-collar crime. According to an article in New York Times, tax evasion costs governments around the globe more than $3.1 trillion annually. Such a whopping loss of more than $3.1 trillion in annual revenue is a very big issue, yet it is exceedingly hard to catch white-collar criminals.

According to a report published by the World Bank in 2011, more than 5.1% of global GDP never reaches the government offices in the form of taxes. Europe is currently facing a crisis because of this rampant tax evasion. The highest amount of tax revenue is lost by the US, about $337 billion. The US is followed by South America and Italy (Werdigier). Embezzlement is a kind of occupational crime and research claims that “the annual cost of embezzlement is 12.42 billion dollars” (Zarka). Yet, research suggests that the highest costs are associated with white-collar crimes.

For example, it is claimed that “the American business community lost $50 billion in 1980 to white-collar crime” (Eitzen cited in Long), which is more than 10 times the costs associated with all street crimes. These are just cost estimates because truth is that occupational and corporate crimes cannot be accurately measured. White-collar criminals are hard to catch because of their high position which is why jails are crowded with socially and economically disadvantaged offenders who have committed some kind of low-class street crime.

Many problems are encountered by researchers who try to uncover costs associated with occupational and corporate crimes. It is always easier to estimate costs associated with street crimes because people behind these crimes have no occupational or corporate background. These are jobless people typically belonging to poor class. But, the problem with occupational and corporate criminals is that the higher professions and corporate organizations are usually very self-regulating and private. They tend to remain silent regarding how many violations they have had to face in a single year because otherwise, their reputation is at stake.

So, in order to protect their reputation, they do not report their violations to the researchers which does not let them know the true costs associated with occupational and corporate crimes. Also, many times these criminals are readily fired by their employers to avoid scandal and media attention. The crime data is dumped in a huge pile of old files consequently. These are some of the problems associated with identifying costs of occupational and corporate crimes.Works cited: Long, Russ. “White-Collar Crime.

” dmc122011.delmar.edu, 02 Aug. 2007. Web. 25 May. 2014.Werdigier, Julia. “Tax Evasion Costs Governments $3.1 Trillion Annually, Report Says.” The New York Times. Nytimes.com, 28 Nov. 2011. Web. 25 May. 2014.Zarka, Heather. “Explanation of Occupational Crime.” Yahoo!Voices. voices.yahoo.com, 17 May. 2007. Web. 25 May. 2014.