White-collar and Organized Crime - Essay Example

Consider why organised crime is the of Hollywood mythology? Organised crime has often been the of high-ranking Hollywood productions for a variety of reasons including the country’s historic foundations, a need to glamorize these actions as a means of fostering national pride, rebelliousness against unpopular morality laws, the apparent success of these criminals where those who followed the law had failed and the evident corruption that reached deep into law enforcement itself. According to Lincoln Steffens in 1902, “The spirit of graft and lawlessness is the American spirit” that can be traced back to colonial days and the encouragement of pirates and bootleggers as a means of circumventing the laws and restrictions placed on the colonies by the British government. However, by the time Hollywood began to grow as a media force, Americans had already come to think of themselves as a model for mankind, thus the need to break crime down into its more glamorous aspects. It was the prohibition laws of the 1920s that provided the necessary angle to make this happen. “Organised crime, which had previously been discreet and localised, now held peoples interest across the nation. The lurid details of bootleggers’ gang wars made for exciting reading” (Woodiwiss, 1990). In struggling to fight against prohibition, which was not embraced by all Americans at the time, one gangster in particular, Al Capone, demonstrated how the media could be used to glorify the image of the gangster. “The hoodlum of 1920 had become page one news, copy for the magazines, material for talkie plots and vaudeville gags” (Pasley, 1966). Hollywood films began to capitalize on the hype and excitement generated by the increased success of these bootleggers, who not only side-stepped federal and local authority, but were providing a service that approximately half of America supported despite the laws against it and achieving the American ideals and trappings of success. Early Hollywood films regarding the gangster era included Little Caesar (1930), Public Enemy (1931) and perhaps one of the most popular films of all time, Scarface, produced in 1932. These films “starred dynamic actors playing criminals. Edward G. Robinson, James Cagney and Paul Muni represented American outlaws in ways which reinforced some of the country’s most deeply held myths about individual, entrepreneurial success. The way to make it in the land of free, competitive capitalism was … with ruthless dedication, determination, and daring” (Woodiwiss, 1990). With the Great Depression and the era that followed, many Americans were looking for excitement and entertainment in its cheapest forms, as well as seeking ways of achieving success in a backwards economy. Those Americans who achieved national news were colorful characters such as Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow, “Baby Face” Nelson, “Pretty Boy” Floyd and John Dillinger. Although these were all criminals of the most dangerous sort, they were glamorized in the news and talked about in public and private gatherings thanks to their daring, their success and their ability to get away with the crimes they committed, at least for a while. These news stories undermined the messages that were attempted to be put out by Hollywood that glamorized the law enforcement officials instead, primarily because the people perpetrating the crimes were getting away with it and, with the advent of gambling houses following World War II, it became increasingly obvious that those who were charged with keeping the law were instead involved directly in allowing criminal activity to occur. Life magazine reported in 1950 that many of these criminals “have built mansions, bought yachts or loaded their safety deposit boxes to bursting,” all thanks to the illegal maneuverings (Havemann, 1950). At the same time, cover-ups by law enforcement officials regarding blunders in enforcement, such as the shooting of Kate Barker in 1935 presented Hollywood with figures that were impossible to ignore because of the way in which they broke the gender stereotypes of the day. References Havemann, Ernest. (19 June, 1950). “Gambling in the United States.” Life, pp. 14-16. Pasley, F.D. (1966). Al Capone: The Biography of a Self-made Man. London: Faber and Faber. Steffens, Lincoln. (1902; reprinted 1957). The Shame of the Cities. New York: Hill & Wang. Woodiwiss, Michael. (1990). Organized Crime USA: Changing Perceptions from Prohibition to the Present Day. British Association for American Studies, No. 19. Consider the nature and extent of links between white collar and organised crime? Working to obtain a definition of organised crime as it is distinguishable from white collar crime proves to be a challenge in itself. On the one hand, organized crime is typically focused on the bottom line profit and is sometimes explained as “a continuation of business by criminal means” (Williams, 2002). According to Edwin H. Sutherland, who first coined the term ‘white collar crime’ in 1949, the term was defined “approximately as a crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation.” However, in the intervening years, this definition has slipped a bit to include many individuals who do not fit strictly within this characterization, especially as it pertains to someone of “respectability and high social status.” Finding a difference in these two definitions, then, becomes a simple difference in word choice. Author Gary Potter designates three ‘truths’ regarding organised crime beginning with the idea that there is not much difference between those considered respectable and those considered criminal. “The world of corporate finance and corporate capital is as criminogenic and probably more criminogenic than any poverty-wracked slum neighborhood. The distinctions drawn between business, politics, and organized crime are at best artificial and in reality irrelevant. Rather than being dysfunctions, corporate crime, white-collar crime, organized crime, and political corruption are mainstays of American political-economic life” (2006). Instead of distinguishing between one term or another, authors Reiss and Tonry (1993) favor a new distinction that encompasses “an organizational and social system analysis” of the behavior of organizations over “the traditional criminological analysis of white-collar and organized crimes and criminals.” Some of the primary meeting grounds between true organised crime and white collar crime exists in the ways in which organised crime has modernized their operations to look more like legitimate companies as well as the ways in which both groups are able to capitalize on the anonymity of the internet. “In recent years, there has been a significant increase in the sophistication of organised crime and drug trafficking groups” (Williams, 1993). Several organisations have been observed by investigation groups to begin following standard business procedures such as giving attention to market and product diversification and hiring financial specialists to conduct money laundering procedures. “This adds an extra layer of insulation while utilising legal and financial experts knowledgeable about financial transactions and the availability of safe havens in offshore financial jurisdictions” (Williams, 1993). By appearing more like true companies, the abilities of these organised crime syndicates to utilize the anonymity of the internet to further commit crimes and to connect to one another provides an opportunity for even greater profit and reach. At the same time, companies eager to grab for the bottom line are able to utilize the same avenues to work their way into white collar crime with activity that looks very similar to that of the syndicates. “Indeed, organised crime diversification into various forms of internet crime is closely related to a second discernible trend – organised crime involvement in what was once categorised as white collar crime” (Williams, 1993). In addition to money laundering and transfer, there are numerous ways in which both companies and organised crime syndicates have worked to undermine banking systems, stock markets and outright fraud. References Potter, Gary. (2006). “Organised Crime, The CIA and the Savings and Loans Scandal.” Third World Traveler. Eastern Kentucky University. Sutherland, David. (1949). White Collar Crime. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston. Tonry, Michael & Reiss, Albert J. Jr. (1993). Beyond the Law: Crime in Complex Organizations, Crime and Justice. Vol. 18. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press. Williams, Phil. (2002). Organized Crime and Cybercrime: Synergies, Trends and Responses. PN: University of Pittsburgh. Read More