Crime

Why are white-collar and corporate crimes important?

They cost more than street crime and can cause serious injuries and occupational deaths

What is the difference between occupational and organizational crime?

Occupational crime benefits an individual while organizational crime advances the goals of a formal organization

Who coined the term white-collar crime?

Edwin Sutherland coined it in 1940 for crime committed through a respectable high-status occupation

What is corporate homicide?

Employee deaths caused by corporate negligence or unsafe working conditions rather than unavoidable accidents

How is social class related to white-collar crime?

Higher social status creates access to occupations and resources that enable large-scale financial crime

What upper-class traits may encourage white-collar crime?

A competitive spirit and arrogance and a sense of entitlement

What is executive disengagement?

Executives use the corporation as a tool for crime while distancing themselves from victims and responsibility

Why does corporate legal personhood create problems?

The corporation is treated as a legal person even though it has no conscience and responsibility may not reach individual executives

Why can corporations commit larger crimes than individuals?

Corporate resources and formal organization allow crimes on a scale individuals acting alone cannot achieve

How can executive compensation encourage accounting fraud?

Stock options reward executives for temporarily increasing share prices through dishonest accounting

What companies illustrate executive greed and accounting fraud?

Enron and WorldCom collapsed after senior executives manipulated finances for personal gain

What was extractive capitalism in the 2008 collapse?

A culture where corporations pursued maximum profit through reckless lending while ignoring social responsibilities

How are white-collar crimes usually sanctioned?

They are often handled through civil courts and financial settlements rather than criminal prosecution

Why may civil sanctions fail to deter corporations?

Executives may avoid personal costs while corporations treat settlements as a limited business expense

Why is white-collar crime difficult to prosecute?

Cases are complex and expensive and may cross jurisdictions while corporations can hire expert lawyers and delay proceedings

What did Canada create to address stock fraud in 2004?

Canada strengthened fraud laws and created the Integrated Market Enforcement Teams known as IMETs

Why did the IMET approach have a poor conviction record?

The teams were too small and governments feared that severe corporate punishment could affect jobs and the economy

What is organized crime?

Continuing and secretive group crime carried out for financial or material benefit

How does section 467.1 define a criminal organization?

It requires three or more people whose main activity involves serious offences for material benefit and excludes random one-off groups

What are the main structural features of organized crime?

It involves systematic relationships that may be hierarchical or symmetrical and based on family friendship or business

What do exclusive membership and specialization mean?

Groups restrict entry and assign members specific roles through a division of labour

What does transnational organized crime mean?

The criminal group or its activities operate across national borders

How does organized crime insulate leaders from prosecution?

Hierarchy and secrecy create buffers between senior leaders and the people directly committing offences

What does sophistication mean in organized crime?

Groups use technology and expertise for fraud and counterfeiting and money laundering and cybercrime

What is a continuing criminal enterprise?

An organization designed to survive changes in membership and leadership because individuals can be replaced

What role do career criminals play in organized crime?

Their lives revolve around crime and they may remain active after gaining wealth or serving prison sentences

Why is recruitment important to organized crime?

Groups must replace members and obtain people or contractors with specialized skills and resources

What is the difference between consensual and predatory crime?

Consensual crime supplies demanded illegal goods while predatory crime directly harms victims through acts such as extortion or trafficking

How do organized crime groups protect their markets?

They seek monopolies through corruption and violence and money laundering and surveillance

What behavioural traits characterize organized crime?

It is profit-driven and rational and non-ideological with loyalty and secrecy enforced through rules and fear of retaliation

Which Italian organized crime groups operate in Canada?

The Ndrangheta and Sicilian Mafia and Canadian La Cosa Nostra operate through international and family networks

What is important about the Hells Angels in Canada?

They began operating in Canada in 1976 and developed a national network funded mainly through drug trafficking

What characterizes Russian and Eastern European organized crime?

Loose networks expanded after communism and became heavily involved in electronic and other complex crimes

What is alien conspiracy theory and why is it criticized?

It portrays organized crime as an imported foreign conspiracy but is criticized as xenophobic and lacking evidence of centralized control

What is ethnic succession theory and what is its weakness?

It argues excluded ethnic groups enter crime until gaining legitimate opportunities but cannot explain lasting ethnic groups or the Hells Angels

What do economic theories say about organized crime?

They treat it as rational business responding to supply and demand but overlook predatory crime and organizational complexity

How can government policy encourage organized crime?

Prohibition and high taxes create underground markets for illegal goods and services

What is the bureaucratic model of organized crime?

It presents groups as tightly controlled hierarchies with specialized roles and a rational division of labour

What is the main criticism of the bureaucratic model?

Many Mafia groups are less centralized than bureaucracies although the model may fit some drug cartels

What is the kinship model?

It views organized crime as a family structure based on blood and marriage and ethnicity and personal loyalty

What is the network model?

It views organized crime as temporary partnerships linked by brokers and personal contacts that combine specialized skills