Comparing Of White Collar Crime With Street Crime

Student’s Name Professor’s Name Course Date of Submission Comparing and Contrasting of White Collar Crime with Street Crime Introduction One problem that plagues modern society is crime. According to Salinger (12), it is almost impossible to go through a day where some sort of crime is not reported in the media. Crime is all around and in the process different types of crimes can also be identified. White collar crime is one type of crime that is significantly highlighted in modern times. As businesses grow and people get the desire to make more money or get richer, white crimes also emerge. White crime differs from street crime that are often reported in North America. Most people in North America are aware of street crimes compared to their knowledge of white collar crimes (Olejarz 110). For this reason, it is important to compare white collar crime with other forms of robbery/street crime that are often witnessed in North America and especially in the United States. The comparison of these two types of crimes is based on what each crime incorporates, the severity of the crime, the people who commit the crime, and the forms of punishment emitted in such crimes. White collar crimes refers to nonviolent crimes that are mainly committed to achieve financial gain. Weisburd and Elin (8) claims that the term “white-collar crime” emanated from Edwin Sutherland in 1939 during a presidential address to the American Sociological Society. Sutherland was quoted saying “crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation” (Weisburd and Elin 8). In general, white collar crimes occur in commercial operations and the individual uses the advantage of his/her occupation to commit crime. The most common types of white collar crimes include Ponzi schemes, fraud, embezzlement, bribery, copyright infringement, internet fraud, labor racketeering, money laundering, insider trading, identity theft, environmental law violations, counterfeiting, tax evasion, mail fraud, bankruptcy fraud, and forgery. According to the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), white collar crime cost the country approximately 300 billion dollars every year (Gottschalk 48). Today, the development of technology has made it more possible for white collar crime to occur. Criminal use the computer and Internet to commit these crimes such as identity theft, embezzlement, and fraud among others. Bookman (7) argues that white collar crime can go undetected for years because they are not done visibly. This means that the white collar criminal goes on to profit from illegal dealings for a substantial amount of time. In others times, these crimes are not detected at all or most people do not report them when they become aware. According Olejarz (111) white collar crime often involves intelligent people with knowledge of systems that provides them with an opportunity to tackle complex transactions that other people such as law enforcement agencies may find difficult to track. This means that white collar crime is done is a sophisticated manner. Unlike white collar crime, street crime refers to criminal offenses that occur in the public sphere. Further, street crimes often involve violence in various forms. The most common forms of street crimes include robbery, theft, pickpocketing, vandalism, illegal drug trade, soliciting prostitution outside the law, and assaults (Hoover 142). Hoover (142) argues that unlike white collar crime that is done slowly and gradually, street crime is done for quick gains such as revenge such as in gang violence or for financial gain. However, street crimes are also conducted by organized groups or individuals with the aim of profiteering in some way. For example, drug dealers can collaborate to expand their territory and make more money quickly. All the same, although street crimes sometimes involve some collaboration, this is not always the case. Street crimes are mainly conducted hurriedly and loosely by criminals to achieve some form of immediate criminal acts (Hoover 153). The other comparison that can be made between white collar and street crime is severity of the crimes. Salinger (7) argues that some people claim that white collar crimes are better compared to crimes like robbery or murder. However, in reality, the severity of the crimes is almost similar because white collar crime is not a victimless crime. While white collar crime does not involve violence, it actually causes a lot of damage in terms of destruction of life and resources that it causes. For example, in white collar crime companies can come crashing down, families are devastated as their savings are wiped out, or loss of million or even billions of dollars in terms of investors’ money. Ideally, white collar crimes are sophisticated in the way they are carried out and so they end up causing a lot of financial and emotional destruction to the victims. Many people suffer long-term effects such as depression or stress when their savings are lost or they lose their heard-earned money that may have taken years to accumulate (Olejarz 111). Weisburd and Waring (14) says that some firms or businesses have had to file for bankruptcy after being victims of white collar crime. The sophisticated nature of white collar crimes makes the severity of the crimes more intense because most of the people have no way of recovering this money. For example, when a business is robbed, the insurance could easily ...