Thursday, March 17, 2011

Questions in final research paper

For my final research the question that I am trying to answer is. "Is white collar crime more detrimental to society than index crimes."  First off, for you non criminology majors, you may be thinking what is white collar crime?  White collar crime is, "A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation."- Edwin Sutherland.  In a nutshell white collar crime is a crime that is normally not committed face to face but instead it is normally something such as fraud, embezzlement, and corporate fraud.  It also includes things such as unsafe products, environmental crime and insider trading.  When people think of crime these are not the first things that come to mind.  Many people think of rape, murder, arson and robbery.  Those four crimes are what are known as the index crimes.  Yes, they are horrible things but normally they only affect the victim and his/her family.  In white collar crime, millions can be affected.  Either by losing money, being scammed, losing faith in something, or even dying.  A case of white collar crime that has recently shocked the world is Enron.  Enron was a 65 billion dollar company and in only 24 days they lost everything and went bankrupt.  Millions lost a ton of money and that was money many planned to retire with such as a 41K.  Enron was a case of corporate fraud to the highest extent.  They lied and lied until they couldn't lie any more.  This is why I feel that white collar crime can be more detrimental to society as a whole instead of index crimes.  Many people lost their life saving in the Enron case and this is just one example.  Another form of white collar crime that is not regularly noticed is environmental crime.  A case of this happen back in the 80's know as the love canal.  A chemical company dumped a bunch of chemicals in a canal and then covered it over with dirt.  Years later it leaked out and flooded the local neighborhoods basements.  Everything from disease, birth defects, mental retardation and leukemia were symptoms due to the chemicals. These are the reasons I want this to be my topic to not only to prove a point but to also bring awareness about these crimes.  I still would like to find out a lot more information including stats, different case studies and how those affected have made it through.  My arguments include the fact that these crimes affect millions of people and not just one person or one family.  I also want to show how it can ruin someones life either monetarily or personally.  So far I have looked at many online articles, a few peer reviewed articles and my criminology books i have from my major.  Between these these different resources i have acquired a lot of information and knowledge so far.  There is always more to learn so I will continue to research and find new/compelling info.  

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