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EXPLANATIONS OF CORPORATE CRIME - Coggle Diagram
EXPLANATIONS OF CORPORATE CRIME
STRAIN THEORY
he applied his theory to W/C crime but others have used it to explain corporate crime
E.G BOX argues that if a company cannot achieve its goal of maximising profit by legal means, it may use legal ones instead
Thus when business conditions become more difficult and profitability is squeezed . companies may tend to break the law
E.G CLINARD AND YEAGER 1980 found law violations by large companies increased as their financial performance deteriorated, suggesting a willingness to'innovate' to achieve profit goals
Mertons strain theory argues that deviance is formed from the inability of some people to achieve the goals that society culture prescribes by using legitimate means
DIFFERENTIAL ASSOCIATION
SUTHERLAND sees crime as behaviour learned from others in a social context
the more we associate with people who hold criminal attitudes, the more likely we are to become decent ourselves
Thus, if a company culture justifies committing crimes, to achieve corporate goals , employees will be socialised into this criminality
We can link this idea of differential association to 2 other concepts:
1) DEVIANT SUBCULTURES:
company employees may face problems of achieving corporate goals and so adopt deviant means to do so, socialising new members into these
the culture of business may also favour and promote competitive, aggressive personalities whom are willing to commit crime to achieve success
2) TECHNIQUES OF NEUTRALISATION:
SKYES AND MATZ argue individuals can deviate more easily if they produce justifications to neutralise moral objections to their misbehaviour
-E.G white collar criminals say they were carrying out orders from above or claim that 'everyones doing it
LABELLING THEORY:
DE LABELLING: unlike the poor, businesses and professionals often have the power to avoid labelling
E.G they can afford expensive experts such as lawyers and accountants to help them avoid activities they are involved in such as tax avoidance shemes
likewise the reluctance or inability of law enforcement agencies to investigate and prosecute reduces the number of offences recorded
CICEROL: middle class are more able to negotiate non- criminal labels for their behaviour e.g 'youthful high spirits' rather than 'vandalism'
MARXISM
Corporate crime is the result of the normal functioning capitalism
because capitalisms goal is to maximise profit, it inevitably causes harm such as deaths and injuries among employees and consumers
BOX says capitalism has successfully created a mystification- its spread the ideology that corporate crime is less widespread and harmful than working class crime
capitakisns control of the state means its able to avoid making and enforcing laws that conflict with its interest
Some sociologists have combined Marxism with other approaches such as the strain theory:
E.G BOX sees corporations as crimogenic because if they find legitimate opportunities for profit are blocked, they willl resort ti illegal techniques aimed at competitors, consumers or the public
Companies comply with the law only where they see it being strictly enforced
where effective controls are lacking, e.g in developing countries, capitalism shows its true face by selling unsafe products, paying low wages for work in dangerous conditions, polluting the environment and bribing officials.
EVALUATION (A03)
Both strain theory & marxism over predict the amount of business crime- NELKEN argues its unrealistic to assume all business would offend
Even if capilist pursuit of profit is a cause of cor[orate crime id doesnt explain non-profit making state agencies such as the police or army
Law abiding may also be more profitable than law breaking - BRAITHWAITE found that US pharmaceutical companies that complied with federal drug administration regulations to obtain licences for their product were able to access markets in poorer countries