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 comm...