NCJ Number
140022
Journal
Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency Volume: 29 Issue: 3 Dated: (August 1992) Pages: 251-272
Date Published
1992
Length
22 pages
Annotation
Information from offenders sentenced in eight Federal district courts between 1973 and 1978 was used to assess the validity of two propositions on white-collar crime derived from a general theory of crime recently proposed by Gottfredson and Hirschi.
Abstract
This theory predicts that white-collar offenders are as criminally versatile and as prone to deviance as common offenders. Data were gathered mainly from the most recent 120 presentence investigation reports from each of the 5 largest districts and the most recent 40 presentence investigation reports from the three smaller districts. Results revealed that some white-collar offenders were involved in crime and deviance to much the same degree as typical street criminals. However, a large majority differ significantly from street criminals in these regards, contradicting the theory and limiting its generality. Findings suggest that the theory's rejection of motives as important causal forces is misguided and that a more complex causal structure is needed to account for patterns of white- collar offending. Tables, notes, appended methodological information, and 42 references (Author abstract modified)