NCJ Number
120169
Journal
Criminology Volume: 27 Issue: 2 Dated: (May 1989) Pages: 345-358
Date Published
1989
Length
14 pages
Annotation
The article "Causes of White-Collar Crime" written by Hirschi and Gottfredson is an important contribution to the debate over whether and to what extent criminality is a unified phenomenon.
Abstract
This article points out several flaws in their analysis. It shows that the Uniform Crime Report (UCR) offense categories of fraud and forgery are not appropriate indicators of white-collar crime because the typical arrestee committed a nonoccupational crime. Also the graphic distribution (age, sex, race) of these "white-collar" crimes differs from that for most ordinary crimes and the occurrence of these "white-collar" crimes is not relatively rare. This article also discusses the implications of the findings for research and theory on crime. 9 notes, 4 figures, 30 references. (Author abstract modified)