Community Context and the Prosecution of Corporate Crime (From White-Collar Crime Reconsidered, P 269-286, 1992, Kip Schlegel and David Weisburd, eds - See NCJ-140367)

• NCJ Number: 140379
• Author(s): M L Benson; F T Cullen; W J Maakestad
• Date Published: 1992
• Length: 18 pages
• Sale Source: Northeastern University Press
• Publication Type: Survey
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

Data from a 1989 national survey of district attorneys were used to determine the influence of the characteristics of local prosecutors' offices and their surrounding communities on prosecutorial activity against corporate crime.

Abstract

The study's goal was to determine whether the level of prosecutorial activity varies with the type of office and the type of community. The 632 mailed questionnaires received 419 responses, for a 66- percent response rate. The findings were analyzed using ordinary least squares regression and path analysis. Results revealed that prosecutorial activity against corporate crime is largely determined by the characteristics of prosecutors' offices, with the level of activity increasing as resources and expertise increase. However, two dimensions of community context have a strong influence on the characteristics of the prosecutor's office. These are the population and the economic structure. Prosecutors who serve large, economically healthy communities have greater resources than their counterparts in small, economically depressed communities. Future research should consider the influence of economic trends in individual communities. Table, figures, notes, and 49 references