Criminal Thinking and Identity in Male White-Collar Offenders

• NCJ Number: 205948
• Journal: Criminal Justice and Behavior Volume: 31 Issue: 3 Dated: June 2004 Pages: 263-281
• Author(s): Glenn D. Walters; Matthew D. Geyer
• Date Published: June 2004
• Length: 19 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This study determined whether inmates who had ever been arrested for only a white-collar crime differed from white-collar offenders who had previously been arrested for a nonwhite-collar crime, as well as inmates confined for only nonwhite-collar offenses.

Abstract

In a population of 327 male inmates assigned to a minimum-security Federal prison camp over a 3-month period, 86 (26.3 percent) were serving time for a white-collar offense. All inmates 29 years old and older (the lower limit of the age range in the white-collar group) who were serving time for nonviolent, nonwhite-collar offenses were approached about participating in the study. A total of 57 inmates serving time for white-collar offenses agreed to participate in the study. Of these, 34 had no prior history of nonwhite-collar crime, and 23 of the white-collar offenders had at least 1 prior arrest for a nonwhite-collar crime. All of the participants were administered scales that measured criminal thinking, criminal identity, and criminal lifestyle involvement. Their files were reviewed over a 4-month period. Significant group differences were found on the Psychological Inventory of Criminal Thinking Styles Self-Assertion/Deception scale, Social Identity as a Criminal Centrality subscale, Social Identity as a Criminal In-Group Ties subscale, and Lifestyle Criminality Screening Form-Revised. The white-collar offenders with no history of nonwhite-collar crime were less inclined to endorse criminal thoughts, identify with other criminals, and exhibit signs of a criminal lifestyle than white-collar offenders with prior arrests for nonwhite-collar crime, as well as nonwhite-collar offenders with no history of white-collar crime. As hypothesized, white-collar offenders with a history of prior nonwhite-collar crime were largely indistinguishable from nonwhite-collar offenders. White-collar offenders thus do not form a homogeneous group regarding pattern of offending, level of deviance, attitudes toward crime, or social identity. These differences should be taken into account when developing and implementing programs with white-collar offenders. 3 tables, 4 notes, and 18 references