NCJ Number
101055
Journal
International Journal of Comparative and Applied Criminal Justice Volume: 9 Issue: 1 Dated: (Spring 1985) Pages: 15-28
Date Published
1985
Length
14 pages
Annotation
Based on a 1981 survey conducted in Galesburg, Illinois, we have attempted to investigate whether the criminal sanctions prescribed by citizens will vary when the broad category of white-collar crime is 'dissected' into its component types.
Abstract
It is commonly asserted that the public is indifferent toward white-collar crime and hence is reluctant to 'get tough' with more 'respectable' criminals. However, such a contention fails to consider that there are many varieties of upperworld criminality and that the punitiveness of the public may differ markedly according to the type of offense involved. The data suggest that (1) there is considerable variation in punitiveness by type of offense; (2) while street crimes are generally given the harshest sentences, violent forms of white-collar illegality are accorded severe sanctions that exceed those meted out for some FBI crimes; and (3) there is little support for the notion that the public responds leniently to upperworld crime. (Publisher abstract)