White-Collar and Organized Crimes: Questions of Seriousness and Policy

• NCJ Number: 106683
• Journal: Justice Quarterly Volume: 4 Issue: 1 Dated: (March 1987) Pages: 73-98
• Author(s): J W Meeker; J Dombrink; H N Ponetll
• Date Published: 1987
• Length: 26 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America
• Note: An earlier version of this paper was presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 27-31, 1984, San Antonio, Texas

Annotation

This study examined the extent to which occupation and attitudes toward the seriousness of white-collar crime influences attitudes toward policy distinctions between the two and toward the usefulness of various definitions of organized crime.

Abstract

Subjects were 160 defense attorneys and 20 judges involved in Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) cases and 77 attendees of a conference on organized crime. In general, results indicate a normative consensus about the relative seriousness of various crimes, although defense attorneys were more likely than other criminal justice professionals to view certain white-collar and organized crimes as less serious and to feel that the two types of crime should be treated differently for policy, statutory, prosecutorial, and sentencing considerations. There was little difference among occupational groups' perceptions of the various definitions of the two crime types and they agreed the most useful definition of organized crime was traditional and not conspiratorial. Results suggest that policy issues surrounding the treatment of these two types of crime by statutes such as RICO result from differing ideological views about the seriousness of various crimes. 40 references.