NCJ Number
80025
Journal
International Criminal Police Review Issue: 348 Dated: (May 1981) Pages: 142-153
Date Published
1981
Length
12 pages
Annotation
Based on background studies and observations of a sample of white-collar offenders appearing in the 11th Criminal Chamber of the Paris High Court (France), this article develops psychological profiles of white-collar criminals.
Abstract
Case files and court observations were conducted for 1 year, involving a little over 120 offenders. The majority of the sample was charged with offenses in association with bankruptcy proceedings, followed by a much smaller percentage of persons charged with tax evasion and evasion of customs duty. Those involved in offenses associated with bankruptcy proceedings are divided into two profile categories: 'winners' and 'losers.' The 'winners' were business people with a history of wealth accumulated through business dealings, but who had recently suffered a severe financial setback, usually through a financial gamble based on overconfidence in personal power to manipulate events and people toward a favorable outcome. For these persons, business is an arena of power struggles where the strong and shrewd survive. Ethics and sensitivity to the feelings and interests of others do not enter into the perspectives of the 'winner,' since the ultimate goal is to manifest power symbolized by the accumulation of wealth. The court proceedings were a bewilderment and an irritation to the 'winners,' largely because principles of law and ethics had never before been a measure of their business performance. The 'losers' were businessmen who had failed in their first business undertaking, principally because of incompetence, and who had tried to salvage their business through illegal acts born out of panic. The 'losers' tended to show shame and guilt for their misdeeds. Twelve footnotes and a bibliography with 14 listings are supplied.