“Lying, cheating, and stealing. That’s white-collar crime in a nutshell.”
This headline will appear if you enter the website of the FBI, searching for information concerning white-collar crime.
What started when people began to trade thousands of years ago and tried to betray their commercial partner, continued by the use of manipulated measuring units in the Middle Ages, a development was triggered, where juggling the company's accounts or illegal stock transactions are daily businesses. Even though, this development has been actively fought since the beginning of the 20th century, white-collar crime is still an acute problem affecting all of society.
In the following paper it should be figured out, how the offenders should be punished, what role a prison sentence serves and if it is the best way to punish white-collar criminals.
Contents
1. Introduction
2. White-collar crime
2.1.Definition
2.2.Faces of white-collar crime
2.2.1. Soft crimes
2.2.2. Barely tolerable crimes
2.2.3. Hard crimes
2.3.Characteristics of white-collar crime
2.3.1. Motive of action
2.3.2. The perpetrators
3. Facts and figures about white-collar crime
3.1.The dimension of committed crimes
3.2.Quantum of damages
3.2.1. Material damages
3.2.2. Immaterial damages
3.3.Punishment of white-collar crimes
4. Theories of Punishment
4.1.Retributive Theory (Absolute Theory of Punishment)
4.2.Utilitarian Theory (Relative Theory of Punishment)
4.2.1. Deterrence in the Narrow Sense (General Negative Deterrence)
4.2.2. Consciousness of Law (General Positive Deterrence)
4.2.3. Incapacitation (Specific Negative Deterrence)
4.2.4. Rehabilitation (Specific Positive Deterrence)
4.3.Combination Theory
5. Possible forms of punishment
5.1.Disciplinary measures
5.2.Penal measures
5.3.Measures of civil law
5.4.Tolerance
6. The role of a prison sentence
6.1.The role of a prison sentence in relation to the perpetrator
6.1.1. Restituting the victim
6.1.2. Eliminating recidivism
6.2.The role of a prison sentence in relation to society
6.2.1. Deterrence
7. Prison sentence as the best way to punish white-collar crime
7.1.Advantages of a prison sentencing
7.2.Disadvantages
7.3.Other effective ways of punishment
7.3.1. Non-governmental measures
8. Conclusion
Bibliography
- Quote paper
- Michael Vitt (Author), Katja Mulukova (Author), 2011, White-collar Crime, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/175412
