INTRODUCTION TO WHITE COLLAR CRIME

The term "white-collar crime", strictly speaking, has no legal significance. 1 However, it was
coined and popularized by Edwin H Sutherland, an American sociologist, in his classic paper
"White Collar Criminality". In his paper he defined this crime as one committed by a person of
respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation. The aim of providing this
definition was to point out weaknesses in the typical crime theory by bringing into sharp focus
the sociological differences that existed between traditional crimes and other crimes. Traditional
crimes such as murder, rape and theft where the crimes were defined without reference to the
social status or occupation of the offender, and on the other hand other crimes such as
embezzlement, fraud, antitrust violations, price-fixing by cartels, misuse of public and corporate
funds, income tax evasion, abuse of political and legal processes and widespread violations of
administrative regulations, all of which were nearly always, according to Sutherland, committed
by those with power, high social status and occupation, i.e. the respectable citizen.
Sutherland opined that- those who administered justice spared the well-off and influential by
postulating that many of such offences were victimless or the victims did not see themselves as
victims of crime; that offenders were not really criminals or that the offences were of a nonviolent nature or that a mere implication of a person of high status in an illegal act was sufficient
punishment as such person would lose his status or his professional license or privilege. 2He
noted that in such cases imposition of a jail sentence was rare. Further, in most cases typical
concealment of offences within the organization lead to difficulties in detecting the offences by
the victims and the police. Some of the blame, he conceded, no doubt, lay in the state of the law
which had until the 20th century rendered corporations immune from criminal liability.
Sutherland, therefore, challenged the paradigm of traditional criminality which then blamed
crime on the underprivileged and the lower class who were considered dangerous elements of

1 Kenneth Mann, Punitive Civil Sanctions: The Middleground between Criminal and Civil Law, Vol 101, Issue 8
Yale Law Review (1992) p 1795.

2 Sutherland, Edwin H., White-collar criminality, American Sociological Review, Vol V, Issue I,(1940), p 12.

society, proposed that there must exist a general theory of crime explaining white-collar crime so
that the foundation for fairness and equal justice for all could result.
Sutherland's definition, though, had a weakness as it was predicated on the status of the offender
and not the characteristics of the offence. A rival school of sociologists clamored for a new
definition that could emphasize this latter aspect of the offence. This was necessary so that
white-collar crime would be better understood in all its derivations and attempts made to control
it.
In 1970 Edelhertz , a sociologist, offered a wider definition of white-collar crime by not
identifying it with any social class. His definition gained favour with the US Justice Department
and reshaped thinking on the subject. Edelhertz's definition emphasized on illegal acts committed
by non-physical means and by concealment in order to obtain money or property or to obtain
business or personal advantage3. The Justice Department's Dictionary of Criminal Justice Data
Terminology adopts the definition of Edelhertz as well as retains the idea of Sutherland's
definition regarding white-collar crime as entrepreneurial, professional or semi-professional.' 4
White collar crime is not a legal category incorporating specific offenses. Rather, it is a social
construct. 5The placement of its conceptual boundaries often reflects the social boundaries of its
users. Whether a social scientist, lawyer, law enforcement official, member of a regulatory
agency, muckraker, business person, consumer, or criminal, the fom of offense most salient to
one' s experience vary.
As a result of the legacy left by Sutherland, governments in many jurisdictions, common law and
otherwise, have better equipped themselves with legislation, engaged in trans-border
collaboration and are employing new enforcement techniques through specialized training of
investigators and prosecutors to more effectively deal with white-collar crime which has become
3 Edelhertz, Herbert, The Nature, Impact and Prosecution of White- Collar Crime,Washington D.C., National
Institute of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice, (1990), p 3.

4Poveda, Tony G., Rethinking White-Collar Crime,Westport, Conn.: Praeger, (1994), p 41.
5 Shapiro, Susan P., Thinking about White Collar Crime: Matters of Conceptualization and Research
U.S. Department of Justice, (1980), p 2.

a rapid growth industry today. The problem as law enforcement officers see it is not in the
definition of white-collar crime but always having the right mechanism to cope with it.