Crime and Justice Atlas

How Justice Is Served
Foundational Concepts

Corporate Crime

Also Known As Organizational Crime

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Illegal acts or omissions committed within a legitimate business organization as a result of deliberate decision making or culpable negligence, rather than by an individual acting alone. Edwin Sutherland's 1949 definition of white collar crime first argued for extending criminology to cover offending by respectable organizations and their agents.

Facts
DomainSourced to the subject's own account
Typology of crime 1
Cross-Tradition Connections

Associated With

Corporate crime is offending by an organization itself; white collar crime, in Sutherlands original sense, is offending by an individual of high social status in the course of an occupation. The two overlap heavily and are often used loosely as synonyms.

Informed By

Sutherland's 1949 book White Collar Crime concentrated almost exclusively on corporate offenders specifically.

Sources
1. Wikipedia: Corporate Crime
Lead section
Quote, Lead section
Illegal acts or omissions, punishable by the state under administrative, civil or criminal law which are the result of deliberate decision making or culpable negligence within a legitimate formal organisation.
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1. Wikipedia: Corporate Crime
Associated With: White Collar Crime, Criminalization sectionView the Source
Sociology Group: Corporate Crimes, Definition, Types, Examples
second paragraph
Quote, second paragraph
It is also known as white collar crime or organizational crime since the individuals commit crimes for the benefit of the organization.
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Britannica: Corporate Crime
Informed By: Edwin Sutherland, History and origins section
Quote, Informed By: Edwin Sutherland, History and origins section
The origins of the concept of corporate crime can be traced to the larger concept of white-collar crime, which was first introduced by American criminologist Edwin Sutherland. Sutherland later published a book titled White Collar Crime (1949), which concentrated almost exclusively on corporate crime.
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Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between corporate crime and white collar crime?

Corporate crime is committed by a company or its agents for the benefit of the organization itself. White collar crime is a broader category generally committed against a company or the public for personal benefit. All corporate crime is white collar crime, but not all white collar crime is corporate.
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