Deck 2: Understanding White-Collar Crime

Question 1

What did E.A. Ross believe was the most dangerous factor about the "white-collar criminaloid?"

A) Individually and as collectively they create more economic losses than the average street criminal.
B) They engage in criminal acts under the cover of responsibility.
C) Their crimes in the workplace were not being taken as seriously as traditional street crimes in the early 1900's.
D) They are rarely caught and prosecuted.

Answer 1

B

Question 2

What idea was Sutherland initially trying to call attention to when he defined white-collar crime in 1949?

A) Crimes are committed by individuals of high social and economic classes.
B) More economic losses occur due to white-collar crime than traditional crime.
C) White-collar crime losses can be diminished with the proper research and development of prevention strategies.
D) White-collar crime would only get worse without intervention.

Answer 2

A

Question 3

Which criticism occurs when two people come to different conclusions about whether an incident is a white-collar crime?

A) cognitive ambiguity
B) policy ambiguity
C) conceptual ambiguity
D) Legal ambiguity

Answer 3

C

Question 4

What did criminologists argue to be the result of conceptual ambiguity in regards to Sutherland's definition of white-collar crime?

A) The term was in turn used vaguely by other scholars and authorities.
B) The public could not grasp the idea of white-collar crime.
C) The definition did not reflect reality.
D) Criminologists viewed white-collar crime as similar to traditional crime.

Question 5

In regards to methodological ambiguity, what was Sutherland's research on white-collar crime specifically criticized for?

A) His research was conducted in a manner that met standards and guidelines at the time.
B) His research focused too much on the lower class, while his definition focused more on the upper class.
C) His research was not strong enough or specific enough on which to base any laws.
D) His research did not offer any methods for preventing crime in the workplace.

Question 6

Which type of criticism against Sutherland's definition of white-collar crime was said to have created a "disconnect" between those studying white-collar crime and those responding to white-collar crime?

A) Legal ambiguity
B) Methodological ambiguity
C) Conceptual ambiguity
D) Policy ambiguity

Question 7

What was Sutherland's response to the criticism he faced concerning his definition of white-collar crime?

A) He was trying to call attention to an area of crime previously overlooked.
B) The concept of white-collar crime was the same as traditional crime.
C) The traditional theories of criminal behavior needed to be discarded.
D) White-collar crime was growing rapidly and needed to be identified.

Question 8

In Criminal Behavior Systems, how did Clinard and Quinney divide white-collar crime into two types of separate crime in the 1970s?

A) Corporate crime as crimes by the corporation and occupational crime as crimes against the corporation.
B) Occupational crime as crimes by the corporation and corporate crime as crimes against the corporation.
C) White-collar crime as moral or ethical violations and white-collar crime as violations of criminal or civil law.
D) Organizational crimes by corporations and state authority crimes by the government.

Question 9

What was the effect of Clinard and Quinney's research on white-collar crime in the 1970s and 1980s?

A) A final definition of white-collar crime was finally agreed upon.
B) Flawed white-collar crime prevention strategies were developed.
C) Research on white-collar crime conducted by other criminologists increased.
D) Research on white-collar crime conducted by other criminologists decreased.

Question 10

An angry employee who destroys company records after being fired, is an example of what variation of white-collar crime?

A) violations of civil law
B) violations of criminal law
C) moral violations
D) violations of regulatory laws

Question 11

A restaurant that fails to follow health and cleanliness standards is an example of what variation of white-collar crime?

A) violations of civil law
B) violations of criminal law
C) workplace deviance
D) violations of regulatory laws

Question 12

When Exxon Valdez crashed his ship, causing extreme damage to the environment and resulting in billions of dollars in fines, what variation of white-collar crime is this an example of?

A) violations of regulatory laws
B) moral or ethical violations
C) violations of civil law
D) social harm

Question 13

An employee taking a sick day when they are not actually sick is an example of what variation of white-collar crime?

A) social harm
B) moral or ethical violations
C) workplace deviance
D) violations of regulatory laws

Question 14

The definition of white-collar crime as 'definitions socially constructed by businesses' relates to what aspect of occupational crimes?

A) Some businesses may consider white-collar crimes against them an internal rather than criminal matter.
B) Individual companies or businesses might define on their own what behaviors they believe to be improper.
C) A company or business may decide to view only low-level employee offenses as criminal.
D) Many companies might regard working with law enforcement bad for business.

Question 15

Which of the following lists a difference between white-collar crime as a government definition and white-collar crime as a research definition?

A) The government has a broader definition, while researchers have a narrower definition to better measure and study crime.
B) Researchers have a broader definition of white-collar crime, while the government has a narrower definition to prevent offenders from getting away with their crimes in court.
C) The government definition is simpler for the public to understand, whereas the research definition is more complex in nature.
D) The research definition is more complex in nature so other criminologists can easily grasp the concept and the government definition is more complex in nature.

Question 16

Which of the following is not a variety of white-collar crime as described by criminologist Gary Green?

A) organizational occupational crimes
B) societal occupational crimes
C) state authority occupational crimes
D) individual occupational crimes

Question 17

What are the two factors that make it difficult to measure the extent of white-collar crime?

A) Victims don't report it and the concept of white-collar crime is ambiguous.
B) Victims don't report it and the government definition of white-collar crime varies too much from the research definition.
C) The concept of white-collar crime is too ambiguous and the government definition of white-collar crime varies too much from the research definition.
D) The government definition of white-collar crime varies too much from the research definition and there is disagreement about how to go about measuring the extent of white-collar crime.

Question 18

Which of the following is not a problem with the statistics published by the National Incident Based Reporting System?

A) Not everyone agrees that the crimes are white-collar crimes.
B) Many cases are only reported to regulatory agencies, not law enforcement.
C) The research definition of white-collar crime that is used to conduct studies does not agree with the definition used to collect statistics.
D) Not all victims report the crimes.

Question 19

A successful company being forced out of business due to employee theft over a long period of time is which consequence of white-collar crime?

A) secondary societal economic loss
B) physical harm
C) individual economic loss
D) emotional consequences

Question 20

What did Sutherland define as the "most general" characteristic of white-collar crime?

A) violation of trust
B) large number of victims
C) large economic loss
D) violation of natural law

Question 21

Which consequence of white-collar crime is believed to have greater weight than the economic losses?

A) diminished faith in free economy
B) erosion of public morality
C) loss of confidence in political institutions, processes, and leaders
D) mistrust of the offender

Question 22

What was one of Benson and Choi's conclusions regarding the characteristics of white-collar offenders?

A) Offenders follow demonstrated patterns of offenses.
B) They come from all racial and ethnic groups.
C) Offenders are usually experiencing instability in their family life.
D) They began engaging in white-collar crime early in their lives.

Question 23

What does the warning light syndrome refer to?

A) The fact that an outbreak of white-collar crime in an area can send a message to a community that something needs to be fixed.
B) The idea that individuals can learn how to follow the rules by watching other people get caught breaking them.
C) The idea that society becomes stronger after experiencing white-collar crime.
D) The idea that the crime will bring different groups of individuals together in response to fight the crime.

Question 24

Which of the following is one of the goals of the National White-Collar Crime Center?

A) provide training to those investigating white-collar crime
B) assist law enforcement in apprehending white-collar offenders
C) investigate cases of white-collar crime independently from authorities
D) provide economic support to victims of white-collar crime

Question 25

Research on public attitudes and white-collar crime have drawn which conclusion about how the public views these crimes?

A) White-collar crime is not viewed as seriously as traditional crime.
B) The public supports long prison sentences for offenders.
C) People believe white-collar crimes have greater moral than economic costs.
D) The public sees white-collar crime as a violent offense.

Question 26

One of the criticisms Sutherland received for his work with white-collar crime was the notion that his research had methodological ambiguity, which in effect meant that his research did not accurately reflect reality.

Question 27

Criminologists Clinard and Quinney built on Sutherland's work and divided white-collar crime into two types: corporate crime and organizational crime.

Question 28

White-collar crime as a violation of trust is the idea that offenders violate natural law and the ethical principles of a particular culture, subculture, or group.

Question 29

Investors sharing information about stocks is an example of white-collar crime as a violation of criminal law.

Question 30

Government definitions of white-collar crime tend to be broader in nature than research definitions of white-collar crime.

Question 31

One of the main factors that makes the extent of white-collar crime so difficult to measure is that many offenders are not caught.

Question 32

Experts believe that official data supplied by the government on white-collar crime greatly underestimates the extent to which it occurs.

Question 33

One reason white-collar crime statistics published by the UCR are disputed by many criminologists is because many of the crimes included in the statistics occur outside the scope of employment.

Question 34

One of the positive consequences of white-collar crime is boundary maintenance, which refers to the fact that outbreaks of white-collar crime send a message to communities or businesses that something is wrong and needs to be fixed.

Question 35

A study on the characteristics of white-collar offenders concluded that they have families, are mostly college-educated, are connected to their communities, and commit crimes later in life.

Question 36

Describe one of the types of criticism that Sutherland's work with white-collar crime was met with.

Question 37

Describe three of the eleven variations of white-collar crime.

Question 38

List one the problems with white-collar crime statistics published by agencies like the UCR.

Question 39

Describe one of the positive consequences of white-collar crime.

Question 40

What is the public's attitude toward white-collar offenders and do they take white-collar crime seriously?

Question 41

Discuss the differences between corporate crimes and occupational crimes. Provide examples of each as support.

Question 42

Why is the extent of white-collar crime difficult to measure?

Question 43

Discuss the differences between white-collar offenders and traditional offenders.