White collar crime: Involves people of a high social status who exploit their position to their
own advantage. Some examples of this are fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering.
The typical victim of a white collar crime includes business,organisations ,people with money
to invest and employees with high status within a company. White collar crime is both
criminal and deviant as it goes against societal norms like betrayal of trust, and violates laws
which prohibit money laundering, fraud and embezzlement. The level of public awareness is
low compared to other crimes due to its complex nature, more hidden because of the
offenders high status and respectability. A case example of a white collar crime is The Bernie
Madoff Ponzi scheme, where Madoff used new investors money to pay off older investors,
defrauding them of an estimated $65 million dollars.
Moral crime: There is no typical offender of a moral crime since there is such a wide range
of acts which goes against societal moral standards, meaning anyone could commit this
crime, an example of this would be Prostitution. Additionally, the victim of this crime is
usually the perpetrator themselves or people in difficult financial situations. This is deviant as
they violate society’s accepted standards of morality, knowing right from wrong, and they’re
criminalised as a way from the state to maintain social stability. The level of public
awareness for these crimes are low as the victim is usually the perpetrator, meaning they will
not report themselves, and involve consenting adults or seen as harmless by certain
individuals. An example of a moral crime includes the case of Diane Pretty, who was a
terminally ill woman with motor neurone disease, lost her legal challenge to have her
husband legally assisted in ending her life, as courts ruled it was not protected by the
European Convention on Human Rights' right to life or private life.
State crime: State crimes are committed by Government officials, politicians and police etc.
The victims are individuals or groups harmed by the actions of the state, for example
civilians affected by war and immigrants denied rights. It is deviant as it violated social norms
and international human rights, also going against the fundamental values of justice, equality
and the right to life, and criminal as it violates a country’s domestic laws, international laws,
or international human right conventions. The level of public awareness is relatively high,
due to the power of social media and activist groups who spread awareness and information
about large scale crimes such as police brutality, although the state does try to cover up
many crimes. Although, during the event the awareness is very low as the perpetrator has
the power to hide the event, but high after the fact. A study of state crime could be The
Holocaust, when the Nazi regime committed genocide through systematic persecution and
mass murder.
Technological crime: Anyone with access to the internet can be an offender of
technological crime, and can affect anyone with access to technology. Although the elderly
are more vulnerable to this due to low awareness and less education in the media and risks.
Technological crimes are prosecuted under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and Fraud Act
2006, making them criminal. As well as deviant, going against societal expectations of
appropriate and ethical conduct in the digital age. Public awareness of this is increasing due
to high profile incidents. A case example of a technological crime is Alex Bessel, who was
arrested for 2 years for committing thousands of cyber crimes including attacks on Google
and Skype. He made more than £50,000 from selling both his and other people's malware
products.
own advantage. Some examples of this are fraud, embezzlement, and money laundering.
The typical victim of a white collar crime includes business,organisations ,people with money
to invest and employees with high status within a company. White collar crime is both
criminal and deviant as it goes against societal norms like betrayal of trust, and violates laws
which prohibit money laundering, fraud and embezzlement. The level of public awareness is
low compared to other crimes due to its complex nature, more hidden because of the
offenders high status and respectability. A case example of a white collar crime is The Bernie
Madoff Ponzi scheme, where Madoff used new investors money to pay off older investors,
defrauding them of an estimated $65 million dollars.
Moral crime: There is no typical offender of a moral crime since there is such a wide range
of acts which goes against societal moral standards, meaning anyone could commit this
crime, an example of this would be Prostitution. Additionally, the victim of this crime is
usually the perpetrator themselves or people in difficult financial situations. This is deviant as
they violate society’s accepted standards of morality, knowing right from wrong, and they’re
criminalised as a way from the state to maintain social stability. The level of public
awareness for these crimes are low as the victim is usually the perpetrator, meaning they will
not report themselves, and involve consenting adults or seen as harmless by certain
individuals. An example of a moral crime includes the case of Diane Pretty, who was a
terminally ill woman with motor neurone disease, lost her legal challenge to have her
husband legally assisted in ending her life, as courts ruled it was not protected by the
European Convention on Human Rights' right to life or private life.
State crime: State crimes are committed by Government officials, politicians and police etc.
The victims are individuals or groups harmed by the actions of the state, for example
civilians affected by war and immigrants denied rights. It is deviant as it violated social norms
and international human rights, also going against the fundamental values of justice, equality
and the right to life, and criminal as it violates a country’s domestic laws, international laws,
or international human right conventions. The level of public awareness is relatively high,
due to the power of social media and activist groups who spread awareness and information
about large scale crimes such as police brutality, although the state does try to cover up
many crimes. Although, during the event the awareness is very low as the perpetrator has
the power to hide the event, but high after the fact. A study of state crime could be The
Holocaust, when the Nazi regime committed genocide through systematic persecution and
mass murder.
Technological crime: Anyone with access to the internet can be an offender of
technological crime, and can affect anyone with access to technology. Although the elderly
are more vulnerable to this due to low awareness and less education in the media and risks.
Technological crimes are prosecuted under the Computer Misuse Act 1990 and Fraud Act
2006, making them criminal. As well as deviant, going against societal expectations of
appropriate and ethical conduct in the digital age. Public awareness of this is increasing due
to high profile incidents. A case example of a technological crime is Alex Bessel, who was
arrested for 2 years for committing thousands of cyber crimes including attacks on Google
and Skype. He made more than £50,000 from selling both his and other people's malware
products.
