AC1.1 Analyse different types of crime.
White collar crime
They are crimes that are committed by people who are in a position of power or authority
(businesses and professionals)
Examples of criminal offences: defrauding customers, tax evasion, breaking health and safety
laws, polluting the environment.
Types of offenders:
- Organised crime: criminal activities planned and controlled by powerful groups and carried
out on a large scale
- Corporate crime: crime is committed by or on behalf of a company
- Professional crime: crime is committed by professionals, e.g., accountants stealing clients’
funds.
Types of victims:
- Consumers: e.g., companies may make false claims when advertising their products or sell
unfit or dangerous goods.
- Taxpayers and the government: companies who evade tax are defrauding other taxpayers
and depriving the government of funds to pay for public services
- Employees: e.g., employers may subject their workers to bullying, sexual harassment or
racial discrimination.
- The public at large: we all suffer when companies pollute the environment, e.g. toxic waste
or selling cars that breach emissions standards.
Level of public awareness:
Public awareness is said to be relatively low compared with street crimes such as assault or
burglary. Media coverage is limited.
- Under-reporting: Victims often don’t report because they don’t know they have been
victimised, don’t regard it as a real crime or feel it won’t make a difference.
- De-labelling: Offences are often labelled as breaches of regulations rather than crimes.
- Complexity: Financial crimes are often complex, and law enforcers may lack the resources
and knowledge to investigate them effectively.
- Power and Respectability: Criminals’ high status may mean they are less likely to be
suspected and may have the power and wealth to avoid prosecution.
Deviance/Criminal?
Criminal – they involve breaking the law, sometimes they don’t appear so as they are invisible
or are labelled as breaches of regulations rather than law.
Deviance – They can cause great harm, often involving a betrayal of trust, e.g. when lawyers
swindle their clients or doctors abuse their patients.
, Types of white-collar crime:
o Organised crime
Criminal activities that are planned and controlled by powerful groups and carried on a large
scale. e.g., mafia.
o Corporate crime
Corporate crimes refer to crimes committed by a corporation (business) or individuals acting
on behalf of a corporation or other businesses.
Examples:
- Paperwork and non-compliance: not complying with health and safety regulations
- Environmental crimes (green crimes): damaging the environment either deliberately or
through negligence.
- Manufacturing offences: producing unsafe products/counterfeit gods
- Labour Law violations: not complying with worker health and safety policies
- Unfair trade practices: false advertising, price fixing, illegally obtaining info on rival
businesses
- Financial offences: tax evasion; concealment of losses or debts.
o Professional crime
People for whom crime is their permanent occupation and primary source of income.
Examples: drug dealers, bank robbers, assassins, human traffickers, prostitution.
, AC1.1 Analyse different types of crime.
Moral crime
Moral crimes are acts that go against society’s norms or moral code – it accepts values
and rules behaviour.
Examples: prostitution, selling or possession of illegal drugs, begging, homelessness,
under-age drinking or cigarette smoking.
Types of offenders:
- Offenders can vary according to the crime. For some like drug dealers, it may be a source of
income or just a part of their day-to-day business.
- Some are forced into offending due to personal circumstances, like beggars and rough
sleepers (vagrants)
Types of victims:
- Considered victimless because there is no specific victim, especially when they involve
consenting adults. There are no immediate victims to report the crime.
- For example, drug dealers are unlikely to report himself to the police
- Under-age children smoking, drinking, etc. It does not involve consenting adults; they have
an identifiable victim who needs protection of the law.
- Women becoming prostitutes to fund their drug addiction and may be exploited.
Level of public awareness:
There is little public awareness of these offences, especially where offender plus victim have a
shared interest in concealing the offence.
The public may be aware of the offence but choose not to report it, like begging.
Deviance/Criminal?
These acts break the criminal law but are seen as deviant, but there may be less agreement
about whether some of these acts should be against the law.
For example, some would see drug consumption as a personal matter, or even medical rather
than legal.
White collar crime
They are crimes that are committed by people who are in a position of power or authority
(businesses and professionals)
Examples of criminal offences: defrauding customers, tax evasion, breaking health and safety
laws, polluting the environment.
Types of offenders:
- Organised crime: criminal activities planned and controlled by powerful groups and carried
out on a large scale
- Corporate crime: crime is committed by or on behalf of a company
- Professional crime: crime is committed by professionals, e.g., accountants stealing clients’
funds.
Types of victims:
- Consumers: e.g., companies may make false claims when advertising their products or sell
unfit or dangerous goods.
- Taxpayers and the government: companies who evade tax are defrauding other taxpayers
and depriving the government of funds to pay for public services
- Employees: e.g., employers may subject their workers to bullying, sexual harassment or
racial discrimination.
- The public at large: we all suffer when companies pollute the environment, e.g. toxic waste
or selling cars that breach emissions standards.
Level of public awareness:
Public awareness is said to be relatively low compared with street crimes such as assault or
burglary. Media coverage is limited.
- Under-reporting: Victims often don’t report because they don’t know they have been
victimised, don’t regard it as a real crime or feel it won’t make a difference.
- De-labelling: Offences are often labelled as breaches of regulations rather than crimes.
- Complexity: Financial crimes are often complex, and law enforcers may lack the resources
and knowledge to investigate them effectively.
- Power and Respectability: Criminals’ high status may mean they are less likely to be
suspected and may have the power and wealth to avoid prosecution.
Deviance/Criminal?
Criminal – they involve breaking the law, sometimes they don’t appear so as they are invisible
or are labelled as breaches of regulations rather than law.
Deviance – They can cause great harm, often involving a betrayal of trust, e.g. when lawyers
swindle their clients or doctors abuse their patients.
, Types of white-collar crime:
o Organised crime
Criminal activities that are planned and controlled by powerful groups and carried on a large
scale. e.g., mafia.
o Corporate crime
Corporate crimes refer to crimes committed by a corporation (business) or individuals acting
on behalf of a corporation or other businesses.
Examples:
- Paperwork and non-compliance: not complying with health and safety regulations
- Environmental crimes (green crimes): damaging the environment either deliberately or
through negligence.
- Manufacturing offences: producing unsafe products/counterfeit gods
- Labour Law violations: not complying with worker health and safety policies
- Unfair trade practices: false advertising, price fixing, illegally obtaining info on rival
businesses
- Financial offences: tax evasion; concealment of losses or debts.
o Professional crime
People for whom crime is their permanent occupation and primary source of income.
Examples: drug dealers, bank robbers, assassins, human traffickers, prostitution.
, AC1.1 Analyse different types of crime.
Moral crime
Moral crimes are acts that go against society’s norms or moral code – it accepts values
and rules behaviour.
Examples: prostitution, selling or possession of illegal drugs, begging, homelessness,
under-age drinking or cigarette smoking.
Types of offenders:
- Offenders can vary according to the crime. For some like drug dealers, it may be a source of
income or just a part of their day-to-day business.
- Some are forced into offending due to personal circumstances, like beggars and rough
sleepers (vagrants)
Types of victims:
- Considered victimless because there is no specific victim, especially when they involve
consenting adults. There are no immediate victims to report the crime.
- For example, drug dealers are unlikely to report himself to the police
- Under-age children smoking, drinking, etc. It does not involve consenting adults; they have
an identifiable victim who needs protection of the law.
- Women becoming prostitutes to fund their drug addiction and may be exploited.
Level of public awareness:
There is little public awareness of these offences, especially where offender plus victim have a
shared interest in concealing the offence.
The public may be aware of the offence but choose not to report it, like begging.
Deviance/Criminal?
These acts break the criminal law but are seen as deviant, but there may be less agreement
about whether some of these acts should be against the law.
For example, some would see drug consumption as a personal matter, or even medical rather
than legal.
