Research Proposal Project

STEP 4: Literature Review

Marcel Dolegiewicz
Eliades
CRIM 250W-FALL 2017
11.17.2017

Research Questions:

PRIMARY:

How do white-collar prisoners adapt to prison conditions and how does

that compare to public belief and opinion?

What are the motivations behind white collar crime as opposed to blue collar crime?

Why is public perception of white collar crime much more accepted and forgiving as
opposed to blue collar crime?

Why is workplace crime in the financial sector so prominent?

Why are perpetrators of a higher class put into separate prisons?

How have stricter regulations in the financial sector led to a decrease in crime?
 LITERATURE REVIEW

Rosss article (2017) explores the motivations of crimes committed by the powerful

and also includes research on what particular control methods have proven to be

effective. The study was conducted by a close examination of various laws and

regulations aimed at deterring and stopping white-collar crime. Included in the data

are various interviews containing testimony and input from white-collar offenders

as well as lawmakers and other officials whose job it is to stop this type of crime. In

the end, Ross was able to conclude that there is no perfect way to control for

crimes committed by the powerful, and the justice system is far too unequal for an

effective and concrete control method. The existence of an unequal justice system is

solidified by long trial delays, frequent appeals, and new trials that are often

unequally permitted to white-collar offenders (J.W.G 1911). Because of this

inequality and the influence of social class, Ross concludes that the best type of

control would have to include parsimonious and dynamic features. This type of

control model would change and evolve just as crimes do.

Following motivations and control methods, white-collar criminals are often treated

very differently when compared to violent offenders. Moulin and Shauis (2017)

article places a focus on why and how there is unequal treatment in trials,

particularly on why white-collar offenders receive more favorable treatment. In

order to detect a trend in treatment, Moulin and Shaui review 4,098 documents

concerning adjudication decisions from three separate district courts in China. The

study is important, because it was able to identify some governmental factors and
public factors that tend to favor white-collar offenders. There is a clear public

tolerance and governmental apathy/leniency to white-collar offenders (Van Slyke

and Bales 2012) As well as governmental and public leniency, white-collar criminals

use various resources and social status that blue-collar offenders are unable to

utilize.

When white-collar criminals are finally convicted and found guilty. There exists a

widespread view that white-collar offenders have a special sensitivity to

imprisonment and experience more hardships and cope less well within a society of

captives (Stadler, Benson, and Cullen 2013). In the Stadler, Benson, and Cullens

article they wanted to find out how white-collar criminals really adjust to life behind

bars. They observed the special sensitivity hypothesis and assessed 366 federal

prison inmates by conducting qualitative interviews as well as observing prison life.

The analysis revealed that the special sensitivity hypothesis does not hold up and

in reality white-collar convicts experience fewer institutional problems and are

more likely to cope with prison life successfully. In a seperate study (Crank and

Payne 2015), a similar conclusion was reached, as 6500 white-collar inmates were

studied and were found not to experience any symptoms indicative of poor

psychological or behavioral adjustment to the jail environment.

In addition to in equal treatment in trial and conviction, the public opinion of white-

collar criminals differs from violent offenders and offenders of a lower social class.

(Van Slyke and Bale 2012) explores this difference in public opinion. They

conducted studies by issuing surveys and interviews to a sample of the general

public and were able to conclude that there are some serious disparities in public

opinion. The public seems to have a higher level of respect for white-collar

criminals, and the authors bring up that the glamorization of white-collar crimes

may have an effect on this. When compared with street level burglars and thieves,

white collar offenders are often treated more leniently, and a clear relationship

between social status and more positive public opinion exists. (Holtfreter 2008)

further explores this idea by presenting the argument that financial losses from

white-collar crimes continue to exceeds those of street crime, the public and justice

system tend to focus and scrutinize the street level offenders far more. They used a

2005 national sample of 402 telephone survey participants that concluded that

public attitudes towards white-collar offenders were far more positive when

compared to street level offenders.

Finally, to draw a conclusion on the seriousness of white-collar crime, Michel (2016)

studies and compares the perceived seriousness and punitiveness of the two

different types of crime (violent street crime and white-collar crime). He gathers

data on the public opinion and then compares it sentencing trends in order to find a

correlation. He finds that crimes that people react more negatively too are often

found to have stricter punishments. In reality, some white-collar crimes are often far
more harmful than blue-collar crimes. Violent street crimes are often given a much

more prominent role in the media due to the dramatic nature of violent crimes.

Overall, when seriousness of the crimes can be compared and found to be similar,

violent street offenders experience far harsher punishments.

PRE-PROPOSAL

My research question would be How does public opinion of white-collar crime

offenders impact sentencing and adjustment to jail for these type of criminals?

I would study the public opinion of white-collar crime compared to street level

crime, assess and detect trends in sentencing of white-collar offenders, and gain an

inside perspective of jail conditions and adjustments of white collar offenders. Most

of my data would have to be qualitative. I would have to conduct many interviews

and surveys in order to gauge public opinion and life in prison for white-collar

offenders. Key variables would be social class, level of adjustment to prison life,

severity of punishment, etc. I think this would be a good idea for a research project,

because it is very relevant in our society today in terms of an increased focus on

inequality and would be important to determine why there is such a strong

inequality.
 Reference List
Crank, B. R., & Payne, B. K. (2015). White-collar offenders and the jail experience: a comparative
analysis. Criminal Justice Studies, 28(4), 378-396. doi:10.1080/1478601X.2015.1060971

Holtfreter, K., Van Slyke, S., Bratton, J., & Gertz, M. (2008). Public perceptions of white-collar crime and
punishment. Journal Of Criminal Justice, 36(1), 50-60. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2007.12.006

J.W.G. (1911, March). UNEQUAL JUSTICE. Journal of the American Institute of Criminal Law &
Criminology. pp. 859-861.

Michel, C. (2016). Violent Street Crime Versus Harmful White-Collar Crime: A Comparison of Perceived
Seriousness and Punitiveness. Critical Criminology, 24(1), 127-143. doi:10.1007/s10612-015-9295-2

MOULIN, X., & SHUAI, W. (2017). UNEQUAL TREATMENT IN PRETRIAL DETENTION IN CHINA. British
Journal Of Criminology, 57(6), 1398-1419. doi:10.1093/bjc/azw060

Ross, J. I. (2017). Protecting democracy: a parsimonious, dynamic and heuristic model of controlling crimes
by the powerful. Criminal Justice Studies, 30(3), 289-306. doi:10.1080/1478601X.2017.1318132

Robinson, M., & Williams, M. (2009). The Myth of a Fair Criminal Justice System. Justice Policy Journal, 6(1), 1-52.

Schoepfer, A., Carmichael, S., & Piquero, N. L. (2007). Do perceptions of punishment vary between white-
collar and street crimes?. Journal Of Criminal Justice, 35(2), 151-163. doi:10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2007.01.003

Stadler, W. A., Benson, M. L., & Cullen, F. T. (2013). Revisiting the Special Sensitivity Hypothesis: The
Prison Experience of White-Collar Inmates. JQ: Justice Quarterly, 30(6), 1090-1114.
doi:10.1080/07418825.2011.649296

Van Slyke, S., & Bales, W. D. (2012). A contemporary study of the decision to incarcerate whitecollar and street
property offenders. Punishment & Society, 14(2), 217-246. doi:10.1177/1462474511434437