Dishonest Dollars

L. Leap Terry

Description

In an environment where corporate scandals fill the headlines and ethics courses have suddenly become standard fare in business schools, Terry Leap offers welcome insights into and useful ways of thinking about a critical problem that permeates our society. His main contribution is an integrative model of white-collar crime, which smoothly incorporates influences from sociology, psychology, public policy, and business. As he explains the process that occurs across the many different categories of crimes within organizations, he finds that there are more similarities than differences between "criminals in the suites" and "criminals in the streets."Leap's definition of crimes within organizations and the people who commit them are laid out in his first chapter. He then goes on to discuss the causes of and events surrounding white-collar crime, types of crimes and criminals, the decision-making processes of white-collar criminals, and the impact of these crimes. His concluding chapter predicts future trends in corporate crime, including an explanation of why we are likely to see more crime in health care. Throughout, Leap presents numerous specific examples and cases-from famous meltdowns such as Enron and WorldCom to less-publicized incidents including a weight-loss franchisee mislabeling doughnuts as low fat and a CEO of a South Carolina regional transportation authority misusing taxpayer money for lavish meals, personal expenses, and world travel.

Sujets

• Droit et juridique
• True crime
• Corporate crime

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 18 octobre 2018
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781501732966
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Dishonest Dollars

Dishonest Dollars

The Dynamics of White-Collar Crime

Terry L. Leap

ILR Press A N I M P R I N T O F Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2007 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2007 by Cornell University Press

Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Leap, Terry L., 1948– Dishonest dollars : the dynamics of white-collar crime / Terry L. Leap. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN-13: 978-0-8014-4520-0 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. White collar crimes—United States. 2. Criminal behavior—United States. I. Title.

HV6769.L43 2007 364.16'8—dc22

2006026569

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetable-based, low-VOC inks and acid-free papers that are recycled, totally chlorine-free, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Cover design by Henry Sene Yee.

To my parents, Henry W. Leap and Barbara L. Leap, and my father-in-law, Harold P. Coston

Contents

Preface Introduction: The Big Picture 1. What Influences Organizational Crime and Corruption? 2. The Many Facets of White-Collar Crime 3. White-Collar Criminals: Risks and Rationalizations 4. The Elusive Impact of White-Collar Crime 5. Responses to White-Collar Crime Conclusion and Future Directions Appendixes: A Model of Organizational Crime and Corruption Selected Theories on the Causes of Criminal Behavior Federal Laws Affecting White-Collar Crime Notes References Index

ix 1 23 51 96 125 159 192

201 202 206 211 225 235

Preface

Work on this book began several years ago when I decided to make an oblique shift from the study of mainstream management topics to the study of white-collar criminology—a topic that has been of interest to me for many years. After receiving my doctorate in business administration, I have spent most of my academic career in the field of human resource management. Over the years, I read numerous books and articles about crime and watched the ever-expanding array of television crime docu- mentaries on channels such as A&E, Discovery, and TLC. I was espe- cially intrigued with the works of the criminologists Stanton Samenow, Marcus Felson, and John Douglas. Then it occurred to me. Why not develop a course in white-collar crime for business students? By the late 1990s and early years of the twenty-first century, dozens of major corporate scandals were in the news. AACSB International, the major accrediting body for business schools, began emphasizing ethics training for undergraduate business majors and MBA students. In response, I developed a senior seminar for undergraduates and referred to it as an “applied ethics” course on white-collar crime. After offering the class for several semesters to sen- ior management majors at Clemson University, I developed an advanced version of the course for MBAs. Both courses were well received by my students. And, for me, teaching had never been so much fun! Books on white-collar crime usually fall into one of four categories. First, some books provide a detailed account of a major white-collar crime (or set of related crimes) such as the Enron or WorldCom deba- cles. Second, other books focus primarily on the sociological aspects of