Empirical Study of Convenience Theory: A Student Elicitation on White-Collar Crime

Convenience theory suggests that members of the elite in society commit financial crime in their professional roles when alternative actions require too much effort. Convenience is a relative concept where white-collar crime is chosen over legitimate actions when there is a strong economical motive, ample organizational opportunities, and acceptance of deviant behavior. To study convenience theory, a group of students were asked to express their opinions using a questionnaire. The students participated in an elective class on white-collar crime in a business school in Norway.     

Empirical Evidence of Convenience Theory: Reports of Investigations by Fraud Examiners

Convenience theory attempts to integrate various theoretical explanations for the occurrence of white-collar crime. Convenience theory suggests that organizational opportunity to commit and conceal financial crime is at the core of deviant behavior to avoid threats and exploit possibilities. This article presents an empirical test of convenience theory by content analysis of investigation reports by fraud examiners. Empirical evidence suggests that convenience orientation was indeed present among suspected offenders.     

Convenience in Criminal Entrepreneurship: The Case of a Norwegian Hashish Baron

The intent of this article is to study a case of criminal entrepreneurship, which reflects the key attributes of convenience theory in order to test that theory. The intent is also to show that the theory of convenience can be extended beyond white-collar crime to include criminal entrepreneurship. The theory of convenience is introduced in this article to explain why criminal entrepreneurship can be an attractive avenue for some people. Convenience theory suggests that a strong desire for financial gain to satisfy greed and solve problems, an attractive organizational opportunity to commit and conceal crime, as well as a personal willingness for deviant behavior can make criminal entrepreneurship attractive. The case of a Norwegian hashish baron illustrates convenience theory by the person’s ability to stay in the illegal drug business for two decades as a white-collar criminal.     

Theory of Convenience: Determinants of White-Collar Crime Intention

ABSTRACT

Crime intentions are an important area of research in criminology. Yet substitutes for real intentions have to be applied since respondents will be reluctant to tell truthfully of their tendency to commit a crime. In this article, we present determinants of white-collar crime based on the theory of convenience. Convenience theory suggests that the extent of individual convenience orientation determines to what extent a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his or her occupation will make a decision to violate the law whenever alternative decisions are less convenient. A more stressful and greedy financial motive, an improved organizational opportunity to commit and conceal crime, and a stronger personal willingness for deviant behavior are assumed to influence the extent of white-collar crime intention. Based on a survey of business school students, we find support for suggested causal relationships in the theory of convenience. Business school students are relevant for this research, as they will occupy positions in the future where they can commit financial crime, prevent crime, or become victims of such crime.     

Convenience in White-Collar Crime: Introducing a Core Concept

This article is concerned with white-collar criminals and considers the role of convenience in explaining crime occurrence. The article puts forward convenience as a theoretical concept that underlies existing theories and research on white-collar crime. Convenience seems present in all three dimensions of crime: economic dimension, organizational dimension, and behavioral dimension. Convenience in white-collar crime implies savings in time and effort by privileged and trusted individuals to solve a problem, where alternatives seem less attractive, and future threats of detection and punishment are minimal. The proposed theory of convenience in white-collar crime emerges as an integrated explanation in need of more theoretical work as well as empirical study.     

Convenience orientation and white-collar criminogenity: an empirical study

The theory of convenience suggests that white-collar crime is committed in situations where alternative legitimate actions to avoid problems are more painful and stressful. The extent to which individuals in privileged positions choose to break the law in difficult situations is dependent on their convenience orientation. For example, people with a strong convenience orientation can have a tendency to believe that bankruptcy might be avoided through tax evasion and bank fraud. However, the empirical study in this article provides limited support for the suggestion that convenience orientation has a direct influence on the propensity to crime in terms of criminogenity. Rather, there can be several statistically significant effects from convenience that are indirectly related to criminogenity. The most significant effect is that more conveniently oriented respondents believe that financial crime can solve problems and contribute to exploit possibilities.     

Violentization: A Relatively Singular Theory of Violent Crime

Violentization offers a unique explanation of violent crime for four reasons: (1) the theory explains the formation of violent criminal acts, the development of violent criminals, as well as the transformation and maintenance of the communities in which they evolve and later commit their crimes; (2) the theory identifies the stages through which violent encounters, socialization, and communal organization/disorganization unfold; (3) the theory treats violent criminals as active agents in their violent criminal acts; and (4) it is constructed from an insider’s viewpoint because the researcher has undergone similar experiences as the people whose actions his theory explains.     

Criminel en col blanc de grande envergure. Un renard bien cravaté

This discussion provides an archetypal psychological profile of individuals engaged in large-scale white-collar crime. A full review of white-collar crime research suggests the presence of narcissistic etiopathogeny in these criminals. As well, given the comorbidity of narcissism with primary psychopathy and Machiavellianism, this review hypothesizes possible lateral effects of these factors on narcissistic affect-control. Potentially this poor affect-control is decreased by primary psychopathy and Machiavellianism together, thereby revealing a facilitating condition for the successful completion of large-scale white-collar crime.     

Techniques of Neutralization and Animal Rights Activists

Neutralization theory posits that criminals assuage feelings of guilt they feel as a consequence of their actions by developing thoughts that justify their deviant behavior. The process is believed to occur prior to the act, and is seen as enabling the deviant behavior. A large body of research has been conducted demonstrating that neutralization “techniques” are used by many criminals. The present work seeks to determine if members of the Animal Liberation Front (ALF) use techniques of neutralization. The method used was a content analysis of anonymous communiqués written by the ALF. The results indicate that ALF members do indeed use various techniques of neutralization to justify their actions, including what may be a newly identified technique, “appeal to a higher moral principle.” Moreover, as the ALF is motivated by a particular ideology, it seems reasonable to conclude that these techniques were developed in the minds of the communiqué authors prior to the criminal actions they perpetrated.     

examining the role of differential association and techniques of neutralization in explaining corporate crime

A limited number of studies have examined white-collar offending decision making patterns and virtually none have focused on testing Differential Association or Techniques of Neutralization theory in particular. This study evaluates the offending decisions of MBA students to commit corporate offending in the promotion/sales of a hypothetical pharmaceutical drug. The sample consisted of 133 MBA students enrolled at a university in the United States. Findings supported predictions that anticipated agreement of coworkers and the board of directors would be positively associated with decisions to further market and produce a hypothetical drug that was about to be recalled by the Food and Drug Administration. However, results also showed that the decision to commit corporate crime was inversely related to perceptions that close friends and business professors agree with the decision, which went against predictions based on differential association theory. Several neutralizing techniques—especially the beliefs that government exaggerates dangers to the consumer and profit is the most important priority—predicted the decision to further market the drug. Subsequent analyses showed that older respondents were more likely to employ techniques of neutralization in decisions to commit corporate crime, especially techniques relating to profits. Future research directions are outlined.     

双系统模型视角下的罪犯自我控制

自我控制是个体为了达成具有长远利益的目标而有意识控制自身冲动行为的能力。双系统模型提出自我控制系统包含冲动系统与控制系统, 该理论适用于分析罪犯低自我控制的内部结构。罪犯冲动系统中充满极易激活的犯罪相关行为图式, 而控制系统却不足以生成抑制冲动行为的策略。未来可基于双系统模型, 整合已有研究深入考察罪犯自我控制系统的内部运作机制, 以及该模型在罪犯心理矫治中的实际应用, 而犯罪易感青少年群体则需要特别关注。     

Psychologie du criminel en col blanc: À la recherche de sa personnalité

The aim of this present conceptual analysis is to define the main analytical approaches of the particular form of organizational deviance: white-collar crime. Within the scope of the dispositional heuristic approach, the analysis explores the explanatory potential of a certain idiosyncratic factor: the narcissistic personality. The analysis proposes future avenues of research concerning the identification of personal dispositions underlying white-collar crime.     

Reasons for Gaps in Crime Reporting: The Case of White-Collar Criminals Investigated by Private Fraud Examiners in Norway

Recent years have seen an increasing use of private internal investigations assessing financial irregularities that often imply economic crime. When fraud examiners discover evidence of white-collar crime, they often leave it to their clients whether the issue should be reported to the police. We examine the gaps in white-collar crime reporting after fraud examination and reasons behind such decisions. In Norway, non-reporting could be as high as 96%, as calculated in this article. We apply techniques of neutralization to private fraud examiners’ reasoning for non-reporting of suspected or detected white-collar crime. We also offer possible policy-based solutions to reduce the identified gaps in reporting.     

Heroic Leaders as White‐Collar Criminals: An Empirical Study

In an empirical study of 179 white‐collar criminals, we identify a subset of 28 who may be called having a ‘heroic’ status, having received official recognition for contributions to society and fame prior to their being exposed and convicted as white‐collar criminals. We argue that these people are close to the classical picture of the white‐collar criminal, which implies that they are more likely not to be suspected of crimes. They are older, richer, and more powerful than the regular criminals. They also commit crimes assuming the roles of leaders in the crime. Most importantly, it seems as if the combination of heroic status and executive positions induces people to commit large‐scale opportunistic crimes late in their lives. The apparent onset of criminal behaviour late in life may be triggered by latent narcissistic traits. Our study contributes to a differentiated view on the profile of white‐collar criminals and derailed leadership. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sex,Drugs, and Deception: Deviance in the Hair Salon Industry

The unique organizational structure of the hair salon industry fosters an environment in which multiple factors, including varying levels of status, opportunity, and motivation, can create or constrain possibilities for deviant behavior. Using data from participant observation, personal interviews, and systematic introspection, four categories of deviance emerge: theft, hyper-sexualized interactions, drug/alcohol use, and questionable/illegal business practices. This study uses a classification of workplace crime, occupational deviance, and occupational crime to illustrate how the typology applies to salon deviance and how the structural location within the industry predicts the types of deviance that occur in each salon organizational structure.     

The Social Ecology of White-Collar Crime: Applying Situational Action Theory to White-Collar Offending

This article applies the integrated framework of situational action theory (SAT) to white-collar crime causation – previously unexamined in this perspective, drawing also on data from a small-scale study based on semi-structured interviews with white-collar offenders. The key arguments and findings are discussed around SAT’s categories, modified in accordance with white-collar crime particularities: criminogenic propensity, workplace environmental factors, and the individual-environment situational mechanisms. This initial SAT application shows that its constructs can be fruitfully deployed in explaining white-collar crime only to a moderate extent. The findings are not fully supportive of SAT’s “weak law-relevant morality” and deterrence arguments, while SAT’s moral correspondence situational mechanism provides a novel way to explain crimes within criminogenic workplace cultures.     

Social Support,Loyalty to Delinquent Peers,and Offending: An Elaboration and Test of the Differential Social Support Hypothesis

While most research focuses on the positive effects of social support on adolescent development, Cullen hypothesizes that social support may promote crime and delinquency under certain conditions. Specifically, when social support is derived from deviant sources, it may promote offending behavior. In this study, we test an elaborated version of this “differential social support” hypothesis. The results indicate that, among adolescents who associate with delinquent peers, peer social support is associated with an increase in delinquent behavior. These findings highlight the potential “dark side” of social support. Implications for criminological theory and crime control policy are discussed.     

男性犯罪者人格对人身危险性的影响:有中介的调节模型

以463名男性犯罪者为调查对象,在控制人口学变量后,探讨人格、成熟应付方式、社会支持与人身危险性的关系。结果表明:(1)年龄、文化程度、婚姻和犯罪次数是人身危险性的重要预测变量。(2)人格可以显著预测人身危险性。(3)社会支持调节人格与人身危险性之间的关系。(4)这种调节作用以成熟应付方式为中介变量,其中通过中介变量起作用的调节效应占总调节效应的29.4%。因此,人格对男性犯罪者人身危险性的影响是有中介的调节效应。     

When Moral Personality and Moral Ideology Meet Ethical Leadership: A Three-Way Interaction Model

We propose a three-way interaction model based on substitutes for leadership theory to explore the relationship among ethical leadership, moral personality, and moral ideology (i.e., idealism and relativism) on two types of employee voluntary behaviors (i.e., organizational citizenship behavior and workplace deviant behavior). Results from a sample of 218 supervisor–subordinate dyads indicate that moral personality attenuates the relationship between ethical leadership and employee voluntary behaviors. Idealism serves as the boundary condition for the moderating effect of moral personality. However, relativism only serves as the boundary condition for the moderating effect of moral personality when predicting workplace deviant behavior.     

Low Self-Control Versus the Desire-For-Control: An Empirical Test of White-Collar Crime and Conventional Crime

Gottfredson and Hirschi's (1990) general theory of crime has been used to explain a wide variety of criminal and analogous behaviors, yet the few studies that have tested its ability to account for white-collar and corporate offending have yielded mixed results. One response to these mixed findings has been to explore the possibility that unique attributes may predict white-collar and corporate offending. In this vein, limited research examining the relationship between desire-for-control, a similar yet competing construct as low self-control, and corporate crime has revealed desire-for-control to be a stronger predictor of corporate crime than low self-control. The current study expands on existing research by examining the relationship between desire-for-control and low self-control in predicting conventional offending, white-collar or occupational offending, and corporate offending. Results indicate that desire-for-control is a stronger predictor of white-collar and corporate offending than low self-control, but that, as expected, this relationship does not hold true for conventional crime. Theoretical implications and future research directions are also discussed.