An Application of Durkheim’s Four Categories of Suicide to Organizational Crimes

This article applies theoretical developments in the phenomena of suicide to shed light on the phenomena of crime. We draw on Durkheim’s theoretical insights on suicide to develop four categories of organizational crimes. We review the concepts of social integration and moral regulation at the societal level and establish their equivalents at the organizational level: socialization and accountability. We argue that socialization programs and accountability systems in organizations influence the nature of the crime rather than prevent it entirely. We highlight four categories of white-collar crimes that occurred in organizations characterized by different socialization programs and accountability systems.