White-Collar and Corporate Crime

Abstract

Edwin Sutherland (1949, p. 9) defined white-collar crime as “a crime by a person of high social status in the course of his occupation.” Consistent with this gender-specific definition, the bulk of early scholarship on occupational crime and corporate crime focuses primarily on males. More recently, however, criminologists have begun to examine the extent and nature of female involvement in these workplace-based offenses. This essay provides an overview of the historical and contemporary literature on gender regarding two types of white-collar crime: occupational crime and corporate crime. Topics examined include the gendered organization of the workplace, theoretical explanations for offending, societal reactions to white-collar crime, and victimization. Implications for future research and public policy, particularly with regard to crime prevention in the workplace, are also discussed.