White Collar Crime in America Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

White Collar Crime in America - Research Paper Example â€Å"White-crime statistics are drearier still. Though two out of every three Americans have been the victims of a white-collar crime, 85 percent of victims don't file reports with the authorities. An untold number may never even know they have been the victims of crimes such as stock manipulation, double billing for purchases, unnecessary home or auto repairs, embezzlement, or as evidenced by recent events, Ponzi schemes.† (O'Donnell, Jan 29, 2009.) Is there a permanent solution to root out white-collar crimes from American society and if so what are the measures to be initiated? White collar crime baffles definition. The industrialization and the internet revolution which are the foundation stones of the materialistic civilization have contributed much to the advancement of the white-collar crime. Explaining the inability of the thinkers and writers on the subject to come to an acceptable conclusion to tender a definition that is acceptable to all, David O Friedrichs goes to elaborate the major crimes which can be classified as white collar crimes. He writes, â€Å"Some of these terms include economic crime, commercial crime, business crime, marketplace crime, consumer crime, respectable crime, â€Å"crime at the top†, â€Å"suite† crime, elite crime and deviance, official crime and deviance, political crime, governmental crime, state (or state-organized) crime, corporate crime, occupational crime, employees crime, vocational crime, techno-crime, computer crime †¦.†(Friedrichs, 2006, p, 5) That which is evident needs no further app reciation, explanation or elaboration. White collar crime has taken hold many segments of society and is growing in all directions like the octopus. This is also a contentious topic- whether one is committing a legitimate business activity in a free enterprise system which is the hallmark of a capitalist society or indulges in white-collar crime.