The Seriousness of Crime Revisited

Have Attitudes Toward White‐Collar Crime Changed

Bibliographic Data

ID9681507
AuthorsFrancis T Cullen (0000-0003-4975-915X, Western Illinois University, corresponding author), Bruce G Link (0000-0001-9980-7450, Columbia University), CRAIG W POLANZI
Year1982
Volume20
Issue1
Pages83-102
Publication date1982-05-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCriminology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0011-1384 • E-ISSN: 1745-9125
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1111/j.1745-9125.1982.tb00449.x
OpenAlexW2040108740
LanguageEN
Citations received82
References cited18

Social commentators have often observed that the public is indifferent to white‐collar criminality. However, the growing attention that white‐collar crime has received in recent years raises the possibility of changes in the public's perceptions of such violations. By replicating Rossi et al.'s survey in 1972 of the seriousness of 140 offenses, the present research presents data indicating that white‐collar crime has increased in seriousness more than any other offense category, but that it is still viewed as less serious than most other forms of illegality. When different types of white‐collar crime were analyzed, we found considerable variation in ratings, with high a degree of seriousness attributed to offenses involving physical harm. Further, while all categories of white‐collar criminality increased in seriousness, attitudinal changes have been particularly apparent toward two types, Violent and Corporate Price‐Fixing

Collar · Criminology · Harm · Perception · Political science · Seriousness · White (mutation · White-collar crime · Crime Patterns and Interventions · Engineering · Law · Psychology · Psychology of Moral and Emotional Judgment · Social Psychology · Wildlife Conservation and Criminology Analyses

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