1

Deviance by those with social capital

Elite deviance causes ‘oppression, conflict, persecution, suffering’ or ‘harm’.

Forms:• White collar – crimes committed by individuals in the capacity

of their job• Political – similar to white collar, except for political

advantage.• Corporate – crimes or unethical behavior committed as part of

company strategy• Organizational – similar to corporate• Governmental – crimes and unethical behavior committed by

political and government actors in order to advance the power of the government and its rulers.

2

The Overall Context for Elite Deviance

• Loss of faith in government post-Watergate• “Me” generation of greed• Lack of job stability : erosion of commitments• Urbanization leads to less personal connection and

erosion of external social control• Family instability – erosion of internal control.• Income disparities – more entitlement• Business/TV/Media promoting consumption at any cost• Mass incarceration of large % of racial/ethnic groups

creates an ‘us –do no harm’ versus ‘them – do all the crime’ mentality.

• All this in the face of our contemporary paradoxes:– Stress on winning and success without adequate opportunity– Winning and success defined as ‘making money’.

3

Those American Values

• Achievement orientation• Individualism• Universalism• Fetishism of money

• Attempts to limit massive accumulations of wealth, etc. are labeled as ‘communist’ or ‘socialist’ plots.

• Gov’t in the US and other advanced nations are part of the economy so business expends considerable effort to control government.

4

Set and Setting of ED

• Organizational Structures– Authority– Specialized vocabulary and ideologies– Denial of responsibility– Denial of humanity of victim– Higher loyalties (hence Simon’s ‘higher immoralities’)– Condemning condemers

• Fragmentation– Just my job– Not my decision

• Individual Pathologies– Personality disorders: narcissism, attachment disorders, etc.

• Interaction of Organizational Structure, Culture and Personality– Structure can create a permissible non-controlled/forced context– Culture provides neutralizations– Personalities run with it.

5

The context of elite deviance

• Pay attention to distinction between individual-level deviance versus systemic-level (organization-wide) deviance.

• Scandals and their impact:

• More apparent – modern telecommunications, diversity in the press corp.

• ‘Everyone does it’ – when everyone does and there’s no risk – implicitly means it’s okay.

• Scandals lead to disillusionment and non-involvement by the electorate in the democratic process.

6

Other costs of ED

• Financial– Loss of assets, resources and economic security

– Taxpayer costs disproportionately hurt lower and middle income levels

– Lower salaries, unemployment

• Socioeconomic– Long term set-backs in certain communities and groups.

– Negligence of infrastructure

– Avoidance of social responsibilities

– Growing disparity between poor/working class/middle and wealthy

• Physical/health– Damage to environment –pollution, species loss, air, water and soil

quality

– Unsafe products

– Disease, disability and disfigurement

7

Results of ED

• Results of ED Behavior – More deaths and injuries than by street crime– Undermines public confidence in democratic system– Shape criminal law to focus on street crime– Huge monetary costs to society and individuals– Supports corruptive organized crime which permeates government

institutions• Summary of ED Characteristics (p.12)

– Acts are by upper class– Some violate criminal codes, some civic, some immoral– Some for personal gain, others for organizational gain– Low risk of apprehension and punishment– Imposed dangers on others– Able to conceal behavior for years– ED is often part of business plan

• Discussion Question (see p.36)– ED includes 3 acts: economic domination, control of government, denial

of basic human rights) Agree or Disagree??