The Development of Self-Reported White-Collar Offending

• Published date: 01 August 2013
• Date: 01 August 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1043986213496180
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

29(3) 369 –384

© 2013 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/1043986213496180

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Article

The Development of Self-

Reported White-Collar

Offending

Robert G. Morris1 and Sarah El Sayed1

Abstract

In contrast to street offending/delinquency, no study to date has explored how white-

collar offending develops across the life course using self-report data. This paper fills

this gap in the literature by exploring latent developmental profiles of self-reported

white-collar offending across a 16-year period. These trajectories are then compared in

terms of concurrently reported street crimes. Data for analysis were culled from Waves

7 through 11 of the National Youth Survey Family Study (NYSFS) when the original

respondents were between 22 and 44 years old. Six latent offending profiles were

identified and were characterized through the lens of previous research and theory.

keywords

white-collar crime, life course criminology, adult offending

Introduction

For many decades, criminologists have sought to understand the relationship between

criminal offending and the aging process (Piquero, Farrington, & Blumstein, 2003).

One can easily argue that some of the most important advancements in theoretical

explanations of crime stem from the criminal career paradigm and its progenies, one

of which involves the developmental approach to understanding criminality (Benson,

2012). However, a shortcoming of most studies following this tradition is that the bulk

of the attention, both empirical and theoretical, has focused solely on street-level

offending (Piquero & Benson, 2004). In reality, there is no arguing against the fact that

some people engage in criminal behavior well into adulthood and many of these crimes

differ from street crimes; rather, they fall under the umbrella of white-collar crime

(Menard, Morris, Gerber, & Covey, 2011).

1University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA

Corresponding Author:

Robert G. Morris, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W. Campbell Rd, GR 31, Richardson, TX 75080, USA.

Email: morris@utdallas.edu

496180CCJ29310.1177/1043986213496180Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice X(X)Morris and El Sayed

research-article2013

370 Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice 29(3)

Though we are only beginning to explore and understand the developmental process

for white-collar crimes, life course/developmental criminology has paved the way for

this line of research to progress. In fact, there have been a handful of studies that have

applied a developmental perspective to white-collar offending (e.g., Piquero & Benson,

2004; Piquero & Moffitt, 2012; Weisburd & Waring, 2001). One reason underlying the

small amount of attention to this area is the rarity of longitudinal data collection efforts

explicitly accounting for white-collar crimes. Further, much of the data utilized in the

study of white-collar crimes are pulled from official court records, rather than custom-

ized data collection efforts (e.g., Benson & Kerley, 2000; Morris, Copes, & Perry-

Mullis, 2009; Weisburd & Waring, 2001). Only recently have longitudinal data become

available that capture information through adulthood, and measure self-reported white-

collar crime offenses (e.g., Menard & Morris, 2012; Menard et al., 2011).

The current study extends this line of research by estimating and interpreting the

developmental trajectories of self-reported white-collar offenders over a 16-year

period in adulthood. Additionally, we explore street crime co-occurring with white-

collar crime to preliminarily explore issues surrounding offense specialization.

Review of the Literature

Defining White-Collar Crime

Variation within the definition and extension of Sutherland’s (1940) original version

has been the subject of debate for many years (i.e., whether white-collar offending is

a matter of status (the offender) or behavior (the offense)). In the end, however, most

would agree that white-collar criminals are different from street offenders (Friedrichs,

2002; Menard et al., 2011; Weisburd, Wheeler, Waring, & Bode, 1991), though the fact

remains that people who engage in these types of crimes are generally not of high

status. Definitional debates aside, we follow an offense-based definition for the pur-

poses of this study as we simply do not have a complete understanding of how these

behaviors develop across the life course and whether the individuals who engage in

them simply transition from street offending in to more fraud-related crimes, or

whether such offenders specialize in this type of offending. Only until we can confirm

such patterns of development can we attempt to explain the process through theory.

Life-Course Criminology and White-Collar Crime

There is no question that continued research is needed to understand the criminal

careers of white-collar offenders (Piquero & Benson, 2004). Fortunately, the life-

course/developmental framework of explaining the age/crime relationship provides

for a solid foundation from which to begin. Marked progress has been made among

developmental/life-course criminologists in recent years toward our understanding of

the relationship between age and crime, but as noted earlier, most of the attention has

focused on street-related offending or traditional delinquency (Piquero et al., 2003).

This line of research has been successful in reaching its goal for many reasons