The Interplay of Gender and Ethics in Corporate Offending Decision-Making

• Published date: 01 August 2013
• Date: 01 August 2013
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/1043986213496379
• Subject Matter: Articles

Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice

29(3) 385 –398

© 2013 SAGE Publications

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DOI: 10.1177/1043986213496379

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Article

The Interplay of Gender

and Ethics in Corporate

Offending Decision-Making

Nicole Leeper Piquero1, Lynne M. Vieraitis1, Alex

R. Piquero1, Stephen G. Tibbetts2 and Michael

Blankenship (deceased)3

Abstract

There is a growing knowledge base on the factors associated with white-collar

and corporate offending decisions. Limitations to this line of research include the

lack of attention paid to moral and ethical considerations in decision-making and

the need to better understand potential gender differences in the processes and

outcomes of corporate offending. This paper uses data from a sample of adult MBA

students to explore the interplay between ethics, gender, and corporate offending

decisions. Results show that women are more likely to believe that corporations

need regulation (i.e., women are more ethical) and that they are less likely to report

affirmative offending intentions. Additionally, women are over two times more likely

than men to report lower offending intentions and higher ethics. Implications for

theoretical work on gender and organizations generally as well as within corporate

crime contexts in particular are outlined.

Keywords

ethics, corporate, offending, gender

Introduction

Gender is one of the strongest correlates of crime. While the gender gap is small for

some minor offenses and for alcohol and drug use, men almost always outperform

1University of Texas at Dallas, TX, USA

2California State University San Bernardino, CA, USA

3Boise State University, ID, USA

Corresponding Author:

Nicole Leeper Piquero, University of Texas at Dallas, 800 W Campbell Rd GR 31, Richardson, TX

75080, USA.

Email: npiquero@utdallas.edu

496379CCJ29310.1177/1043986213496379Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice X(X)Piquero et al.

research-article2013