Criminology refers to the study of the causes of crime and criminals. It involves understanding the root causes of a crime and how a certain crime affects society. In recent years, the field has become increasingly multidisciplinary and integrated where sociology plays an important role in defining it. For instance, sociological factors such as race and social status are used to determine who commits a crime and the crime they commit. At the same time, the same factors are used to determine the kind punishment one gets for committing a crime, who gets arrested and prosecuted (293). Edward Sutherland is one of the sociologists who made a great contribution in the field of criminology. In his work, Sutherland tried to shift the focus from criminal to the general society more so on how they reacted on those criminal actions. In his differential theory, Sutherland stated that people are not born as criminals, but instead, they learn criminal behaviors from the people they associate with (p. 293). The primary groups such as family and friends play a crucial role in determining one’s attitudes towards crime. However, it is crucial to note that today, criminal behaviors can be learnt through the internet, televisions, and songs. The purpose of this essay is to analyze Sutherland’s argument about white collar crime and whether he would be satisfied on how criminology has developed since his time based on the text book Essentials of Sociology by George Ritzier.

Edwin Sutherland defined white crime as ‘a crime committed by a person of high social status and respectability’. It is mainly motivated by financial gain and does involve any physical violence. Some of the examples of white collar crimes include, money laundering, fraud, illegal sales of drugs, misappropriation of funds, and embezzlement of funds. According to Sutherland (p. 2), crime is not caused by poverty nor is it concentrated in lower class, as explained by many criminologists. Instead, Sutherland argues that criminal behaviors are not found in people belonging in lower class because business and professional men have the same behaviors. In the business world for instance, white collar crimes happens in form of commercial bribery, manipulating stock exchange, embezzlement of public funds, and, tax frauds. Although the medical field is less criminalistic than other professions, it is also involved in some form of white collar crimes such as illegal abortions, fake specialists, offering medical services to criminals, and fraudulent medical reports (p. 3).

Sutherland argues that a crime is a crime regardless of who has committed it as long as it violates the law. In other words, white collar crime is real crime like all other crimes (p. 2). Sutherland explained that refraining from calling white collar crime does not make it make it better than other crimes. In his article however, he calls it crime in order to bring it within the theme of criminology. In most of the cases, conviction in the criminal court which is regarded as the criterion in the United States and other countries is not adequate when it comes to white collar crime (p. 5). This is because those who commit such crimes are not convicted in the criminal court and they are allowed to walk freely despite committing a crime. In order to be regarded fair and justice, the criminal systems ought to be supplemented. For instance, when supplemented, the terms of all crimes should be consistent with the general terms of the criminal court criterion. By this it means that no crime should be treated different from others because it involves people of high class.

If Sutherland was alive today, he would not be satisfied with the ways criminology has developed since his time due to the following reasons. First in the text book, Essentials of Sociology, the author states that poverty is one of the main reasons why some engage in criminal/illegal activities (p. 278). Ritzier states that people in lower class engage in crime to get money to purchase goods and services because they do not have a source of income. However, according to Sutherland, crime is not caused by poverty because people possess criminal behaviors regardless of the social class they belong. For instance, professionals in various fields who engage in fraud, bribery, and misappropriation of funds also commit crime. In recent years, the rate of incarceration has been increasing in the United States than in other nations around the globe (p. 299). Prison populations have been rising over the years due to convictions related to drugs and other nonviolent crimes. However, there are fewer convictions related to white collar crimes because it is yet to be treated as a serious crime. People from poor communities in the States especially the blacks make the highest number of those incarcerated not because they use or sell drugs than others but because of discrimination and corruption in the criminal justice systems (p. 300). This is an indication that even the people working in these systems commit crime by failing to give justice to all people regardless of their race and skin color.

Sutherland would not be pleased with developments in criminology because it is now easy for crime to flow from one region to another due to globalization and technological innovations. Drug and terrorism flow freely throughout the world due to lawlessness at the borders. Engaging in such illegal businesses come with many benefits leading to rise of cartels. Cartels succeed to violate law because of increase in sophisticated business methods such as global partnerships which are considered to be legitimate businesses (304). However, although drug trafficking and terrorism are considered to be illegal businesses in many nations, not many people have been convicted in recent years. This clearly shows that nothing much has been achieved in developments in criminology, especially in white collar crime, something which would not please Sutherland if he were alive today.

 
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