Causes of Crime and Typology (White Collar, Organized Crime) notes — Unit 2

Why does a person break the law? The causes are multifactorial.

⇒1. Economic Causes

Poverty is the mother of crime (Aristotle). Extreme poverty, unemployment, and sheer desperation drive people to theft, robbery, and prostitution just to survive. Karl Marx argued that capitalism inherently creates inequality, pushing the lower classes into crime.

⇒2. Sociological Causes

Broken homes, abusive parents, and lack of education. If a child grows up in a slum surrounded by gangs, the 'Differential Association' theory (Sutherland) states that they will learn criminal behavior exactly how they learn any other behavior—through association with peers.

⇒3. Psychological Causes

Psychopathy and sociopathy. Some individuals lack empathy and impulse control. Frustration-Aggression theory suggests that when people are frustrated in achieving their goals (like wealth), they lash out through violent crime.

⇒4. Biological Causes (Modern View)

While Lombroso's 'born criminal' idea is dead, modern biocriminology studies how severe head trauma, chemical imbalances in the brain (low serotonin), or extreme hormonal imbalances might make a person more prone to aggressive and violent behavior.

For centuries, people believed crime was only committed by the poor (robbery, murder, theft). In 1939, Edwin Sutherland shattered this myth.

⇒The Definition

Sutherland defined White-Collar Crime as: "A crime committed by a person of respectability and high social status in the course of his occupation."

⇒The Characteristics

• The Offenders: CEOs, politicians, doctors, lawyers, bankers. (Not street thugs).
• The Method: Deceit, breach of trust, concealment, fraud. (Not physical violence).
• The Damage: While a street robber might steal Rs. 10,000, a corrupt banker (like in the Nirav Modi or Harshad Mehta scams) can steal Rs. 10,000 Crores, crippling the national economy.

⇒Invisible but Devastating

White-collar crime is far more dangerous to society than blue-collar (street) crime for several reasons:

• Financial Impact: It ruins thousands of lives (e.g., a corporate fraud wiping out the retirement pensions of 10,000 employees).
• Erosion of Trust: It destroys public faith in institutions, banks, and the government.
• Lenient Treatment: Because the offenders are rich, they hire the best lawyers, manipulate the legal system, and often escape with mere fines rather than jail time, showing that the law favors the rich.

(Examples in India: Tax evasion, hoarding, adulteration of food/drugs, insider trading, and bank frauds).

Organized crime is the industrialization of crime.

⇒What is it?

It refers to transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. (e.g., The Mafia, Cartels, D-Company).

⇒Key Characteristics:

• Hierarchy: They operate like a corporate business with a strict chain of command (Boss, Underboss, Soldiers).
• Continuity: The arrest of the boss does not stop the syndicate; someone else takes over.
• Use of Violence & Corruption: They use violence for enforcement and heavily bribe police and politicians to buy immunity.
• Activities: Drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion (hafta), arms smuggling, and money laundering.