Situational Crime Prevention and White-Collar Crime

Abstract

It is common knowledge that many white-collar crimes arise out of the special opportunities that accompany the offender’s access to a particular occupational or organizational position. However, there have been few attempts to think systematically about how organizationally based opportunity structures facilitate the commission of different forms of white-collar crime. In this paper, we explore the applicability of ideas drawn from situational crime prevention theory to white-collar crime. The theory of situational crime prevention is based on the premise that crime can be reduced, if not altogether prevented, by altering various dimensions of the opportunity structures that are available to potential offenders. We argue that this theory offers a new and potentially effective approach to white-collar crime control.