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Journal of Money Laundering Control
Gender and white-collar crime: only four percent female criminals
Petter Gottschalk
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JMLC
15,3
Gender and white-collar crime:
only four percent female
criminals
362
Petter Gottschalk
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BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study of white-collar crime to create
insights into perceptions of potential offenders with a gender perspective.
Design/methodology/approach – Media coverage of individual criminals was used as
identification for crime cases, which were then found in court rulings.
Findings – The paper is based on empirical research of convicted white-collar criminals.
Out of 161 convicts presented in newspaper articles, there were 153 male and eight female criminals,
i.e. 4 per cent.
Research limitations/implications – It is indeed hard to believe that Norwegian men commit
25 times more white-collar crimes when compared to Norwegian women. Therefore, it is a question of
whether the detection rate for female white-collar criminals is lower than for male white-collar criminals.
Practical implications – More attention might be paid to characteristics of female white-collar
crime in the future.
Originality/value – Rather than presenting some cases and anecdotal evidence, the paper presents
substantial statistical evidence to conclude on gender differences in white-collar crime.
Keywords Norway, Criminals, Gender, Fraud, Manipulation, Crime detection, Newspaper coverage,
Empirical study
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The most economically disadvantaged members of society are not the only ones
committing crime. Members of the privileged socioeconomic class are also engaged in
criminal behavior (Brightman, 2009). The types of crime may differ from those of the
lower classes, such as business executives bribing public officials to achieve contracts,
chief accountants manipulating balance sheets to avoid taxes, and procurement
managers approving fake invoices for personal gain.
Criminal behavior by members of the privileged socioeconomic class is labeled
white-collar crime (Benson and Simpson, 2009). It is often argued that women commit
less white-collar crime when compared to men (Haantz, 2002; Holtfreter et al., 2010;
Huffman et al., 2010). Suggested reasons for possible gender differences in white-collar
crime include lack of opportunity and risk aversion.
This paper reports findings from a study of white-collar criminals. It is based on the
following research question:
Journal of Money Laundering Control
Vol. 15 No. 3, 2012
pp. 362-373
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/13685201211238089
RQ. What differences can be found between male and female white-collar criminals?
This research article was submitted to the Journal of Money Laundering Control on
3 December 2011.
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Characteristics of white-collar crime
Ever since Edwin Sutherland introduced the concept of “white-collar” crime in 1939,
researchers have discussed what might be included in and what might be excluded
from this concept. The discussion is summarized by scholars such as Benson and
Simpson (2009), Blickle et al. (2006), Bookman (2008), Brightman (2009), Bucy et al.
(2008), Eicher (2009), Garoupa (2007), Hansen (2009), Heath (2008), Kempa (2010),
McKay et al. (2010), Pickett and Pickett (2002), Podgor (2007), Robson (2010) and
Schnatterly (2003).
According to Brightman (2009), Sutherland’s theory of white-collar crime was
controversial, particularly since many of the academicians in the audience perceived
themselves to be members of the upper echelon of American society. Despite his critics,
Sutherland’s theory of white-collar criminality served as the catalyst for an area of
research that continues today. In Sutherland’s definition of white-collar crime,
a white-collar criminal is a person of respectability and high social status who commits
crime in the course of his occupation. This excludes many crimes of the upper class,
such as most of their cases of murder, adultery, and intoxication, since these are not
customarily a part of their procedures (Benson and Simpson, 2009). It also excludes
lower class criminals committing financial crime, as pointed out by Brightman (2009).
In contrast to Sutherland, Brightman (2009) differs slightly regarding the definition
of white-collar crime. While societal status may still determine access to wealth and
property, he argues that the term white-collar crime should be broader in scope and
include virtually any non-violent act committed for financial gain, regardless of one’s
social status. For example, access to technology, such as personal computers and the
internet, now allows individuals from all social classes to buy and sell stocks or engage
in similar activities that were once the bastion of the financial elite.
White-collar criminals are for the most part individuals with power and influence
that is associated with respectability and high social status. Part of the standard view
of white-collar offenders is that they are mainstream, law-abiding individuals. They
are assumed to be irregular offenders, not people who engage in crime on a regular
basis (Benson and Simpson, 2009, p. 39):
Unlike the run-of-the-mill common street criminal who usually has had repeated contacts
with the criminal justice system, white-collar offenders are thought not to have prior criminal
records.
When white-collar criminals appear before their sentencing judges, they can correctly
claim to be first-time offenders. They are wealthy, highly educated, and socially
connected. They are elite individuals, according to the description and attitudes of
white-collar criminals as suggested by Sutherland. They belong to the elite in society,
and they are typically individuals employed by and in legitimate organizations.
According to Hansen (2009), individuals or groups commit occupational or elite crime for
their own purposes or enrichment, rather than for the enrichment of the organization on
a whole, in spite of supposed corporate loyalty.
What Podgor (2007) found to be the most interesting aspect of Sutherland’s work is
that a scholar needed to proclaim that crimes of the “upper socioeconomic class” were in
fact crimes that should be prosecuted. It is apparent that prior to the coining of the term
“white collar crime,” wealth and power allowed some persons to escape criminal
liability.
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Bookman (2008) regard Sutherland’s definition as too restrictive and suggest that
white-collar crime is an illegal act committed by nonphysical means and by concealment
or guile, to obtain money or property, to avoid payment or loss of money or property, or
to obtain business or personal advantage. Furthermore, scholars have attempted to
separate white-collar crime into two types: occupational and corporate. Largely
individuals or small groups in connection with their jobs commit occupational crime. It
includes embezzling from an employer, theft of merchandise, income tax evasion, and
manipulation of sales, fraud, and violations in the sale of securities. Corporate crime, on
the other hand, is enacted by collectivities or aggregates of discrete individuals.
Pickett and Pickett (2002) use the terms financial crime, white-collar crime, and
fraud interchangeably. They define white-collar crime as the use of deception for illegal
gain, normally involving breach of trust, and some concealment of the true nature of
the activities. White-collar crime is often defined as crime against property, involving
the unlawful conversion of property belonging to another to one’s own personal use
and benefit. Financial crime is profit-driven crime to gain access to and control over
property that belonged to someone else.
Bucy et al. (2008) argue that white-collar crime refers to non-violent,
business-related violations of state and/or federal criminal statues, and they make a
distinction between “leaders” and “followers” in white-collar crime.
White-collar crime can be defined in terms of the offense, the offender or both. If
white-collar crime is defined in terms of the offense, it means crime against property for
personal or organizational gain. It is a property crime committed by non-physical
means and by concealment or deception (Benson and Simpson, 2009). If white-collar
crime is defined in terms of the offender, it means crime committed by upper class
members of society for personal or organizational gain. It is individuals who are
wealthy, highly educated, and socially connected, and they are typically employed by
and in legitimate organizations (Hansen, 2009).
White-collar crime is a broad concept that covers all illegal behavior that takes
advantage of positions of professional authority and power as well as opportunity
structures available within business for personal and corporate gain (Kempa, 2010, p. 252):
Crimes such as embezzlement, fraud and insider trading, one hand, and market manipulation,
profit exaggeration, and product misrepresentation on the other, add up to a massive criminal
domain.
White-collar crime is non-violent crime for financial gain committed by means of
deception (Blickle et al., 2006). If white-collar crime is defined in terms of both criminal
and individual perspectives as discussed above, white-collar crime has the following
characteristics:
.
White-collar crime is crime against property for personal or organizational gain,
which is committed by non-physical means and by concealment or deception.
It is deceitful, it is intentional, it breaches trust, and it involves losses.
.
White-collar criminals are individuals who are wealthy, highly educated, and
socially connected, and they are typically employed by and in legitimate
organization. They are persons of respectability and high social status who
commit crime in the course of their occupation.
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In this paper, we apply this definition of white-collar crime, where both characteristics
of offense and offender identify the crime. Therefore, white-collar crime is only a subset
of financial crime in our perspective: white-collar crime is violation of the law
committed by one holding a position of respect and authority in the community who
uses his or her legitimate occupation to commit financial crime (Eicher, 2009).
White-collar crime contains several clear components (Pickett and Pickett, 2002):
.
It is deceitful. People involved in white-collar crime tend to cheat, lie, conceal, and
manipulate the truth.
.
It is intentional. Fraud does not result from simple error or neglect but involves
purposeful attempts to illegally gain an advantage. As such, it induces a course
of action that is predetermined in advance by the perpetrator.
.
It breaches trust. Business is based primarily on trust. Individual relationships
and commitments are geared toward the respective responsibilities of all parties
involved. Mutual trust is the glue that binds these relationships together, and it is
this trust that is breached when someone tries to defraud another person or
business.
.
It involves losses. Financial crime is based on attempting to secure an illegal gain
or advantage and for this to happen there must be a victim. There must also be a
degree of loss or disadvantage. These losses may be written off or insured
against or simply accepted. White-collar crime nonetheless constitutes a drain on
national resources.
.
It may be concealed. One feature of financial crime is that it may remain hidden
indefinitely. Reality and appearance may not necessarily coincide. Therefore,
every business transaction, contract, payment, or agreement may be altered or
suppressed to give the appearance of regularity. Spreadsheets, statements, and
sets of accounts cannot always be accepted at face value; this is how some frauds
continue undetected for years.
.
There may be an appearance of outward respectability. Fraud may be perpetrated
by persons who appear to be respectable and professional members of society,
and may even be employed by the victim.
Schnatterly (2003) argued that white-collar crime can cost a company from 1 to 6 percent of
annual sales, yet little is known about the organizational conditions that can reduce this
cost. She found that operational governance, including clarity of policies and procedures,
formal cross-company communication, and performance-based pay for the board and for
more employees, significantly reduces the likelihood of a crime commission.
McKay et al. (2010) examined the psychopathology of the white-collar criminal
acting as a corporate leader. They looked at the impact of a leader’s behavior on other
employees and the organizational culture developed during his or her reign. They
proposed a 12-step process to explain how an organization can move from a legally
operating organization to one in which unethical behavior is ignored and wrongdoing
promoted.
Gender differences in crime
In the past decades, there has been an increased focus on the relationship between
gender and ethical perceptions. A review of the empirical ethical decision-making
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literature by O’Fallon and Butterfield (2005) concluded that often there are no differences
found between men and women, however, when differences are found women are more
ethical than men. Across a large sample of countries Dollar et al. (2001) discovered that
the greater the representation of women in parliament, the lower the level of corruption.
Explanations for gender differences when they are uncovered, range from the biological,
which emphasizes evolved dispositions of men and women (Buss, 1995) to social
explanations, which focus on the dissimilar placement of men and women in the social
structure (Eagly and Wood, 1999). The social perspective could explain the mixed
results of research on ethical behavior, as the context and social structure might enhance
or diminish the differences found between men and women.
However, given that differences have been detected in ethical behavior, the question
arises whether gender differences have also been found in specific areas such as
white-collar crime? Before we address this crime area, we can look at other areas of crime
such as police misconduct and crime. One study from the USA indicates that the answer is
yes, gender differences exist. In a study using both internal and external complaints of
crime in a large police agency in the USA, Lersch and Mieczkowski (2000) found male
officers were over represented. Another recent research article examined citizen
complaints filed against police, and revealed that female officers were less likely,
compared to male officers, to become the subject of citizen complaints. Male officers were
more likely to be repeat offenders, i.e. officers who receive multiple complaints within a
short time frame (Hassell and Archbold, 2010). A study conducted by the National Center
for Women and Policing in the USA revealed that male officers were over eight times more
likely to have sustained allegations of excessive force, and a male officer is more than twice
as likely to have a citizen name him in a complaint of excessive force (NCWP, 2002).
At present we are unaware of any studies that have investigated gender and
white-collar crime in Norway. Norway is ranked as the second best country in the
world for gender equality (Hausmann et al., 2010) and has one of the highest
participation rates of women in the workforce. When still looking at gender and police
crime, the first female police officer in Norway was in 1910 (Politidirektoratet, 2010),
and the director of the Norwegian Police force for the last 11 years has been a woman.
Today almost half of the police force is women. There are a total of 13,000 police
employees in Norway, out of which 8,000 are police officers and 5,000 are civilians.
While the majority of police officers are male, the majority of civilians are female.
Research investigating Norwegian police officers has found that male police officers
are older, at higher organizational levels, experienced higher autonomy, have less
education, work more hours and in smaller forces (Burke and Mikkelsen, 2005;
Burke et al., 2006). The findings were dissimilar to previous research as both male and
female officers indicated similar levels of work outcomes, policing attitudes towards use
of force, and social skills to solve problems. Few differences between male and female
officers were found on job demands, work satisfaction, social and coping resources, and
psychological and physical health (Burke and Mikkelsen, 2005; Burke et al., 2006). Male
officers did experience more violence and threats whereas female officers encountered
more harassment and discrimination. From the egalitarian social context of Norway and
our previous research on the Norwegian police, we might expect to find more similarities
than differences between male and female officers crime.
However, the empirical cases examined in our previous police crime research from
Norway demonstrate that men are over represented in crime cases and convictions.
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This finding is in line with research on citizen complaints and convictions of excessive
force in other countries (Hassell and Archbold, 2010; Lersch and Mieczkowski, 2000;
NCWP, 2002). Although Norway is known for gender equality it appears that gender
differences occur within crime.
Traditionally, women were considered victims of white-collar crime
(Robb, 2006, p. 1062):
Considerable evidence exists that women were sought out as victims by frauds and
embezzlers who well understood their vulnerability. During the 1860s, for example, the shady
company promoter Albert Grant compiled lists of widows, unmarried women and other small
investors to whom he sent circulars advertising his dubious speculations.
Moreover, women tend to express more ethical responsibility than men. However, as
documented in a study by Dalton and Ortegren (2011), women’s responses to ethical
issues might be attributed to the social desirability response bias. The social desirability
response bias appears to be driving a significant portion of the relationship between
gender and ethical decision-making, where females consistently report more ethical
responses than males.
Steffensmeier and Allan (1996) suggested a gendered theory of female offending.
The theory attempts to explain female criminality and gender differences in crime. The
theory focuses on the following elements and interactions between those elements:
.
Organization of gender. Gender norms, moral development and social control.
.
Biological factors. Physical, sexual, and affiliate differences.
.
Criminal opportunities. Underworld sexism, access to skills, and crime associates
and settings.
.
Gender differences in crime. Women avoid more serious white-collar crime such
as insider trading, price-fixing, restraint of trade, toxic waste dumping,
fraudulent product commerce, bribery, and official corruption, as well as
large-scale governmental crimes.
.
Context of offending. Many of the most profound differences between the offenses
committed by men and women involve the context of offending, where context
refers to the characteristics of a particular offense. It might be the setting, whether
the offense is committed with others, the offender’s role in initiating and
committing the offense, the type of victim, the victim-offender relationship,
whether a weapon was used, the extent of injury, the value or type of property
destroyed or stolen, and the purpose of the offense.
.
Motivation for crime. Tastes for risk, likelihood of shame or embarrassment,
self-control, and assessment of costs versus rewards of crime.
A study in Finland showed no difference between male and female crime rates when
correcting for occupation fraction. Kankaanranta and Muttilainen (2010) found that
9 percent of economic criminals in the construction industry were females, which is a
modestly higher proportion than is generally working in the construction sector (7 percent).
Gender differences in white-collar crime
When we now turn to the literature of gender differences in white-collar crime, we first
have to look at the extent to which women have the opportunity to commit this kind
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of crime. According to Huffman et al. (2010), women’s access to organizational power
structures matters in organizations because, as a significant source of internal
pressure, the characteristics of leaders can shape organizational adaptation and
strongly influence workplace inequality. As long as workplace power inequality exists,
then women have less opportunity to commit white-collar crime.
A quite consistent finding in the emotions literature is that women are both expected
to and do show greater emotional intensity and emotional expressiveness than men, and
such differences hold for both positive and negative emotions. According to Scott and
Barnes (2011), the root of such differences may lie in role development, whereby females
are socialized to be more emotionally expressive and men are socialized to be more
emotionally restrained. Socialization pressures influence the extent to which a woman
can survive with a deviant behavior in the organizational power structure and thereby
the extent to which white-collar crime is a relevant and attractive option.
Another relevant gender perspective is persistence, where men may be more
persistent and thus more willing to carry out both legal and illegal acts. When Bowles
and Flynn (2010) studied gender and persistence, they focused on persistence in
negotiations. Negotiation is a fundamental form of coordination in organizations that
affect the process of work, the resolution of conflict, and the advancement of careers.
Their findings challenge sex-stereotypic perspectives, showing that women persist
more with male naysayers than with female naysayers, but do so in a stereotypically
low-status (more indirect than direct) manner. Persistence here is the willingness to
continue seeking compromise from a naysaying counterpart.
Opportunity theory suggests that as women’s opportunities to commit white-collar
crime increase, so will their deviant behavior, and the types of crime they commit will
much more closely resemble those committed by men. However, in an old study by
Hill and Harris (1981), they found no support for the suggestion that similar
male-female criminal profiles emerge as opportunities for females expand.
Research methodology
To identify a substantial sample of white-collar criminals and to collect relevant
information about each criminal, there are several options available. However, in a small
country like Norway with a population of only five million people, there are limits to
available sample size. One available option would be to study court cases involving
white-collar criminals. A challenge here would be to identify relevant laws and sentences
that cover our definition not only of white-collar crime, but also required characteristics
of white-collar criminals. Another available option is to study newspaper articles, where
the journalists already have conducted some kind of selection of upper class, white-collar
individuals convicted in court because of financial crime. Another advantage of this
approach is that the cases are publicly known, which makes it more acceptable to
identify cases by individual white-collar names. Therefore, the latter option was chosen
in this research. Based on this decision, our sample has the following characteristics as
applied by newspapers when presenting news: famous individuals, famous companies,
surprising stories, important events, substantial consequences, matters of principles,
and significant public interest.
There are two main financial newspapers in Norway, Dagens Næringsliv and
Finansavisen. In addition, the newspaper Aftenposten regularly brings news on
white-collar criminals. These three newspapers were studied on a daily basis from late
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2009 to late 2011 to identify white-collar criminals. A total of 161 white-collar criminals
were identified during those two years. A person was defined as a white-collar criminal if
the person seemed to satisfy general criteria mentioned above, and if the person was
sentenced in court to imprisonment. For this study it was considered sufficient that the
person was sentenced in one court, even if the person represented a recent case that still
had appeals pending for higher courts. A sentence was defined as jail sentence.
Therefore, cases of fine sentence were not included in the sample. As our research is
based on newspaper articles written by journalists, the reliability and completeness of
such a source might be questioned. However, most cases were presented in several
newspapers over several days, weeks or even months, enabling this research to correct
for initial errors by journalists. Furthermore, court documents were obtained whenever
there was doubt about the reliability of newspaper reports. This happened in one-third
of reported cases.
Research findings
As suggested in the research literature, most white-collar criminals are men. This is
confirmed in our sample of 179 persons, which includes only eight female criminals and
171 male criminals. There were 74 court cases in total, which means that there were on
average 2.4 criminals involved in each case. Average age when convicted was 49 years,
while average age when committing the crime was 44 years, which means that it takes
five years on average for discovery, investigation and prosecution. The oldest convicted
was 72 years. The average jail sentence was 2.3 years with the longest being ten years.
The average amount involved in the crime was 72 million Norwegian kroner, which is a
little more than US$10 million. Average taxable income of each criminal was
404,000 kroner, paying 170,000 kroner in tax, and having 2 million kroner in
personal wealth.
The average size of the company where the criminal had a role was 220 million
kroner in annual turnover and 120 employees. However, the victim of crime was
typically another organization: 142 out of 179 criminals victimized another
organization, while only 37 criminals victimized their own organization.
Out of 179 convicts, 159 worked in the private sector, while 20 worked in the public
sector. A total of 91 convictions were in district courts, 77 in courts of appeal and 11 in the
Supreme court. A total of 21 convicts had the chairman of the board position, 78 had the
Chief Executive Officer position, while the remaining 62 criminals had other positions.
Out of 179 criminals, 43 (24 percent) were discovered by journalists, 35 (20 percent)
by victims of the crime, 17 (9 percent) by bankruptcy lawyers, 16 (9 percent) by tax
authorities, ten (6 percent) by banks, and ten (6 percent) by the police.
A comparison of male and female criminals is presented in Table I. There are no
statistically significant differences found, as the sample size for female criminals is too
small. Rather more interesting are all similarities in terms of age and jail sentence.
Some differences, although not significant, are of interest. First, the amount involved in
the crime is lower for women, and women make less money and have less wealth.
Involved persons here refer to the number for each criminal when committing the
crime, where women crime involves slightly more people. Women work in smaller
organizations.
The sample of eight women was only involved in two out of five financial crime
categories, i.e. fraud and manipulation, as listed in Table II.
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Table I.
Comparison of
characteristics of male
versus female
white-collar criminals
Table II.
Comparison of crime
categories of male versus
female white-collar
criminals
Age convicted
Age crime
Years prison
Crime amount
Personal income
Personal tax
Personal wealth
Involved persons
Business revenue
Business employees
Fraud
Theft
Manipulation
Corruption
Embezzlement
Total
171 male white-collar
criminals
Eight female white-collar
criminals
Significant
difference?
49 years
43 years
2,3 years
73 million
413,000 kroner
175,000 kroner
2 million
4,7 persons
227 million
124 persons
49 years
44 years
2,3 years
33 million
206,000 kroner
68,000 kroner
0 kroner
5,0 persons
57 million
34 persons
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Total
Women
80
1
47
36
15
179
4
0
4
0
0
8
Discussion
When presenting the low fraction of 5 percent female white-collar criminals to qualified
audiences, the following reasons are typically mentioned:
.
Women have less opportunity to commit white-collar crime.
.
Women are less opportunistic as they are more committed to relationships
and rules.
.
Women are more seldom invited by criminals to participate in crime.
.
Women have a greater sense of risk aversion rather than risk willingness.
.
Companies are typically registered in the name of the husband, rather than
the wife.
.
Women are more easily perceived as victims of crime.
.
Female actions are to a lesser extent illegal by law.
It is commonly recognized that women’s career prospects are worse than those of men.
This is supported by public statistics on both wages and vocational positions
( Jonnerga˚rd et al., 2010, p. 723):
Previous studies have also stressed these differences and women have been found to have
lower positions and less promising career prospects as well as a lower or at least different
organizational commitment. Often, the differences have referred to variations in career
patterns between the genders.
This statement supports the opportunity argument, where women are less likely to
commit white-collar crime, since they are not in the position to do so.
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Haantz (2002) found that females comprise 17 percent of the individual perpetrators
identified and reported by victims of fraud. However, there is an increase in the number
of women convicted of fraud felonies over time. Over the past few decades, political,
social, economic, and technological changes have impacted the role of women at home
and in the workplace. These same changes have also brought about increased
participation among women in certain types of criminal behavior. It seems that
nowhere are these trends more pronounced than in the arena of white-collar
criminality. However, Holtfreter et al. (2010) argue that this trend might be modified by
potentially higher levels of self-control among women.
Conclusion
Only eight out of 179 white-collar criminals presented in Norwegian newspapers in the
years from 2009 to 2011 were women. In this article, a number of reasons for this result
are discussed. Women’s access to organizational power structures is rising, but remains
still limited. This is in line with opportunity theory. Women may have a greater sense of
risk aversion rather than risk willingness, and women may more easily be perceived as
victims of crime. It is indeed hard to believe that Norwegian men commit 25 times more
white-collar crimes than Norwegian women. Therefore, it is a question whether the
detection rate for female white-collar criminals is lower than for male white-collar
criminals. As a consequence, more attention should be paid to characteristics of female
white-collar crime in the future.
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offending”, Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 17 No. 3, pp. 295-307.
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case of Finland”, Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 17 No. 4, pp. 417-29.
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integrity”, Journal of Financial Crime, Vol. 17 No. 2, pp. 251-64.
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An International Journal of Police Strategies & Management, Vol. 23 No. 1, pp. 54-68.
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Pickett, K.H.S. and Picket, J.M. (2002), Financial Crime Investigation and Control, Wiley,
New York, NY.
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& Criminology, Spring, pp. 1-10.
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organizational criminal liability”, American Business Law Journal, Vol. 47 No. 1, pp. 109-44.
Schnatterly, K. (2003), “Increasing firm value through detection and prevention of white-collar
crime”, Strategic Management Journal, Vol. 24, pp. 587-614.
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work withdrawal”, Academy of Management Journal, Vol. 54 No. 1, pp. 116-36.
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offending”, Annual Review of Sociology, Vol. 22, pp. 459-87.
About the author
Petter Gottschalk is Professor of Information Systems and Knowledge Management in the
Department of Organization and Leadership at BI Norwegian Business School. He teaches
courses on Financial Crime and IT Management and his research interests include organizational
behaviour and law enforcement. Petter Gottschalk can be contacted at: [email protected]
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Gender and white-collar crime: only four percent female criminals
Petter Gottschalk
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only four percent female
criminals
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Petter Gottschalk
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BI Norwegian Business School, Oslo, Norway
Abstract
Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present an empirical study of white-collar crime to create
insights into perceptions of potential offenders with a gender perspective.
Design/methodology/approach – Media coverage of individual criminals was used as
identification for crime cases, which were then found in court rulings.
Findings – The paper is based on empirical research of convicted white-collar criminals.
Out of 161 convicts presented in newspaper articles, there were 153 male and eight female criminals,
i.e. 4 per cent.
Research limitations/implications – It is indeed hard to believe that Norwegian men commit
25 times more white-collar crimes when compared to Norwegian women. Therefore, it is a question of
whether the detection rate for female white-collar criminals is lower than for male white-collar criminals.
Practical implications – More attention might be paid to characteristics of female white-collar
crime in the future.
Originality/value – Rather than presenting some cases and anecdotal evidence, the paper presents
substantial statistical evidence to conclude on gender differences in white-collar crime.
Keywords Norway, Criminals, Gender, Fraud, Manipulation, Crime detection, Newspaper coverage,
Empirical study
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The most economically disadvantaged members of society are not the only ones
committing crime. Members of the privileged socioeconomic class are also engaged in
criminal behavior (Brightman, 2009). The types of crime may differ from those of the
lower classes, such as business executives bribing public officials to achieve contracts,
chief accountants manipulating balance sheets to avoid taxes, and procurement
managers approving fake invoices for personal gain.
Criminal behavior by members of the privileged socioeconomic class is labeled
white-collar crime (Benson and Simpson, 2009). It is often argued that women commit
less white-collar crime when compared to men (Haantz, 2002; Holtfreter et al., 2010;
Huffman et al., 2010). Suggested reasons for possible gender differences in white-collar
crime include lack of opportunity and risk aversion.
This paper reports findings from a study of white-collar criminals. It is based on the
following research question:
Journal of Money Laundering Control
Vol. 15 No. 3, 2012
pp. 362-373
q Emerald Group Publishing Limited
1368-5201
DOI 10.1108/13685201211238089
RQ. What differences can be found between male and female white-collar criminals?
This research article was submitted to the Journal of Money Laundering Control on
3 December 2011.
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Characteristics of white-collar crime
Ever since Edwin Sutherland introduced the concept of “white-collar” crime in 1939,
researchers have discussed what might be included in and what might be excluded
from this concept. The discussion is summarized by scholars such as Benson and
Simpson (2009), Blickle et al. (2006), Bookman (2008), Brightman (2009), Bucy et al.
(2008), Eicher (2009), Garoupa (2007), Hansen (2009), Heath (2008), Kempa (2010),
McKay et al. (2010), Pickett and Pickett (2002), Podgor (2007), Robson (2010) and
Schnatterly (2003).
According to Brightman (2009), Sutherland’s theory of white-collar crime was
controversial, particularly since many of the academicians in the audience perceived
themselves to be members of the upper echelon of American society. Despite his critics,
Sutherland’s theory of white-collar criminality served as the catalyst for an area of
research that continues today. In Sutherland’s definition of white-collar crime,
a white-collar criminal is a person of respectability and high social status who commits
crime in the course of his occupation. This excludes many crimes of the upper class,
such as most of their cases of murder, adultery, and intoxication, since these are not
customarily a part of their procedures (Benson and Simpson, 2009). It also excludes
lower class criminals committing financial crime, as pointed out by Brightman (2009).
In contrast to Sutherland, Brightman (2009) differs slightly regarding the definition
of white-collar crime. While societal status may still determine access to wealth and
property, he argues that the term white-collar crime should be broader in scope and
include virtually any non-violent act committed for financial gain, regardless of one’s
social status. For example, access to technology, such as personal computers and the
internet, now allows individuals from all social classes to buy and sell stocks or engage
in similar activities that were once the bastion of the financial elite.
White-collar criminals are for the most part individuals with power and influence
that is associated with respectability and high social status. Part of the standard view
of white-collar offenders is that they are mainstream, law-abiding individuals. They
are assumed to be irregular offenders, not people who engage in crime on a regular
basis (Benson and Simpson, 2009, p. 39):
Unlike the run-of-the-mill common street criminal who usually has had repeated contacts
with the criminal justice system, white-collar offenders are thought not to have prior criminal
records.
When white-collar criminals appear before their sentencing judges, they can correctly
claim to be first-time offenders. They are wealthy, highly educated, and socially
connected. They are elite individuals, according to the description and attitudes of
white-collar criminals as suggested by Sutherland. They belong to the elite in society,
and they are typically individuals employed by and in legitimate organizations.
According to Hansen (2009), individuals or groups commit occupational or elite crime for
their own purposes or enrichment, rather than for the enrichment of the organization on
a whole, in spite of supposed corporate loyalty.
What Podgor (2007) found to be the most interesting aspect of Sutherland’s work is
that a scholar needed to proclaim that crimes of the “upper socioeconomic class” were in
fact crimes that should be prosecuted. It is apparent that prior to the coining of the term
“white collar crime,” wealth and power allowed some persons to escape criminal
liability.
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Bookman (2008) regard Sutherland’s definition as too restrictive and suggest that
white-collar crime is an illegal act committed by nonphysical means and by concealment
or guile, to obtain money or property, to avoid payment or loss of money or property, or
to obtain business or personal advantage. Furthermore, scholars have attempted to
separate white-collar crime into two types: occupational and corporate. Largely
individuals or small groups in connection with their jobs commit occupational crime. It
includes embezzling from an employer, theft of merchandise, income tax evasion, and
manipulation of sales, fraud, and violations in the sale of securities. Corporate crime, on
the other hand, is enacted by collectivities or aggregates of discrete individuals.
Pickett and Pickett (2002) use the terms financial crime, white-collar crime, and
fraud interchangeably. They define white-collar crime as the use of deception for illegal
gain, normally involving breach of trust, and some concealment of the true nature of
the activities. White-collar crime is often defined as crime against property, involving
the unlawful conversion of property belonging to another to one’s own personal use
and benefit. Financial crime is profit-driven crime to gain access to and control over
property that belonged to someone else.
Bucy et al. (2008) argue that white-collar crime refers to non-violent,
business-related violations of state and/or federal criminal statues, and they make a
distinction between “leaders” and “followers” in white-collar crime.
White-collar crime can be defined in terms of the offense, the offender or both. If
white-collar crime is defined in terms of the offense, it means crime against property for
personal or organizational gain. It is a property crime committed by non-physical
means and by concealment or deception (Benson and Simpson, 2009). If white-collar
crime is defined in terms of the offender, it means crime committed by upper class
members of society for personal or organizational gain. It is individuals who are
wealthy, highly educated, and socially connected, and they are typically employed by
and in legitimate organizations (Hansen, 2009).
White-collar crime is a broad concept that covers all illegal behavior that takes
advantage of positions of professional authority and power as well as opportunity
structures available within business for personal and corporate gain (Kempa, 2010, p. 252):
Crimes such as embezzlement, fraud and insider trading, one hand, and market manipulation,
profit exaggeration, and product misrepresentation on the other, add up to a massive criminal
domain.
White-collar crime is non-violent crime for financial gain committed by means of
deception (Blickle et al., 2006). If white-collar crime is defined in terms of both criminal
and individual perspectives as discussed above, white-collar crime has the following
characteristics:
.
White-collar crime is crime against property for personal or organizational gain,
which is committed by non-physical means and by concealment or deception.
It is deceitful, it is intentional, it breaches trust, and it involves losses.
.
White-collar criminals are individuals who are wealthy, highly educated, and
socially connected, and they are typically employed by and in legitimate
organization. They are persons of respectability and high social status who
commit crime in the course of their occupation.
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In this paper, we apply this definition of white-collar crime, where both characteristics
of offense and offender identify the crime. Therefore, white-collar crime is only a subset
of financial crime in our perspective: white-collar crime is violation of the law
committed by one holding a position of respect and authority in the community who
uses his or her legitimate occupation to commit financial crime (Eicher, 2009).
White-collar crime contains several clear components (Pickett and Pickett, 2002):
.
It is deceitful. People involved in white-collar crime tend to cheat, lie, conceal, and
manipulate the truth.
.
It is intentional. Fraud does not result from simple error or neglect but involves
purposeful attempts to illegally gain an advantage. As such, it induces a course
of action that is predetermined in advance by the perpetrator.
.
It breaches trust. Business is based primarily on trust. Individual relationships
and commitments are geared toward the respective responsibilities of all parties
involved. Mutual trust is the glue that binds these relationships together, and it is
this trust that is breached when someone tries to defraud another person or
business.
.
It involves losses. Financial crime is based on attempting to secure an illegal gain
or advantage and for this to happen there must be a victim. There must also be a
degree of loss or disadvantage. These losses may be written off or insured
against or simply accepted. White-collar crime nonetheless constitutes a drain on
national resources.
.
It may be concealed. One feature of financial crime is that it may remain hidden
indefinitely. Reality and appearance may not necessarily coincide. Therefore,
every business transaction, contract, payment, or agreement may be altered or
suppressed to give the appearance of regularity. Spreadsheets, statements, and
sets of accounts cannot always be accepted at face value; this is how some frauds
continue undetected for years.
.
There may be an appearance of outward respectability. Fraud may be perpetrated
by persons who appear to be respectable and professional members of society,
and may even be employed by the victim.
Schnatterly (2003) argued that white-collar crime can cost a company from 1 to 6 percent of
annual sales, yet little is known about the organizational conditions that can reduce this
cost. She found that operational governance, including clarity of policies and procedures,
formal cross-company communication, and performance-based pay for the board and for
more employees, significantly reduces the likelihood of a crime commission.
McKay et al. (2010) examined the psychopathology of the white-collar criminal
acting as a corporate leader. They looked at the impact of a leader’s behavior on other
employees and the organizational culture developed during his or her reign. They
proposed a 12-step process to explain how an organization can move from a legally
operating organization to one in which unethical behavior is ignored and wrongdoing
promoted.
Gender differences in crime
In the past decades, there has been an increased focus on the relationship between
gender and ethical perceptions. A review of the empirical ethical decision-making
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literature by O’Fallon and Butterfield (2005) concluded that often there are no differences
found between men and women, however, when differences are found women are more
ethical than men. Across a large sample of countries Dollar et al. (2001) discovered that
the greater the representation of women in parliament, the lower the level of corruption.
Explanations for gender differences when they are uncovered, range from the biological,
which emphasizes evolved dispositions of men and women (Buss, 1995) to social
explanations, which focus on the dissimilar placement of men and women in the social
structure (Eagly and Wood, 1999). The social perspective could explain the mixed
results of research on ethical behavior, as the context and social structure might enhance
or diminish the differences found between men and women.
However, given that differences have been detected in ethical behavior, the question
arises whether gender differences have also been found in specific areas such as
white-collar crime? Before we address this crime area, we can look at other areas of crime
such as police misconduct and crime. One study from the USA indicates that the answer is
yes, gender differences exist. In a study using both internal and external complaints of
crime in a large police agency in the USA, Lersch and Mieczkowski (2000) found male
officers were over represented. Another recent research article examined citizen
complaints filed against police, and revealed that female officers were less likely,
compared to male officers, to become the subject of citizen complaints. Male officers were
more likely to be repeat offenders, i.e. officers who receive multiple complaints within a
short time frame (Hassell and Archbold, 2010). A study conducted by the National Center
for Women and Policing in the USA revealed that male officers were over eight times more
likely to have sustained allegations of excessive force, and a male officer is more than twice
as likely to have a citizen name him in a complaint of excessive force (NCWP, 2002).
At present we are unaware of any studies that have investigated gender and
white-collar crime in Norway. Norway is ranked as the second best country in the
world for gender equality (Hausmann et al., 2010) and has one of the highest
participation rates of women in the workforce. When still looking at gender and police
crime, the first female police officer in Norway was in 1910 (Politidirektoratet, 2010),
and the director of the Norwegian Police force for the last 11 years has been a woman.
Today almost half of the police force is women. There are a total of 13,000 police
employees in Norway, out of which 8,000 are police officers and 5,000 are civilians.
While the majority of police officers are male, the majority of civilians are female.
Research investigating Norwegian police officers has found that male police officers
are older, at higher organizational levels, experienced higher autonomy, have less
education, work more hours and in smaller forces (Burke and Mikkelsen, 2005;
Burke et al., 2006). The findings were dissimilar to previous research as both male and
female officers indicated similar levels of work outcomes, policing attitudes towards use
of force, and social skills to solve problems. Few differences between male and female
officers were found on job demands, work satisfaction, social and coping resources, and
psychological and physical health (Burke and Mikkelsen, 2005; Burke et al., 2006). Male
officers did experience more violence and threats whereas female officers encountered
more harassment and discrimination. From the egalitarian social context of Norway and
our previous research on the Norwegian police, we might expect to find more similarities
than differences between male and female officers crime.
However, the empirical cases examined in our previous police crime research from
Norway demonstrate that men are over represented in crime cases and convictions.
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This finding is in line with research on citizen complaints and convictions of excessive
force in other countries (Hassell and Archbold, 2010; Lersch and Mieczkowski, 2000;
NCWP, 2002). Although Norway is known for gender equality it appears that gender
differences occur within crime.
Traditionally, women were considered victims of white-collar crime
(Robb, 2006, p. 1062):
Considerable evidence exists that women were sought out as victims by frauds and
embezzlers who well understood their vulnerability. During the 1860s, for example, the shady
company promoter Albert Grant compiled lists of widows, unmarried women and other small
investors to whom he sent circulars advertising his dubious speculations.
Moreover, women tend to express more ethical responsibility than men. However, as
documented in a study by Dalton and Ortegren (2011), women’s responses to ethical
issues might be attributed to the social desirability response bias. The social desirability
response bias appears to be driving a significant portion of the relationship between
gender and ethical decision-making, where females consistently report more ethical
responses than males.
Steffensmeier and Allan (1996) suggested a gendered theory of female offending.
The theory attempts to explain female criminality and gender differences in crime. The
theory focuses on the following elements and interactions between those elements:
.
Organization of gender. Gender norms, moral development and social control.
.
Biological factors. Physical, sexual, and affiliate differences.
.
Criminal opportunities. Underworld sexism, access to skills, and crime associates
and settings.
.
Gender differences in crime. Women avoid more serious white-collar crime such
as insider trading, price-fixing, restraint of trade, toxic waste dumping,
fraudulent product commerce, bribery, and official corruption, as well as
large-scale governmental crimes.
.
Context of offending. Many of the most profound differences between the offenses
committed by men and women involve the context of offending, where context
refers to the characteristics of a particular offense. It might be the setting, whether
the offense is committed with others, the offender’s role in initiating and
committing the offense, the type of victim, the victim-offender relationship,
whether a weapon was used, the extent of injury, the value or type of property
destroyed or stolen, and the purpose of the offense.
.
Motivation for crime. Tastes for risk, likelihood of shame or embarrassment,
self-control, and assessment of costs versus rewards of crime.
A study in Finland showed no difference between male and female crime rates when
correcting for occupation fraction. Kankaanranta and Muttilainen (2010) found that
9 percent of economic criminals in the construction industry were females, which is a
modestly higher proportion than is generally working in the construction sector (7 percent).
Gender differences in white-collar crime
When we now turn to the literature of gender differences in white-collar crime, we first
have to look at the extent to which women have the opportunity to commit this kind
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of crime. According to Huffman et al. (2010), women’s access to organizational power
structures matters in organizations because, as a significant source of internal
pressure, the characteristics of leaders can shape organizational adaptation and
strongly influence workplace inequality. As long as workplace power inequality exists,
then women have less opportunity to commit white-collar crime.
A quite consistent finding in the emotions literature is that women are both expected
to and do show greater emotional intensity and emotional expressiveness than men, and
such differences hold for both positive and negative emotions. According to Scott and
Barnes (2011), the root of such differences may lie in role development, whereby females
are socialized to be more emotionally expressive and men are socialized to be more
emotionally restrained. Socialization pressures influence the extent to which a woman
can survive with a deviant behavior in the organizational power structure and thereby
the extent to which white-collar crime is a relevant and attractive option.
Another relevant gender perspective is persistence, where men may be more
persistent and thus more willing to carry out both legal and illegal acts. When Bowles
and Flynn (2010) studied gender and persistence, they focused on persistence in
negotiations. Negotiation is a fundamental form of coordination in organizations that
affect the process of work, the resolution of conflict, and the advancement of careers.
Their findings challenge sex-stereotypic perspectives, showing that women persist
more with male naysayers than with female naysayers, but do so in a stereotypically
low-status (more indirect than direct) manner. Persistence here is the willingness to
continue seeking compromise from a naysaying counterpart.
Opportunity theory suggests that as women’s opportunities to commit white-collar
crime increase, so will their deviant behavior, and the types of crime they commit will
much more closely resemble those committed by men. However, in an old study by
Hill and Harris (1981), they found no support for the suggestion that similar
male-female criminal profiles emerge as opportunities for females expand.
Research methodology
To identify a substantial sample of white-collar criminals and to collect relevant
information about each criminal, there are several options available. However, in a small
country like Norway with a population of only five million people, there are limits to
available sample size. One available option would be to study court cases involving
white-collar criminals. A challenge here would be to identify relevant laws and sentences
that cover our definition not only of white-collar crime, but also required characteristics
of white-collar criminals. Another available option is to study newspaper articles, where
the journalists already have conducted some kind of selection of upper class, white-collar
individuals convicted in court because of financial crime. Another advantage of this
approach is that the cases are publicly known, which makes it more acceptable to
identify cases by individual white-collar names. Therefore, the latter option was chosen
in this research. Based on this decision, our sample has the following characteristics as
applied by newspapers when presenting news: famous individuals, famous companies,
surprising stories, important events, substantial consequences, matters of principles,
and significant public interest.
There are two main financial newspapers in Norway, Dagens Næringsliv and
Finansavisen. In addition, the newspaper Aftenposten regularly brings news on
white-collar criminals. These three newspapers were studied on a daily basis from late
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2009 to late 2011 to identify white-collar criminals. A total of 161 white-collar criminals
were identified during those two years. A person was defined as a white-collar criminal if
the person seemed to satisfy general criteria mentioned above, and if the person was
sentenced in court to imprisonment. For this study it was considered sufficient that the
person was sentenced in one court, even if the person represented a recent case that still
had appeals pending for higher courts. A sentence was defined as jail sentence.
Therefore, cases of fine sentence were not included in the sample. As our research is
based on newspaper articles written by journalists, the reliability and completeness of
such a source might be questioned. However, most cases were presented in several
newspapers over several days, weeks or even months, enabling this research to correct
for initial errors by journalists. Furthermore, court documents were obtained whenever
there was doubt about the reliability of newspaper reports. This happened in one-third
of reported cases.
Research findings
As suggested in the research literature, most white-collar criminals are men. This is
confirmed in our sample of 179 persons, which includes only eight female criminals and
171 male criminals. There were 74 court cases in total, which means that there were on
average 2.4 criminals involved in each case. Average age when convicted was 49 years,
while average age when committing the crime was 44 years, which means that it takes
five years on average for discovery, investigation and prosecution. The oldest convicted
was 72 years. The average jail sentence was 2.3 years with the longest being ten years.
The average amount involved in the crime was 72 million Norwegian kroner, which is a
little more than US$10 million. Average taxable income of each criminal was
404,000 kroner, paying 170,000 kroner in tax, and having 2 million kroner in
personal wealth.
The average size of the company where the criminal had a role was 220 million
kroner in annual turnover and 120 employees. However, the victim of crime was
typically another organization: 142 out of 179 criminals victimized another
organization, while only 37 criminals victimized their own organization.
Out of 179 convicts, 159 worked in the private sector, while 20 worked in the public
sector. A total of 91 convictions were in district courts, 77 in courts of appeal and 11 in the
Supreme court. A total of 21 convicts had the chairman of the board position, 78 had the
Chief Executive Officer position, while the remaining 62 criminals had other positions.
Out of 179 criminals, 43 (24 percent) were discovered by journalists, 35 (20 percent)
by victims of the crime, 17 (9 percent) by bankruptcy lawyers, 16 (9 percent) by tax
authorities, ten (6 percent) by banks, and ten (6 percent) by the police.
A comparison of male and female criminals is presented in Table I. There are no
statistically significant differences found, as the sample size for female criminals is too
small. Rather more interesting are all similarities in terms of age and jail sentence.
Some differences, although not significant, are of interest. First, the amount involved in
the crime is lower for women, and women make less money and have less wealth.
Involved persons here refer to the number for each criminal when committing the
crime, where women crime involves slightly more people. Women work in smaller
organizations.
The sample of eight women was only involved in two out of five financial crime
categories, i.e. fraud and manipulation, as listed in Table II.
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370
Table I.
Comparison of
characteristics of male
versus female
white-collar criminals
Table II.
Comparison of crime
categories of male versus
female white-collar
criminals
Age convicted
Age crime
Years prison
Crime amount
Personal income
Personal tax
Personal wealth
Involved persons
Business revenue
Business employees
Fraud
Theft
Manipulation
Corruption
Embezzlement
Total
171 male white-collar
criminals
Eight female white-collar
criminals
Significant
difference?
49 years
43 years
2,3 years
73 million
413,000 kroner
175,000 kroner
2 million
4,7 persons
227 million
124 persons
49 years
44 years
2,3 years
33 million
206,000 kroner
68,000 kroner
0 kroner
5,0 persons
57 million
34 persons
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
No
Total
Women
80
1
47
36
15
179
4
0
4
0
0
8
Discussion
When presenting the low fraction of 5 percent female white-collar criminals to qualified
audiences, the following reasons are typically mentioned:
.
Women have less opportunity to commit white-collar crime.
.
Women are less opportunistic as they are more committed to relationships
and rules.
.
Women are more seldom invited by criminals to participate in crime.
.
Women have a greater sense of risk aversion rather than risk willingness.
.
Companies are typically registered in the name of the husband, rather than
the wife.
.
Women are more easily perceived as victims of crime.
.
Female actions are to a lesser extent illegal by law.
It is commonly recognized that women’s career prospects are worse than those of men.
This is supported by public statistics on both wages and vocational positions
( Jonnerga˚rd et al., 2010, p. 723):
Previous studies have also stressed these differences and women have been found to have
lower positions and less promising career prospects as well as a lower or at least different
organizational commitment. Often, the differences have referred to variations in career
patterns between the genders.
This statement supports the opportunity argument, where women are less likely to
commit white-collar crime, since they are not in the position to do so.
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Haantz (2002) found that females comprise 17 percent of the individual perpetrators
identified and reported by victims of fraud. However, there is an increase in the number
of women convicted of fraud felonies over time. Over the past few decades, political,
social, economic, and technological changes have impacted the role of women at home
and in the workplace. These same changes have also brought about increased
participation among women in certain types of criminal behavior. It seems that
nowhere are these trends more pronounced than in the arena of white-collar
criminality. However, Holtfreter et al. (2010) argue that this trend might be modified by
potentially higher levels of self-control among women.
Conclusion
Only eight out of 179 white-collar criminals presented in Norwegian newspapers in the
years from 2009 to 2011 were women. In this article, a number of reasons for this result
are discussed. Women’s access to organizational power structures is rising, but remains
still limited. This is in line with opportunity theory. Women may have a greater sense of
risk aversion rather than risk willingness, and women may more easily be perceived as
victims of crime. It is indeed hard to believe that Norwegian men commit 25 times more
white-collar crimes than Norwegian women. Therefore, it is a question whether the
detection rate for female white-collar criminals is lower than for male white-collar
criminals. As a consequence, more attention should be paid to characteristics of female
white-collar crime in the future.
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About the author
Petter Gottschalk is Professor of Information Systems and Knowledge Management in the
Department of Organization and Leadership at BI Norwegian Business School. He teaches
courses on Financial Crime and IT Management and his research interests include organizational
behaviour and law enforcement. Petter Gottschalk can be contacted at: [email protected]
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