Returning to the mainstream: Reflections on past and future white collar crime study

Sutherland, who introduced the term, appropriately emphasized abstraction and breadth rather than specification and narrowing in defining white-collar crime. However, his focus on elites in social status is less useful than an approach that includes not only crimes committed by members of the middle class but also varied forms of offending. As other researchers note, white-collar crime differs from other crime in many ways, including the role of organization along with individual motives, the relationship and contact between victim and offender, and sanctioning. Future research should focus on these issues, on developing accurate estimates of the rates of victimization in white- collar crime, and on the role of noncriminal governmental and non-governmental social controls. Notes and 29 references.