Common Denominators in White Collar Crime: I'm Special, You're Special, Let's Fleece them in Style

Abstract:     
Culture, cults and character are shown to be the Three C's of graft and corruption. The notion of conversation is briefly allowed to link the perpetrator to his alter ego, victim or partner-in-crime, wherein are forged the origins of means, motive and opportunity - as also the ballast of the paper. The argument is made that a trained eye should expect the close interplay of culture and pathology, especially in matters of white collar crime, which is used throughout as the focus. By way of summary, these crimes are perpetrated by those with bipolar traits operating in a context of cultural permissiveness, and with selected tools (attitudes, e.g.) of cultural provenance.

Number of Pages in PDF File: 19

Keywords: white collar crime, culture, cults, bipolar, exposure, traits, honor-based, dignity-based, office, stewardship

JEL Classification: A12, A13, B40, K14, K42, P50

working papers series