Corporate Crime, Law, And Social Control (cambridge Studies In Criminology)

Why do corporations obey the law? When companies violate the law, what kinds of interventions are most apt to correct their behavior and return them to compliant status? In this book Sally Simpson examines whether the shift towards the use of criminal law, with its emphasis on punishment and stigmatization, is an effective strategy for controlling illegal corporate behavior. She concludes that strict criminalization models will not yield sufficiently high levels of compliance. Empirical data suggest that in most cases cooperative models work best with most corporate offenders. Because some corporate managers, however, respond primarily to instrumental concerns, Simpson argues that compliance should also be buttressed by punitive strategies. Her review and application of the relevant empirical literature on corporate crime and compliance combined with her judicious examination of theory and approaches, make a valuable new contribution to the literature on white-collar crime and deterrence and criminal behavior more generally.

This book provides a critical assessment of strategies to control the illegal conduct of corporations.

Booknews

Simpson (criminology and criminal justice, University of Maryland) analyzes the emerging trend toward the criminalization of corporate misbehavior. She explains the theory underlying criminalization, and identifies its flaws. She then argues that, based on empirical evidence, cooperative models are more likely to gain corporate compliance, though these may need to be augmented with punitive strategies. Appendices include questionnaire items, responses, and sample characteristics. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Why do corporations comply with the law? When companies violate the law, what kinds of interventions are most apt to return them to compliant status? The purpose of this book is to examine whether a shift toward the use of criminal law with its emphasis on punishment and stigmatization will be a successful crime control strategy. The author reviews whether current legal systems based in criminal, civil, and regulatory law ''deter'' corporate crime. She concludes that strict criminalization models that rely on punishments will not yield sufficiently high levels of compliance. Sally S. Simpson. Includes Bibliographical References And Indexes.