White-collar crime: victimization, criminalization, and policingSean MejiasRoberts Wesleyan CollegeWhite-collar crime: victimization, criminalization, and policingWhite-collar crime is a complex and diverse area and refers to a long list of offenses. The list contains offenses ranging from embezzlement, corruption, fraud to employee theft. All of these acts are usually committed by a company or by an employee in general. Some forms of crime arouse more fear than others. While crimes without direct victims scare people less, crimes against people generate more fear. Society seems less concerned about white collar crime because it does not have a knowable victim or easily identifiable offender (Isenring, 372). The public often describes white-collar crime as a scandal; One scandal in general that has become known to the public is that of Enron (Isenring, 373). In 1997, a company known as Enron bought out a partner's stake and sold that stake to a company it had created, allowing Enron to hide its debt. In 2001, a FORTUNE article called Enron a "largely impenetrable" company that was racking up debt while keeping Wall Street in the dark (TIME). Later that year, the company reported a third-quarter loss of 618 million euros and soon after admitted accounting errors, inflating its revenue by 586 million since 1997. In the months that followed, Enron filed the balance sheet. A similar company called Andersen and its CEO said his company had uncovered "possible illegal acts" by Enron (TIME). Fear or worry about crime has become an important social phenomenon associated with problems such as unemployment, poverty and delinquency (Isenring, 371...... middle of paper ...... le Porate power, alongside corporate and organized crime Crimes, including white-collar crimes, are obviously illegal and punishable by law. However, law enforcement often adheres to the law. deterring crime. When attempting to deter white-collar crime, courts defer punishment to prison These criminal sentences fall within the legal range established by the legislature for a particular offense, which. has been applied throughout most of United States history, reflects the fact-finding role played by the sentencing trial judge (Dionne). an appeals court cannot review a sentence imposed by a trial court. However, growing trends tend to move away from the strict application of common law (Dionne).).