Criminal law is a concept which is based on a system of legal rules whose main aim is the safety of the public and avoiding of the illegal behavior. Those people who violate the law face imprisonment, fines, and other penalties, depending on the severity of the offense. Less serious crimes face mainly fines and warnings and a maximum of one - year imprisonment. These include petty theft and first offense while driving. A person who commits a more serious crime has a strict punishment such as a conviction for the long term. These crimes include violence, theft with break-ins, and murder, embezzlement and money laundering, which are called white collar crimes.
The denomination “white collar crime” was first used in 1939 by Edwin Sutherland.
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Due to the anomie theories, “crime is a symptom of some members of society not having the tools to achieve what their society defines as success” (Cliff, Desilets). Due to the conflict theories, upper - class people to maintain their status and financial position operates the lower class, which often leads to death. Such exploitation and harm to people are considered a crime capital. In return, structural theories of white collar crimes explain such crimes by the existence of pressure from the society as well as the unequal division of power. Micro – level crimes explain the reasons in individual level. Strain theory emphasizes the presence in person’s life negative aspects and stimuli that cause anger. In this case, people commit the white collar crimes due to the inability to achieve their goals and the fear of losing social status. Additionally, routine activities theory explains why corporate people commit such kind of crimes. According to this theory, three conditions conducive the realization of the crime, including “a target, a motivated offender, and lack of capable Guardians” (Lugo). The example of such theory can be the cases of insurance