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Crimes of the Powerful

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Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice

Synonyms

Corporate crime; Crimes of empire; Crimes of globalization; Organizational crimes; State crime; State-corporate crime; White-collar crime

Overview

Crimes of the powerful have occurred throughout humanity’s existence, from the ancient armies and Roman leadership to the aristocratic criminal of the eighteenth Century to the modern corporate CEO and head of state. While these behaviors did not come under the scrutiny of criminologists until the last century, there is a growing body of critical theoretical frames that have been used to explain the etiological factors associated with crimes of the powerful.

Fundamentals

Theoretical explanations of the crimes of the powerful are not straightforward or universally applicable. As such, it helps to first understand the typical forms by which these types of criminality are generally categorized as well as the levels of analysis with which theories can be applied. Crimes of the powerful, also referred to as white-collar crimes, can be...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice Studies, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville, Edwardsville, IL, 62026, USA

    David Kauzlarich

  2. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Old Dominion University, 6006 BAL, Norfolk, VA, 23529, USA

    Dawn L. Rothe

Authors
  1. David Kauzlarich
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  2. Dawn L. Rothe
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to David Kauzlarich .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Netherlands Institute for the Study of Crime and Law Enforcement (NSCR), Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  2. VU University Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Gerben Bruinsma

  3. Department of Criminology, Law and Society, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA

    David Weisburd

  4. Faculty of Law, The Hebrew University, Mt. Scopus, Jerusalem, Israel

    David Weisburd

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Kauzlarich, D., Rothe, D.L. (2014). Crimes of the Powerful. In: Bruinsma, G., Weisburd, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_308

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4614-5690-2_308

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4614-5689-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4614-5690-2

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