Explanation
Corporate crime includes activities such as fraud, tax evasion, environmental violations, price fixing, and labor exploitation, typically carried out for financial gain or competitive advantage. Unlike street crime, corporate crime often causes widespread harm but receives less media coverage and lighter punishment. The term emphasizes how powerful actors can break the law or cause harm without facing proportional legal consequences.
Theoretical Reference
First coined by Edwin Sutherland, the concept of corporate crime challenges the focus of criminology on individual offenders and highlights how systemic power and class dynamics influence criminal justice outcomes. It is closely associated with white-collar crime and critical criminology.