Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-dlnhk Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-30T15:23:43.443Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Low Self-Control, Organizational Theory, and Corporate Crime

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Sally S. Simpson  and
Nicole Leeper Piquero
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The development of Gottfredson and Hirschi's general theory of crime (1990; see also Hirschi & Gottfredson 1987, 2000) has provoked lively debate about the merits of the theory as applied to organizational crime (Steffensmeier 1989; Reed & Yeager 1996; Herbert et al. 1998). While the debate is provocative, the empirical evidence brought to bear is an insufficient test of competing theoretical claims. Using data drawn from a factorial survey administered to a group of corporate managers and managers-in-training, we subject Gottfredson and Hirschi's theory of crime and an integrated organizational theory to a theoretical competition. The results show that corporate offending propensity and behavioral indicators of low self-control are unrelated, a result inconsistent with the general theory. Instead, variables consistent with an integrated materialistic and cultural organizational theory predict managers' offending intentions. For instance, offending is inhibited when a firm has a working compliance program and when managers perceive the illegal act as highly immoral. Conversely, managers are more apt to offend when ordered to do so by a supervisor, or to gain financial or market position vis-à-vis competitors. The implications for general and organizational theories of corporate offending are discussed.

Type
Papers of General Interest
Information
Law & Society Review , Volume 36 , Issue 3 , 2002 , pp. 509 - 547
Copyright
Copyright © 2002 Law and Society Association.

References

Akers, Ronald L. (1998) Social Learning and Social Structure: A General Theory of Crime and Deviance. Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Arneklev, Bruce J., Grasmick, Harold G., Tittle, Charles R., & Bursik, Robert J. Jr. (1993) “Low Self-Control and Imprudent Behaviors,” 9 J. of Quantitative Criminology 225–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barlow, Hugh D. (1991) “Explaining Crimes and Analogous Acts, or the Unrestrained Will Grab at Pleasure Whenever They Can,” 82 J. of Criminal Law and Criminology 229–42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baucus, Melissa S., & Near, Janet P. (1991) “Can Illegal Corporate Behavior Be Predicted? An Event History Analysis,” 34 Academy of Management 9–36.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Benson, Michael L., & Moore, Elizabeth (1992) “Are White-Collar and Common Offenders the Same? An Empirical and Theoretical Critique of a Recently Proposed General Theory of Crime,” 29 J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency 251–72.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumstein, Alfred, Cohen, Jacqueline, Roth, Jeffrey A., & Visher, Christy A. (1986) Criminal Careers and “Career Criminals.”Vol. 1, Washington, DC: National Academy Press.Google Scholar
Bouffard, Jeffrey, Exum, M. Lyn, & Paternoster, Raymond (2000) “Whither the Beast? The Role of Emotions in a Rational Choice Theory of Crime,” in Simpson, Sally S., ed., Of Crime and Criminality. Boston: Pine Forge Press.Google Scholar
Braithwaite, John (1984) Corporate Crime in the Pharmaceutical Industry. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.Google Scholar
Braithwaite, John (1985) “Taking Responsibility Seriously: Corporate Compliance Systems,” in Fisse, Brett & French, Peter A., eds., Corrigible Corporations and Unruly Law. San Antonio: Trinity Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Braithwaite, John (1989) Crime, Shame and Reintegration. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Braithwaite, John, & Fisse, Brent (1990) “On the Plausibility of Corporate Crime Theory,” in Laufer, W. S. & Adler, Freda, eds., Advances in Criminological Theory. Vol. 2 New Brunswick: Transaction.Google Scholar
Braithwaite, John, & Geis, Gilbert (1982) “On Theory and Action for Corporate Crime Control,” 28 Crime and Delinquency 292–314.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Calavita, Kitty, & Pontell, Henry N. (1990) “Heads I Win, Tails You Lose”: Deregulation, Crime, and Crisis in the Savings and Loan Industry,“ 36 Crime and Delinquency 309–41.Google Scholar
Carmines, Edward G., & Zeller, Richard A. (1979) Reliability and Validity. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chandler, Alfred D. Jr. (1962) Strategy and Structure: Chapters in the History of the American Industrial Enterprise. Boston: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Clinard, Marshall (1983) Corporate Ethics and Crime. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Clinard, Marshall B., & Quinney, Richard (1967/1973) Criminal Behavior Systems: A Typology. New York: Holt, Rinehart, & Winston.Google Scholar
Clinard, Marshall B., and Yeager, Peter C. (1980) Corporate Crime. New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Coleman, James S. (1990) The Foundations of Social Theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Coleman, James W. (1987) “Toward an Integrated Theory of White-Collar Crime,” 93 American J. of Sociology 406–39.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Coleman, James William, & Ramos, Linda L. (1998) “Subcultures and Deviant Behavior in the Organizational Context,“ in Bamberger, Peter A. & Sonnenstruhl, William J., eds., The Sociology of Organizations: Deviance in and of Organizations. Vol. 15. Stamford, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Collins, Judith M., & Schmidt, Frank L. (1993) “Personality, Integrity, and White Collar Crime: A Construct Validity Study,” 46 Personnel Psychology 295–311.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cullen, Francis T., & Dubeck, Paula J. (1985) “The Myth of Corporate Immunity to Deterrence,” 49 Federal Probation 3–9.Google Scholar
Daboub, A. J., Rasheed, A. M. S., Priem, R. L., & Gray, D. A. (1995) “Top Management Team Characteristics and Corporate Illegal Activity,” 20 Academy of Management Rev. 138–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daly, Kathleen (1989) “Gender and Varieties of White-Collar Crime,” 24 Criminology 769–94.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Edelman, Lauren B., & Suchman, Mark C. (1997) “The Legal Environments of Organizations,” 23 Annual Rev. of Sociology 479–515.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elis, Lori A., & Simpson, Sally S. (1995) “Informal Sanction Threats and Corporate Crime: Additive Versus Multiplicative Models,” 32 J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency 399–424.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, Delbert S., & Ageton, Suzanne S. (1980) “Reconciling Race and Class Differences in Self-Reported and Official Estimates of Delinquency,” 45 American Sociological Rev. 95–110.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, Delbert S., Huizinga, David, & Ageton, Susanne S. (1985) Explaining Delinquency and Drug Use. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Erman, M. David, & Rabe, Gary A. (1997) “Organizational Processes (Not Rational Choices) Produce Most Corporate Crimes,“ in Lofquist, William S., Cohen, Mark A., & Rabe, Gary A., eds., Debating Corporate Crime. Cincinnati, OH: Anderson.Google Scholar
Evans, T. David, Cullen, Francis T., Burton, Velmer S. Jr., Dunaway, R. Gregory, & Benson, Michael L. (1997) “The Social Consequences of Self-Control: Testing the General Theory of Crime,” 35 Criminology 475–501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ferrell, O. C., & Gresham, Larry G. (1985) “A Contingency Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision Making in Marketing,” Summer, J. of Marketing 87–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Finney, Henry C., & Lesieur, Henry R. (1982) A Contingency Theory of Organizational Crime. Research,” in Bacharach, Samuel B., ed., The Sociology of Organizations. Vol. 1, B. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press, Inc.Google Scholar
Fishbein, M. M., & Ajzen, I. (1975) Belief, Attitudes, Intention, and Behavior. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Geis, Gilbert (1967) “White Collar Crime: The Heavy Electrical Equipment Antitrust Case of 1961,” in Clinard, Marshall B. & Quinney, Richard, eds., Criminal Behavior Systems: A Typology. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.Google Scholar
Geis, Gilbert (2000) “On the Absence of Self-Control as the Basis for a General Theory of Crime: A Critique,” 4 Theoretical Criminology 35–53.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geis, Gilbert, & Salinger, Lawrence S. (1998) “Antitrust and Organizational Deviance,” in Bamberger, Peter A. & Sonnenstuhl, William J., eds., Research in the Sociology of Organizations: Deviance in and of Organizations Vol. 15. Stamford, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Gottfredson, Michael R., & Hirschi, Travis (1990) General Theory of Crime. Stanford, CA: Stanford Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grasmick, Harold G., Tittle, Charles R., Bursik, Robert J. Jr., & Arneklev, Bruce J. (1993) “Testing the Core Empirical Implications of Gottfredson and Hirschi's General Theory of Crime,” 30 J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency 5–29.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Green, D. (1988) “Measures of Illegal Behavior in Individual-Level Deterrence Research,” 26 J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency 253–75.Google Scholar
Greene, William H. (1990) Econometric Analysis. New York: Macmillan.Google Scholar
Greene, William H. (1995) LIMDEP User's Manual and Reference Guide, Version 7.0. Bellport, NY: Econometric Software.Google Scholar
Gross, Edward (1978) “Organizational Crime: A Theoretical Perspective,” in Denzin, Norman K., ed., Studies in Symbolic Interaction. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Hagan, John, and McCarthy, Bill (1997) Mean Streets. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Herbert, Carey, Green, Gary S., & Larrogoite, Victor (1998) “Clarifying the Reach of a General Theory of Crime for Organizational Offending: A Comment on Reed and Yeager,” 36 Criminology 867–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hindelang, Michael J., Hirschi, Travis, & Weis, Joseph (1979) “Correlates of Delinquency: The Illusion of Discrepancy Between Self Report and Official Measures,” 44 American Sociological Review 995–1014.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschi, Travis (1989) “Exploring Alternatives to Integrated Theory,” in Messner, Steven F., Krohn, Marvin D., & Liska, Allen E., eds., Theoretical Integration in the Study of Deviance and Crime: Problems and Prospects. Albany: State Univ. of New York Press.Google Scholar
Hirschi, Travis, & Gottfredson, Michael R. (1987) “Causes of White-Collar Crime,” 25 Criminology 949–74.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschi, Travis, & Gottfredson, Michael R. (1993) “Testing the General Theory of Crime,” 30 J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency 47–54.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hirschi, Travis, & Gottfredson, Michael R. (1994) “The Generality of Deviance,” in Hirschi, Travis & Gottfredson, Michael R., eds., The Generality of Deviance. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers.Google Scholar
Hirschi, Travis, & Gottfredson, Michael R. (1995) “Control Theory and the Life-Course Perspective,” 4 Studies on Crime and Crime Prevention 131–42.Google Scholar
Hirschi, Travis, & Gottfredson, Michael R. (2000) “In Defense of Self-Control,” 4 Theoretical Criminology 55–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hochstetler, Andy, & Copes, Heith (2001) “Organizational Culture and Organizational Crime,” in Shover, Neal & Wright, John Paul, eds., Crimes of Privilege. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Hunt, S. D., Chonko, L. B., & Wilcox, J. B. (1984) “Ethical Problems of Marketing Researchers,” 21 J. of Marketing Research 304–24.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackall, Robert (1988) Moral Mazes. New York: Oxford Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Jamieson, Katherine M. (1994) The Organization of Corporate Crime. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Jessor, Richard, Bos, Jill Van Den, Vanderryn, Judith, Costa, Frances M., & Turbin, Mark S. (1994) “Protective Factors in Adolescent Problem Behavior: Moderator Effects and Developmental Change,” 31 Developmental Psychology 923–33.Google Scholar
Katz, Jack (1988) The Seductions of Crime. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Keane, Carl, Maxim, Paul S., & Teevan, James J. (1993) “Drinking and Driving, Self-Control, and Gender: Testing a General Theory of Crime,” 30 J. of Research in Crime and Delinquency 30–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, M., & Hunter, J. (1993) “Relationships Among Attitudes, Behavioral Intentions, and Behavior: A Meta-Analysis of Past Research,” 20 Communications Research 331–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kuder, G. F., & Richardson, M. W. (1973) “The Theory of the Estimation of Test Reliability,” 32 Psychometrika 1–13.Google Scholar
Kram, K. E., Yeager, Peter C., & Reed, G. E. (1989) “Decisions and Dilemmas,” in Post, J. E., ed., Research in Coporate Performance and Social Policy. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Lawrence, Paul R., & Lorsch, Jay W. (1967) Organizations and Environment. Cambridge, MA: Harvard Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Nagin, Daniel S., & Paternoster, Raymond (1993) “Enduring Individual Differences in Rational Choice Theories of Crime,” 27 Law & Society Rev. 467–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Paternoster, Raymond, & Simpson, Sally (1996) “Sanction Threats and Appeals to Morality: Testing a Rational Choice Model of Corporate Crime,” 30 Law & Society Rev. 549–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, Alex R., Macintosh, Randall, & Hickman, Matthew (2000) “Does Self-Control Affect Survey Response? Applying Exploratory, Confirmatory, and Item Response Theory Analysis to Grasmick et al.'s Self-Control Scale,” 38 Criminology 897–930.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Piquero, Alex, & Tibbetts, Steven (1996) “Specifying the Direct and Indirect Effects of Low Self-Control and Situational Factors in Offending Decision Making: Toward a More Complete Model of Rational Offending,” 13 Justice Q. 481–510.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Polakowski, Michael (1994) “Linking Self-and Social-control with Deviance: Illuminating the Structure Underlying a General Theory of Crime and Its Relation to Deviant Activity,” 10 J. of Quantitative Criminology 41–78.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pratt, Travis C., & Cullen, Francis T. (2000) “The Empirical Status of Gottfredson and Hirschi's General Theory of Crime: A Meta-Analysis,” 38 Criminology 931–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reed, Gary E., & Yeager, Peter Cleary (1996) “Organizational Offending and Neoclassical Criminology: Challenging the Reach of a General Theory of Crime,” 34 Criminology 357–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reiss, Albert J. Jr., & Tonry, Michael (1993) “Organizational Crime,” in Tonry, Michael & Reiss, Albert J. Jr., eds., Beyond the Law. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Rosoff, Stephen M., Pontell, Henry N., & Tillman, Robert (1998) Profit Without Honor. White- Collar Crime and the Looting of America. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall.Google Scholar
Rossi, Peter H., & Anderson, Andy B. (1982) “The Factorial Survey Approach: An Introduction,” in Rossi, Peter H. & Nock, Steven L., eds., Measuring Social Judgements. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Rossi, Peter, & Nock, Steven L., eds. (1982) Measuring Social Judgements. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Sanders, Joseph, & Lee Hamilton (with Gennady Denisovsky, V., Kato, Naotaka, Kawai, Mikio, Kozyreva, Poline, Kubo, Takashi, Matskovsky, Michael, Nishimura, Haruo, & Tokero, Kazuhiko) (1996) “Distributing Responsibility for Wrongdoing Inside Corporate Hierarchies: Public Judgments in Three Societies,” 21 Law & Social Inquiry 815–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shover, Neal, & Bryant, Kevin M. (1993) “Theoretical Explanations of Corporate Crime,” in Blankenship, Michael B., ed., Understanding Corporate Criminality. New York: Garland Publishing.Google Scholar
Simon, Herbert A. (1976) Administrative Behavior: A Study of Decision-Making Processes in Administrative Organizations. 3rd ed., New York: Free Press.Google Scholar
Simpson, Sally S. (1986) “The Decomposition of Antitrust: Testing a Multi-Level, Longitudinal Model of Profit-Squeeze,” 51 American Sociological Rev. 859–75.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, Sally S. (2002) Corporate Crime, Law, and Social Control. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, Sally S., & Koper, Christopher S. (1997) “The Changing of the Guard: Top Management Characteristics, Organizational Strain, and Antitrust Offending,” 13 J. of Quantitative Criminology 373–404.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Simpson, Sally S., Harris, Anthony R., & Mattson, Brian A. (1993) “Measuring Corporate Crime,” in Blankenship, Michael B., ed., Understanding Corporate Criminality. New York: Garland Publishing.Google Scholar
Simpson, Sally, Paternoster, Raymond, & Piquero, Nicole Leeper (1998) “Exploring the Micro-Macro Link in Corporate Crime Research,” in Baumberger, Peter A. & Sonnenstuhl, William J., eds., Research in the Sociology of Organizations. Vol. 15 Stamford, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Sonnenfeld, Jeffrey, & Lawrence, Paul R. (1978) “Why do Companies Succumb to Price Fixing?” 56 Harvard Business Rev. 145–57.Google Scholar
Steffensmeier, Darrell (1989) “On the Causes of ”White-Collar“ Crime: An Assessment of Hirschi and Gottfredson's Claims,” 27 Criminology 325–58.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sutherland, Edwin (1949) White Collar Crime. New York: Dryden Press.Google Scholar
Thornberry, Terence P., & Krohn, Marvin D. (2000) “The Self-Report Method for Measuring Delinquency and Crime,” in Criminal Justice 2000, Vol. Criminal Justice 2000, Vol: Measurement and Analysis of Crime and Justice. Washington, DC: Department of Justice.Google Scholar
Tillman, Robert, & Pontell, Henry N. (1994) “Organizations and Fraud in the Savings and Loan Industry,” 73 Social Forces 1439–63.Google Scholar
Tittle, Charles R. (1995) Control Balance: Toward a General Theory of Deviance. Boulder, CO: Westview Press.Google Scholar
Trevino, L. K., & Youngblood, S. A. (1990) “Bad Apples in Bad Barrels: A Causal Analysis of Ethical Decision-Making Behavior,” 75 J. of Applied Psychology 378.Google Scholar
Vaughan, Diane (1983) Controlling Unlawful Organizational Behavior: Social Structure and Corporate Misconduct. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Vaughan, Diane (1992) “The Macro-Micro Connection in White-Collar Crime Theory,” in Schlegel, Kip & Weisburd, David, eds., White-Collar Crime Reconsidered. Boston: Northeastern Univ. Press.Google Scholar
Vaughan, Diane (1996) The Challenger Launch Decision. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Vaughan, Diane (1998) “Rational Choice, Situated Action, and the Social Control of Organizations,” 32 Law & Society Rev. 23–61.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Vaughan, Diane (1999) “The Dark Side of Organizations: Mistake, Misconduct, and Disaster,” 25 Annual Rev. of Sociology 271–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weber, James (1992) “Scenarios in Business Ethnics Research: Review, Critical Assessment, and Recommendations,” 2 Business Ethics Q. 137–60.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weisburd, David, Waring, Elin, & Chayet, Ellen F. (2001) White-Collar Crime and Criminal Careers. New York: Cambridge Univ. Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wood, Peter B., Gove, Water R., Wilson, James A., & Cochran, John K. (1997) “Nonsocial Reinforcement and Habitual Criminal Conduct: An Extension of Learning Theory,” 25 Criminology 335–66.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wright, John Paul, & Cullen, Francis T. (2000) “Juvenile Involvement in Occupational Delinquency,” 38 Criminology 863–96.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yeager, Peter C. (1986) “Analyzing Corporate Offenses,” in Post, James E., ed., Research in Corporate Social Performance and Policy. Greenwich, CT: JAI Press.Google Scholar
Yeager, Peter C. (1993) “Industrial Water Pollution,” in Tonry, Michael & Reiss, Albert J. Jr., eds., Beyond the Law. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Yeager, Peter Cleary, & Reed, Gary E. (1998) “Of Corporate Persons and Straw Men: A Reply to Herbert, Green, and Larragoite,” 36 Criminology 885–97.CrossRefGoogle Scholar