The purpose of this research is to examine and consider different forms of crime in light of their similarities and differences, origins, and financial and social costs, as well as to offer suggestions for controlling or eliminating the corporate crime propagated by multinational companies. The actions of these global monopolies, in the final analysis, are reflections of the economic structure of the United States or other capitalist based political economies. As William J. Chambliss (1978) asserts about the crime network in Seattle:
They were operating to maximize profits, to protect their investments from competition, to expand markets, and to provide goods and services demanded by "the people" (p. 188).
This analysis can be accurately applied to corporate crime in general. When the profit motive is the driving force of the economy, individuals and their labor become commodities to serve the ends of these who own the means of production. Only when these roots of crime are adequately acknowledged and addressed will productive solutions be found to ensure their elimination.
Corporate crime, according to T. R. Young, is defined as the actions taken in violation of the law by corporations according to the statutes of the country in which they are operating. This differs significantly from white collar crime which Young limits to crimes committed by employees of the corporation or business against those employers. White collar crime may include the worker who "takes home" some of his working materials for personal use as well as the computer technician who systematically reroutes funds from the personal accounts of individuals at the bank where he is employed into an account of his own.
Organized crime refers to illegal activities offered to the public such as prostitution, gambling, drugs, pornography, protection, and loan-sharking. In addition, as Chambliss discovered only too well, organized crime also envelops ...