mpetition for success creates both conflict and crime. This particular theory, under the aegis of Robert MertonÆs anomie theory, claims that social conditions and not personality can account for crime. This effectively explains middle and upper class crime, but also makes it clear that institutional anomie induces criminal behavior on the part of white-collar workers for whom crime is less related to survival than it is to success.
Social process theories hold that criminality is a function of individual socialization. Siegel (2000), along with Perrucci and Knudsen (1990), believe that social process theories draw attention to the ways in which individuals and institutions, organizations, and normative social processes interact. In the present case, the stockbroker belongs to a profession that is not only heavily regulated, but also one in which ethical codes of conduct are well-established.
Social process theory, particularly with respect to differential association theory, does not apply to the present case as strongly as do other theories. This particular criminal is violating the norms of his possession and the laws with which he is certainly very familiar. There is little institutional support for his actions. The classical theory of crime is based on rational choice theory (Hess, Markson, & Stein, 1989; Siegel, 2000). The core concepts of this school of thought include the belief that people choose all behavior, their choices can be controlled by fear of punishment, and the more severe and swift the punishment, the greater the ability to control criminality. However, while the notion that this educated, informed, and knowledgeable stockbroker has rationally chosen to commit crime is appropriate in that he appears to be both motivated to commit crime and to have adequate access via routine activities to criminal action. Though this is a white-collar crime, it is nevertheless a crime that can be caused by motiv...