Report No. 29
20. Sutherland's study.-In his book "Whiter-collar crime1" Sutherland examined the criminal activities of 70 of the biggest corporations in America, and focussed attention on the following types of law-breaking by them:-
(1) Restraint of trade.
(2) Misrepresentation in advertising.
(3) Infringement of patents, trade marks and copyrights.
(4) Unfair labour practices.
(5) Frauds in business.
Thereafter, several other studies and reports have come out in the U.S.A. on the subject2.
1. Edwin H. Sutherland White-collar Crime, (1949), (Dryden Press, New York).
2. E.g. Hartung White-collar Crime; and its significance in theory and practice, (1953) 17 Federal Probation 31.
21. Main species of white-collar crime.-The main crimes that have attracted attention in the U.S.A. under the head of white-collar crimes may be summarised as follows:-
(a) frauds in business, in relation to sale of bonds and investments1;
(b) adulteration of food and drugs, and misleading advertisements2-3;
(c) mal-practices in the medical profession, such as "illegal sale of alcohol and narcotics, abortion, illegal services to underworld criminals, fraudulent reports and testimony in accident cases, extreme cases of unnecessary treatment, fake specialists, restriction of competition and fee-splitting4";
(d) crimes by lawyers, such as guiding the criminal or quasi-criminal activities of corporations, twisting of testimony to give a false picture, fake claims (bogus liability in accidents), etc.5-6;
(e) trusts, cartels, combines and syndicates, etc., formed to combat competition, or to raise prices or otherwise to interfere with the freedom of trade to the detriment of honest businessmen or the consuming public. This has now become a branch of the law by itself and is usually dealt with under the topic of "Anti-trust legislation";
(f) bribery and graft by public officers7.
1. Cf Barnes & Teeters New Horizons in Criminology, (1959) p. 45.
2. Kallett & Schlink 100,000,000 Guinea Pigs (New York, Vanguard, 1932)
3. Ruth Lamp The American Chamber of Horrors (New York, Farrar, 1936).
4. Sutherland White-collar Criminality, American Sociological Review (February, 1940), Vol. 5, p. 1 (2).
5. Barnes & Teeters New Horizons in Criminology, (1959), pp. 47 and 48.
6. Kefauver, Crime in America, (1952), p. 57.
7. See Crime in America by Esttes Kefauver, Chairman of the Senate Crime Investigating Committee (May, 1950 to May, 1951). (Gollancz), (1952), pp. 15, 25 and 55.
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