Street Crime vs.

White Collar Crime

First of all, in order to distinguish which crime is more serious, you need to know the difference between the two crimes. White Collar Crime is financially motivated non violent crime usually committed by businesses and government officials. Street crime is more on the dangerous side. It is any crime committed in a public area. No matter how you look at it both crimes are serious crimes. Its really an opinionated topic to discuss. Being that white collar crime doesnt cause any physical harm to someone most people would consider it to be less serious than street crime. You have to really look deep inside whats actually happening in these business and government sites. This type of crime can cause some serious long term affects on the lives of the victims involved in the crime. Now on the other hand, street crime may not only cause long term affects on the lives of the victims but can also take that persons life away from them and their loved ones. Street crime is a major epidemic in the world today. In my opinion the worst part about it is, nine times out of ten it happens to innocent people who dont even see it coming toward them. Also, now and days people are so ruthless that they dont care whos around when they commit the act of violence. In todays society, both white-collar crimes such as counterfeiting and street crimes such as burglary are prevalent. Both white-collar crimes and street crimes affect society negatively, sometimes in similar ways and in other cases, in very different ways. More often than not, white collar crimes directly cause more financial problems than anything else, while street crimes more often than not directly cause more physical harm. The emotional affects of both types of crime are also important and should not be taken lightly. The emotional trauma of having been the

victim of a street crime like burglary can be similar in harshness to the trauma of having been the victim of a white-collar crime such as embezzlement, so it is difficult to distinguish whether or not one type of crime is more serious than the other. White-collar crime is, according to the law school of Cornell Universitys website, A variety of nonviolent financial crimes, generally committed by businesspeople or public officials, involving commercial fraud, consumer fraud, swindles, insider trading on the stock market, embezzlement, bribery, or other dishonest schemes ("White-collar crime: An," 2010). Whitecollar crimes cost the United States approximately $300 billion every year ("White-collar crime: An," 2010). As per the definition provided by Cornell University, white-collar crimes are nonviolent, meaning that the significance of direct bodily harm caused by crimes of the sort is largely negligible. While white-collar crimes are not likely to directly cause physical detriment, white-collar crimes intrinsically involve the causation of financial detriment. White-collar crimes such as embezzlement and fraud can result in a victim losing his or her life savings, which is, needless to say, a terrible consequence and one that is, in some cases, irrevocable. Unlike white-collar crime, there is no clear definition of street crime. The term street crime is often times used interchangeably with the term violent crime to describe the group of crimes that includes rape and murder ("New Jersey State, 2001). As evidenced by the link mentioned above between the term street crime and the term violent crime, street crimes are widely considered to be crimes involving violence or the threat of violence; for this reason, it is safe to state that street crimes are likely to directly cause physical harm. In addition to the belief that street crimes are likely to directly cause the victim physical harm, street crimes also have a propensity to cause financial detriment. In the United States during the year 2000, there were 12,225 murders, costing an average of $894,848 per victim (Silverman, 2004). Clearly, the

financial implications of murder (a street crime), much like the physical implications of the crime, are considerable. While street crimes and white-collar crimes are both detrimental to society, it becomes clear that street crimes are more costly than are white collar crimes overall when the emotional, financial, and physical harm caused by the two are compared. White collar crime is likely to cause both emotional and financial harm to victims. For example, if a fiduciary were to embezzle funds from an account, he or she would be harming the victims of the crime by depriving them of funds that are rightfully their own, this is the financial harm that is done and also by causing the mental trauma associated with the loss of property as important as money, this is the emotional harm that is done. Unlike white collar crimes, street crimes are likely to cause emotional, financial and physical harm to victims. As the result of a street crime such as pick pocketing, which is a form of robbery, the victim of the crime is likely to experience emotional harm possibly involving the fear of future victimization, financial harm involving the loss of personal belongings, and physical harm resulting from the criminal, aggressive nature of the crime.

If you judge the two crimes based on facts and statistics, it would seem as though street crime is the more serious of the two. The penalties involving white collar crime and street crime tend to be the same sort of punishment, but the length of time and commitment is highly versatile. Some examples of penalties or punishments for committing a white collar crime or street crime include ...large fines, home detention, community confinement, costs of prosecution, forfeitures, restitution, supervised release, and imprisonment (Criminal Defense Advocates, 2008). Street crime is intentional and most of the time well-planned ahead of time. The offender often targets

the right victim who is vulnerable and defenseless; this assures the offender the victim will be submissive to their criminal act to avoid any potential harm to themselves. White collar crime is also intentional and takes place over a longer period of time. There could be several victims and several offenders taking place in white collar crime, however the potential danger lies within financial constraints and emotional stability. In street crime, the danger can be physical, emotional, mental, and financial; results can end in life-threatening injury or death. Street crime has safety concerns and white collar crime has financial concerns; without safety or financial stability lives of U.S. Citizens will become unstable and more crime will be committed in order for survival to take place. If people have families they need to support, since white-collar crime took their financial stability, the parent/guardian will do anything it takes to provide for their family; which can lead to committing street crimes in order to obtain an income or financial stability.

There is really no way of preventing neither one of the two crimes from happening. White collar crime is usually committed in a low profile based way and street crime is an anonymous act of violence. The only thing that you can done about it is to take pre cautions and be ready to make a bust on the criminal.
Works Cited

New jersey state police. (2001). Retrieved from http://www.njsp.org/info/ucr2000/sec6_ucr2000.htm Silverman, D. (2004). Street crime and street culture. Retrieved from http://www-personal.umich.edu/~dansilv/streetculture.pdf

White-collar crime: An overview. (2010, August 19). Retrieved from http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/White-collar_crime