ACLE Compliance and Enforcement Seminar: Henry N. Pontell (University of California)
Trivializing the Lunatic Crime Rate: Theory, Praxis and the Global Economic Meltdown
- Date
- 2 April 2013
- Time
- 15:00 -17:00
- Location
- Oudemanhuispoort
- Room
- Faculty of Law (Oudemanhuispoort) - room A1.18D
Abstract
This paper builds on a theme introduced by the late Harvard sociologist, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, who argued that society "trivializes" a large amount of serious lawbreaking. It has three main foci. First, it makes a case against trivializing crime by focusing more strongly on white-collar crime. Second, it considers criminological theorizing that trivializes the term white-collar crime itself. Third, using case materials and historical data, it challenges prevailing economic perspectives which deny the significant role of fraud in major financial debacles including the most recent global economic meltdown.
About the speaker
Henry N. Pontell is professor of criminology, law & society in the School of Social Ecology and of sociology in the School of Social Sciences. He currently serves as Director of the Master of Advanced Study Program in Criminology, Law & Society, the first online degree program at the University of California. His research and teaching interests include deviance and social control, white-collar and corporate crime, punishment and criminal justice system capacity issues, financial and health care fraud, identity theft, comparative criminology, and cyber-crime. He has lectured at universities and government offices throughout the world, testified before the U.S. Senate on financial fraud, given invited presentations to The National Academies and the U.S. Department of Justice, and worked with numerous organizations and law enforcement agencies including the FBI and the U.S. Secret Service. His research on white-collar crime has been highlighted in the national and international media. His most recent books include International Handbook of White-Collar and Corporate Crime, Social Deviance, and Profit Without Honor: White-Collar Crime and the Looting of America. Dr. Pontell has served as Vice-President of the American Society of Criminology and President of the Western Society of Criminology, and is a fellow of both organizations.
