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White-Collar Crime and Punishment. Edition No. 1
VDM Publishing House, Sep 2008, Pages: 228
Reflecting public outrage over massive corporate
scandals, Congress quickly enacted comprehensive
business reform measures known as the Sarbanes-Oxley
Act (SOX). While the business community focused on
SOX’s reporting and control requirements, often over-
looked were SOX’s harsh punishments imposed for
white-collar crime. Congress rejected the long-
practiced approach of lenient treatment of the
perpetrators of occupational crimes, opting for the
concept that severe penalties can effectively deter
criminal behavior.
Despite federal regulations that now require
organizations to develop and promote corporate
cultures of ethical conduct and legal compliance, a
study of the corporate codes of conduct of America’s
largest companies reveals that the business
community has failed to use punishment as a
deterrent.
Failure to provide unambiguous consequences for
illegal behavior is perceived by organizational
members as tacit approval of their misconduct.
Corporations have spent millions complying with
SOX’s reporting measures, but are not implementing
measures that could avoid future costly scandals.
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