Next, Gottfredson and Hirschi offer sociogenic explanations, that criminals have lower self-control and therefore make conscious choices to commit crimes (Friedrichs, 2010). White collar crimes are not crimes of passion; they are calculated, conscious decisions people make as a means to an end.

Sutherland, Clinard, and Yeager finally make the important distinction between crimes of corporations and crimes of individuals within the corporations (Olejarz, 2016). It is important to distinguish between these points when considering theory, causes, and consequences. In fact, there has been a recent push in theory to focus on offense criteria instead of individual offenders of white collar crime (Maguire et al., 1994). Sykes and Matza’s techniques of neutralization come into play here. The five techniques – deny responsibility, deny injury through rationalization, deny the existence of a victim, condemn the condemners, and appeal to higher loyalties – are contributed to the structural problems with white collar crime (Friedrichs, 2010, p. 237; Ruggiero, 2015). Powerful white collar offenders use these techniques to distance themselves from the corporation and to shirk themselves of any blame.

​​Criminal justice.

A core assumption of white collar crimes is that law promotes these crimes, favoring the privileged and failing to criminalize these activities: the powerful will protect their own, and capitalism has inherent crime-producing features that require social transformations to quell crime and deviance (Friedrichs, 2010; Taylor et al., 1973). Lawmakers and government officials are not likely to criminalize activities that their cohorts may partake in, so legislation here is thin (Friedrichs, 2010). Research has pointed out the causes of white collar crime related to the capitalist system and power hierarchies, with top managers blamed for setting the tone of ethics in the corporation, and supervisors accused of knowing about crimes and pressuring those below them to do whatever it takes to make profits and cut costs (Henry & Milovanovic, 1994). This unconnected nature of business facilitates criminal activity and shifts blame within the corporation, with the power hierarchy supporting an isolating and competitive environment. Within this setting, it is not just an individual who is guilty; sometimes, the entire corporation is at fault. But, since we cannot imprison a corporation, general control penalties do not apply to white collar crime (Gottschalk, 2016). The obedience to authority and the multi-faceted issue of all the d