In a certain instance, a white- collar crime could affect millions of people at a time. Scholars that say street crime is more serious say that it happens more than white- collar crime but scholars that oppose state that white- collar crime does not happen less, it is just less heard of. White- collar crime is covered up more than street crime by the media and authorities (the ones that are revealed). Professor of philosophy Jeffrey Reiman contends, "A focus on street crimes is little more than a cover-up for more serious crimes such as pollution, medical malpractice, and dangerous working conditions that go uncorrected". (Taking Sides; Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Crime and Criminology by Richard C. Monk, pg.54).
I agree that white- collar crime is just as, if not more important than street crime. The term crime in the way that American society uses it today tends not to include white- collar crimes such as fraud, pollution, unsafe working conditions or malpractice but only includes street crimes such as rape, murder or larceny. If "A crime is any act committed in violation of a law that prohibits it and authorizes punishment for it's commission" (Taking Sides; Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Crime and Criminology by Richard C. Monk, pg. 58), then white- collar crime technically has a distinct place in that definition. I believe that society only sees crime as street crimes. For example, there was a mining company in Kentucky that had 10 workers die in a methane explosion due to unsafe working conditions. The company was found guilty of "a pattern of misconduct" and was forced to pay a fine. Is this not murder? Although many large corporations have had to pay tremendous amounts of fines and awards for harm, most have not been convicted of any type of crime. (Taking Sides; Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Crime and Criminology, Richard C. Monk, pg. 55) I think the fact that we do not label these devious acts as crimes even though they are is another reason why people tend to not see it as a crime.
