PCE2230

Corporate crime and corruption

Scott Beattie

8 points
* 3 hours per week
* First semester
* Caulfield

Objectives On completion of this subject, the student will be expected to have gained an understanding of the social, political and financial causes and effects of fraud in Australia from the days of the arrival of the First Fleet onwards; the role that social structures such as banks, insurance companies, other corporation and individuals play in the development of fraud; fraud and white collar crime in Australia from settlement, through the 1890s depression, the postwar boom bust boom period to the deregulated 1980s and beyond.

Synopsis The aim of this subject is to develop in students an understanding of the meanings, theories and issues of corporate crime, white collar crime, and corruption. The identity of the individual and the corporate citizen will be examined in the context of difficulties in prosecuting white collar criminals. The response by policing agencies, supernumerary policing bodies and corporate regulatory agencies will be a continuing theme as the subject examines an overview of a variety of white collar crimes through the use of case studies, computer crime, and government and public sector illegality (including police corruption). Private sector self-regulation and ethics will be examined prior to discussion of white collar crime prevention.

Assessment Essay (2000 words): 30%
* Resource file and analysis (1000 words): 20%
* Examination (2 hours): 40%
* Tutorial presentation: 10%

Prescribed texts

Grabosky P and Sutton A (eds) Stains on a white collar: Fourteen studies in corporate crime or corporate harm Federation Press, 1989