In
1960 Cloward and Ohlin identified three types of illegitimate juvenile
subcultures; criminal, conflict, and retreatist. (Hagen, 2013,
p. 164) This identification condensed two and a half
centuries of research, bringing understanding to what was previously not
understood. The first identification of
the criminal subculture is evident in Wu-Tang Clan’s 1993 album Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers); In the opening of this song Raekwon talks
about two for fives, and how the other drug dealers have garbage down the way,
then the song comes in. Raekwon opens
with how he grew up as a youth, and the motivation to want success. He raps about the subculture in Staten Island
when he speaks of, “ making his way on
fire escapes”, but with all that theft, extortion, and property offenses,
he finally figures out what he is doing wrong, and begins to hang out with a
clique of drug dealers. He learns to
make money by selling kilos of cocaine; converting the powder cocaine into
crack cocaine, and selling rocks. Back to the two for five, this was criminal
opportunity that allowed him to achieve success. I grew up in the 1990s not only listening to
artist like Wu-Tang Clan, Snoop Doggy Dogg, Dr. Dre, Dogg Pound, Ice Cube, Bone
Thugs-n-Harmony, DJ Quik, MC Eiht, Mac 10, N.W.A., Outkast, MC Ren, Nate Dogg,
all while I was gangbanging and selling drugs.
In 1994 I had returned from California to the slums of South Phenix City,
Alabama, and made up in my mind that it was time to grow up and be a man. I got serious about making money. I was influenced by the ‘disorganized slums’ of Los Angeles, California. Even though gangs were not common, they were
present in Columbus/Phenix City at the time.
I did not know that I was a part of a group that was denied both
legitimate and illegitimate sources of access to status, so I resorted to
violence through fist fighting and ‘peeling
caps[1]’,
with a chrome .380 Lorcin that I bought from a ‘crackhead’, for a “bad rep” and prestige. (Hagen, 2013, p. 164) The 1960s was a transitional time period
that provided a lot of answers.
1960-1980 gave birth to children known as ‘similac babies[2]’. Exactly the same, the only difference between
a similac baby and a ‘crack baby’
from the 80s is similac babies were born in transition, receiving all the
nutrients or benefits of two and a half centuries of research; crack babies
born after1980, received no information because the 1980s spawned a new era
that required individuals to ‘put in work[3]’
or punk someone out. In N.W.A.s song, Compton’s-n-the House (N.W.A., 1988) and Gangsta, Gangsta (N.W.A., 1988) , took the ‘retreatist’ subculture of ‘double failures’ and made heroes out of
them. Unable to succeed either in the
legitimate or illegitimate opportunity structures, they sought status through
“kicks” and “highs” of drug and alcohol abuse. Most ‘double failures’ have done long terms in prison, whether in a
single-man cell or population, most become ‘institutionalized[4]’,
learning law, psychology, art, finances, business, education, etc., but unable
to function properly outside of the controlled environment in which he or she
was incarcerated due to the inability to create or hold-on to friendships,
intimate relationships, resources, and/or opportunities. These subcultures become the individual’s
reference group and primary source of self-esteem.” (Hagen, 2013, p. 164) In the second verse of C.R.E.A.M., GZA says, “…life
is hell; living in the world ain’t no different than living in a cell”, so
while in this world they become targets for individuals in the community and
corporations to use as stepping stones to create opportunities for profit. Being targeted by friends, intimate friends,
businesses, corporations, and law enforcement; being used as the means for
these individuals or entities to achieve their ends. Whether the ‘double failure’ is truly a
sacrifice/scapegoat or not, he or she is the diversion to keep attention away
from the white-collar criminals, as well as leniency of punishment because they
are the reason that the ‘double failure’ is
a failure in the first place. In my
fictional story entitled, Dawning
Achievements, I state: “…I attended political events, media events, school functions, and
talked politics with gangsters who were influential men and women in the
bi-city. These people knew of me, and
some of them did not like me. I knew who
was doing what to me; I was no longer in Ted's shadow, but I was still a shadow
of a man.” In this rumination the character here speaks
of why he is successful in a city that has very high standards.
Expelled student brought civil rights action against state
university president, alleging procedural due process violations, and against
board of regents, asserting state-law contract claim. The United States
District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, Doc. No.
1:08-cv-00077-CAP, denied president summary judgment based on qualified immunity,
and denied board of regents summary judgment based on Eleventh Amendment
immunity. President and board of regents appealed (Barnes v. Zacchari, 2012) . In 2007, in the wake of the massacre at
Virginia Tech, Ronald Zaccari, the President of Valdosta State University at
the time, “administratively withdrew” (expelled) Thomas Hayden Barnes, a
student, on the ground that Barnes presented a “clear and present danger” to
the campus. Even though policy states
that Barnes was due notice of charges and a hearing to answer to them, Zacchari
made a decision that was not in accordance with school policy, policy of TCSG,
and the 11th amendment. In
Kentucky v. Graham, 473 U.S. 159, 166 (1985), it states that more is
required in an official-capacity action, however, for a governmental entity is
liable under sec. 1983 only when the entity itself is a ‘moving force’
behind the deprivation (Kentucky v. Graham, 1985) . Corporate policy usually, a documented set of broad guidelines, formulated after an analysis of all internal and external
factors that can affect a firm's objectives, operations, and plans. Formulated by the firm's board
of directors, corporate policy lays down
the firm's response to known and knowable situations and circumstances. It also
determines the formulation and implementation of strategy, and directs and restricts the plans, decisions, and actions of the firm's officers in achievement of its objectives; also called company
policy.” (Finance, 2013)
Corporate crime refers to crimes by business or officials,
committed on behalf of the employing organizations (Hagen, 2013, p. 282) . However, the information sought on organized
crime or white-collar crime is hard to get hold of, so therefore we rely on
other means of obtaining information.
There are four ways authorities obtain information on organized crime
and the figures that make up these organizations. Group A:
Informers, Investigators/hearings, Transcripts/depositions; Group
B: Media, Reporting, Biographies; Group
C: Government Reports, Law Enforcement
research, and Archives; and Group D:
Observation and Interviews (University, 2013) . These four sources are how information is
compiled on crime figures or figures that are under investigation for a number
of white-collar offenses, where he or she has been elusive from authorities. There are four types of organized crime: Political-Social, Mercenary, In-Group
Oriented, and Syndicate Crime.
Political-Social consists mostly of political crimes, and crimes
committed by militant social movements. Domestic terrorism has existed
for more than a century, dating back at least to the 1901 assassination of
President William McKinley. Extremists across the political spectrum --
including white supremacists, Puerto Rican separatists, abortion opponents, and
environmentalists -- have used a variety of terrorist tactics to pursue their
goals. While
homegrown Muslim extremists have proven more lethal in Europe than in the
United States, U.S. authorities continue to worry about the prospect of attacks
by militant Muslims who are American citizens.
The FBI classifies domestic terrorist threats mostly by political
motive, dividing them into three main categories: left wing, right wing, and
special interest. Religious sects have also been connected with terrorist
incidents. Another type of domestic threat cited by federal law-enforcement
officials in the period after September 11 is the alleged presence of Islamic
extremists in the United States, operating either as an arm of a foreign organization
or a homegrown cell (Fletcher, 2008) .
The second type, Mercenary or Predatory organized crimes are committed
by groups geared toward direct or personal profit; an example of this type
would be a street gang. The third type,
In-Group Oriented are crimes committed, so that the individual can experience a
high or thrill or to just be accepted by one of the gang. The last type, is Syndicate Crime, and is
what all the other types are under in a chain of ‘criminal command’. Syndicate crime commits crime for illicit
gain; they use force, intimidation, and threats; members obey a chain of
command, with an oath of allegiance and secrecy; the organization provides
protection and immunity from political corruption and prosecution (University, 2013) . In our e-Acitivity for week nine of my CRJ
105 class, it asked us to research a recent or local case where a gang member
was charged with racketeering. Placing
emphasis on the ‘Syndicate’ type of crime, which is apparent in all
subcultures, even street-level gangs or the ‘Mercenary or Predatory’ type. Most of your racketeering had its height in
the 1990s, but it was at this same time that law enforcement and criminologist
came to understand that they were not dealing with the myth of a ‘super
criminal’, but a reality of syndicated criminals and gangs on every level,
created by the very system designed to punish and deter criminal activity. In N.W.A.’s song entitled, Always into Something, on the last verse
MC Ren expresses how the ‘super criminal’ believes, and how each member of
syndicated street-level gangs believe (N.W.A, 1991) .
The ‘big dirty secret[1]’
of judges, police, correctional officers, politicians, lawyers, prosecutors,
and other government officials are ‘soft’
on corporate crime because they are the ones who are committing the corporate
crimes. “The corporate opportunity doctrine (“COD”) is
a common law doctrine that limits a corporate fiduciary’s ability to pursue new
business prospects individually without first offering them to the corporation.
Conflicts over allocation of corporate opportunities constitute particularly
thorny questions in corporate law, since the parties’ respective interests are
not merely misaligned, but are rather in profound contradiction to one another.
In addition, COD conflicts are likely in situations where two or more firms
share common officers and/or directors, and particularly within the
parent-subsidiary context. Formally, the
doctrine is a subspecies of the fiduciary duty of loyalty, and it has been a
mainstay in the corporate precedents of virtually every state for well over a
century (notwithstanding the existence of several doctrines that similarly
restrict the appropriation of corporate property by fiduciaries1). Nevertheless,
the precise contours of the doctrine remain somewhat elusive, and, perhaps
consequently, its application is widely thought to be unpredictable.” (Hashmall, 2001) Pre-twentieth
century many acts that are considered white-collar crimes were not illegal
until present day. White-collar crimes
are given less publicity than those crimes committed by street-level criminals,
but with more public concern with corporate crime there has been more coverage
of these criminals when they are caught (Hagen, 2013, pp. 318-319) . In a 2010 Oliver Stone directed, Wall Street:
The Money Never Sleeps, starring Micheal Douglas as Gordon Gekko,
and Shia Lebeouf as Jake Moore, shows the tradition of robbery and rip offs on
Wall Street, in this tale of how Gordon Gekko, the teacher was once a Wall
Street mogul, but was taken down by his student, Bretton James, played by Josh
Brolin who is now the Wall Street mogul.
Now comes along Jake Moore, whom is soon to be married to Gekko’s
daughter, a bright star at his company dealing in fossil fuels and alternative
forms of energy. Gekko needs money to
regain his position, not his throne, but his position. Gekko also wants to take down his nemesis,
and former student, Bretton James. He
uses Jake Moore’s naivety to take down Bretton James, and acquire 100 million
USD that he placed in his daughter’s Swiss bank account in the 1980s. The money never sleeps. It doesn’t eat, it doesn’t drink, it has no
habits, and it doesn’t fold. Like the
devil, all it does is seek out a willing victim, and victimization spreads like
wild fire. These actions fall well
within Merton’s theory and modes of personality adaptation, but it is the
criticism of his theory that I cite here.
“The theory appears to dwell on lower-class criminality, thus failing to
consider law breaking among the elite.
I. Taylor et al. express this point:
“Anomie theory stands accused of predicting too little bourgeois
criminality and too much proletarian criminality” (Hagen, 2013, pp. 159-161) . Because Syndicated crime is present on every
level, it now becomes paradigm of the elite criminals keeping their
white-collars clean with oxyclean[2],
and by making the blue collars get and stay dirty by keeping them in a
revolving door of missed opportunities and unnecessary actions that lead them
back to prison. Crimes committed by the
corporate fiduciaries are due impart to the same reason that most blue-collar
crimes are committed. Most of your
white-collar offenders are caught through some personal habit that leads to an
act that is morally wrong and/or against the law, committing this ‘bad act’, is
how they are caught. They have been
excluded from their circle of criminal corporate cohorts that deem them a ‘high
risk’ to their operations. Most either
fall all the way to rock bottom becoming ‘bums’ or just white-collar deadbeats.
Due process of
Law says that, “… No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge
the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of
law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the
laws”, this is why Standard Operating Procedures, Administrative Regulations,
School Policy, Corporate Policy, Governmental Policy, etc. all exist as subsets
of state and federal law; to keep, maintain order, and a balance that was
envisioned by President Lincoln, “… that this nation, under God,
shall have a new birth of freedom— and that government of the people, by the
people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” (Lincoln,
2005)
[1]
Peeling caps – shooting to kill
[2]
Similac baby – a child born between in the 1970s, that received all the
nutrients an nourishments of two and a half centuries of research.
[3]
Put in work – a term coined by the Los Angeles (westcoast) subculture of gangs
in the 1980s that meant to sell drugs, fight, kill, rob, etc., and do recon for
the neighborhood and organization.
[4] Institutionalized
– when an individual has been incarcerated for a long period of time, and
cannot function outside that particular institution.
[5]
The big dirty secret – that the criminal justice system is soft on white-collar
crime
[6]
Oxyclean – a method used by white-collar criminals to protect their operations,
keeping the informants, snitches, and liabilites out of their circles.
