ABSTRACT
Skills and motives conducive to crime are learned as a result of contacts with procrime values, attitudes, and definitions. Learning criminal behavior patterns is like all other human learning and is not a matter of mere imitation. Since the elements of white-collar crime were first outlined by Sutherland, criminologists have contended that its genesis is in differential association. The words "bailout fatigue" that Bernard Madoff investors have heard around Congressional circles are distressing and insulting, given the enormity of this scandal, the extent of governmental responsibility, and the limitations posed by sovereign immunity. Before and after Madoff's con, there were numerous cases of securities, corporate, and financial fraud uncovered and widely reported in the media. The Securities Exchange Company (SEC) has primary responsibility for enforcing federal securities laws and regulating the securities industry, the nation's stock and options exchanges, and other electronic securities markets.
