Introduction

Occupational immurement items must be taken into account, at least partially, in reviewing the development and present position of studies of white-collar crime. One of the earliest and hardiest explanations of white-collar crime is suggested by Aristotle in Politics. A sense of injustice, provoked by examples of inequities in the legal treatment of the powerful and the weak, has often led to imprecations against the crimes and sins of members of the upper classes—persons in government, business, and the professions. Often, those in power and those with professional training and social position are held to higher standards than their less fortunate brethren, on the ground that their background demands added social responsibility. It requires only a comparison between such sentiments and John Adams' equally self-righteous view on private property and its divine attributes to appreciate the extraordinary social revolution that provides the historical background of acts now designated as white-collar crime.