ABSTRACT
The inclusion of the concept of "white-collar crime" into the subject matter of criminology has, of course, necessitated revisions of formerly popular theories of criminal behavior and has redirected criminological research to include white-collar offenses and offenders within its framework. Both Marshall B. Clinard and Frank E. Hartung have pointed to the high degree of public support of wartime regulations and the rather harsh public attitudes toward black-market cases dealt with civilly rather than by criminal prosecution. A food law violation represents a fairly “old” type of white-collar crime, dating from the original legislation of 1906, and is a type of offense occurring during peace as well as war. Several cases of food law violation were randomly selected from the files of a federal District Attorney, abstracted, and presented in questionnaire form to a sample of consumers. The consumers' responses were compared with actual decisions in the cases and with possible decisions provided in the federal law.
