Objectives

Test the role of individual and crime characteristics on public opinions of white-collar crime seriousness and support for crime reduction policy; consider the relationship between perceptions of crime seriousness and support for public policies to reduce white-collar crime.

Methods

Data from a nationally-representative survey. Respondents (n = 2,050) rated ten white-collar crimes, relative to a street crime (burglary) and also indicated their relative support (i.e., willingness to pay) for 16 policies to reduce various types of white-collar crime. Models incorporate respondent-level random effects to account for multiple ratings per respondent.

Results

Crimes committed by organizations are perceived more seriously than those committed by individuals. Perceptions of a white-collar crime as more serious than burglary increase the likelihood of supporting prevention programs. Race and political party are related to both perceptions of crime seriousness and support for prevention policy.

Conclusions

There may be less consensus around perceptions of white-collar crime seriousness than for other crime types. Perceptions of crime seriousness are a function of both individual and crime characteristics that structure assessments of risk, harmfulness, and wrongfulness. Group differences may be related to differences in awareness of the scope, harms, and perceived victimization risk associated with particular crime types.

中文翻译：

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对白领犯罪严重性的看法：将态度分解并转化为政策偏好

目标

测试个人和犯罪特征对白领犯罪严重性和对减少犯罪政策的支持的舆论的作用；考虑对犯罪严重性的看法与对减少白领犯罪的公共政策的支持之间的关系。

方法

来自全国代表性调查的数据。受访者 ( n  = 2,050) 相对于街头犯罪（入室盗窃）对 10 项白领犯罪进行了评分，并表示他们对 16 项减少各类白领犯罪的政策的相对支持（即支付意愿）。模型结合了受访者级别的随机效应，以解释每个受访者的多个评级。

结果

组织犯下的罪行比个人犯下的罪行更严重。认为白领犯罪比入室盗窃更严重的看法增加了支持预防计划的可能性。种族和政党与对犯罪严重性的看法和对预防政策的支持有关。

结论

与其他犯罪类型相比，对白领犯罪严重性的看法可能存在较少的共识。对犯罪严重性的看法是个人和犯罪特征的函数，这些特征构成了对风险、危害性和不法性的评估。群体差异可能与对与特定犯罪类型相关的范围、危害和感知受害风险的认识不同有关。