A case control study: White-collar defendants compared with defendants charged with other nonviolent theft

J Am Acad Psychiatry Law. 2006;34(1):82-9.

Abstract

We examined the clinical, criminal, and sociodemographic characteristics of all white-collar crime defendants referred to the evaluation unit of a state center for forensic psychiatry. With 29,310 evaluations in a 12-year period, we found 70 defendants charged with embezzlement, 3 with health care fraud, and no other white-collar defendants (based on the eight crimes widely accepted as white-collar offenses). In a case-control study design, the 70 embezzlement cases were compared with 73 defendants charged with other forms of nonviolent theft. White-collar defendants were found to have a higher likelihood of white race (adjusted odds ratio (adj. OR) = 4.51), more years of education (adj. OR = 3471), and a lower likelihood of substance abuse (adj. OR = .28) than control defendants. Logistic regression modeling showed that the variance in the relationship between unipolar depression and white-collar crime was more economically accounted for by education, race, and substance abuse.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Administrative Personnel / psychology*
  • Adult
  • Case-Control Studies
  • Female
  • Forensic Psychiatry*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Medical Audit
  • Michigan
  • Retrospective Studies
  • Social Class
  • Theft*