Publication Type: Conference Paper/Unpublished Manuscript
Abstract: Traditional explanations of occupational crime have focused on individual motivations or the impact of workplace subcultures on offending. Although these theories focus almost exclusively on the individual, many implicitly argue that organizational characteristics may also contribute to occupational crime. In this paper, we elaborate on these organizational characteristics by turning to one of the most widely known structural explanations of crime: social disorganization. Systemic reformulations of social disorganization assert socially disorganized communities are unable to regulate the behavior community members and thus have higher rates of crime. Similarly we argue that disorganized companies, those marked by characteristics such as high employee turnover, low industry salaries, few benefits and a high proportion of part-time workers are less likely to effectively regulate or control employee behavior through informal means and therefore will have higher rates of occupational crime. By refocusing on structural factors we offer a broader understanding of occupational crime, one that can predict and explain the organizational conditions under which employee theft will flourish or be subdued.