Contemporary society Essay

Identify the principal agents who expose white collar crime in contemporary society. What factors motivate people to expose such crime, and what factors inhibit them from doing so? What specific policy measures can be adopted to encourage exposure of white collar crime? The principle agents who expose white collar crimes in contemporary society are informers, whistleblowers and investigative reporters. Informers would consist of the people like politicians who usually give information to receive a lesser sentence or the like for their own involvement. This is very popular here in IL where the politicians are tried and convicted and then become witnesses testifying against one of their fellow conspirators. These informants are motivated by their sense of self-preservation. However, they can be reluctant to tell as there may be a fear of retaliation to them or to their families. Also, there are whistleblowers who, in my opinion, are usually driven by moral and ethical values. These brave people are the ones who brought companies, like Enron, to the forefront. They are your everyday employees who see something wrong, and bring it to the attention of those who can enforce the laws that are in place. Moreover, they could be reluctant to tell anything due to fear of being blacklisted, loss of employment, or being ostracized among other negative reactions. Sometimes the negative social and financial repercussions outweigh the benefits of doing what is morally right. Last, there are investigative reporters. These professional bring issue to the forefront, when it appears that they are being overlooked by society. A good example of this is a news story that showed, at different construction sites, workers asleep on the job, wasting tax payer money. Another story involved politicians being investigated for giving contracts to friends and family. Investigative reporting is motivated by professionals who want to bring to the forefront the crimes of companies and government, but I believe that it is also driven by ratings. Some things can be shown because it won’t affect sponsorship, but some things are shelved for fear of losing corporate sponsorship. In order to encourage exposing white collar crimes, policies preventing the accusing from retaliating should be put into place. Also, some form of compensation should be met to those who risk their livelihood to do what is right. Not an excessive compensation, but compensation nonetheless. However, I do not believe anything will ever completely help. Companies will still be able to  blacklist and financially and socially ruin a whistleblower. It cannot be prevented. Also, they can still pull their money out of local stations. The companies have a lot power, and they are hard to fight. 6. How can corporations ensure that their employees behave ethically? Corporations can ensure that their employees behave ethically, by showing a good example of ethical behavior at the top. It begins with the CEO and senior management. If they display ethical behavior, the employees will follow suit. The work environment would become a do as I do vs. do as I say environment. Also, a clear and sound structured work environment is necessary. Internal controls need to be in place to create a check and balance system. This system would leave less room for unethical behavior. Last, continuous training on what is expected from the company and company policies would also be effective. A reminder on what is expected and accepted (or not accepted) is a good way to keep employees in line with company objectives.