Perception of White-Collar Criminality: an Online Exploratory Survey Among Students in Azerbaijan

Abstract

Recent studies have challenged traditional wisdom regarding public indifference to white-collar crime by revealing equal or greater perceived seriousness of these crimes among respondents relative to traditional crime. The first of its kind in the local context, this study examined perceptions of white-collar crime among a self-select sample of students (n = 301) at Baku State University in Azerbaijan. The results indicate that, overall, Azerbaijani students view white-collar crimes as more serious than traditional crimes. Specifically, the manipulation of evidence by police officers, the acceptance of a bribe by a government minister, and an accountancy firm representing a large corporation hiding evidence of tax fraud from inspectors were ranked by the overwhelming majority as more serious than the street crimes they were compared with. Nonetheless, in some scenarios, both crime types were deemed equally serious. Binomial tests for comparison of the proportion of answers in each crime scenario, as well as Mann-Whitney U to allow for comparing mean differences in perceived seriousness and punitiveness were employed. Limitations of the study and suggestions for future research are discussed in the end.

Keywords

• White-collar crime
• perceptions of white-collar crime
• seriousness of crimes
• Azerbaijan

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