Corporate Recidivism: Outlining a Framework for Study

• In Event: Applying Criminal Career Thinking

Abstract

Despite the recognition that corporate entities not only commit significant amounts of crime, but also are also frequently repeat offenders, there has been little attempt to construct an accurate picture of what the correlates of corporate recidivism might look like. This is due in part to the diffuse nature of corporate crime information. Whatever the national context, numerous agencies have remits that potentially bring them into contact with corporate malfeasance and give them oversight of corporate activities. The result of this is that a coherent picture of corporate criminal activity is very difficult to achieve. Such is necessary however in order to track the offending of corporations over time and establish the particular correlates of repeat offending by corporations. This paper seeks to lay out a framework for considering repeat offending by corporations. It outlines the utility of such an approach and explores the conceptual, theoretical, and practical obstacles that must be overcome to do so. It also suggests ways in which to address these challenges and puts forward a research framework and agenda for studying corporations as repeat offenders, noting the implications for criminal justice practice.

Author

• Ben Hunter, University of Greenwich, UK