Blame Attribution and Punitiveness Toward White-Collar Crime: A Cross-Cultural Approach

• In Event: Blame Attribution and Public Opinion

Abstract

This study’s purpose is to (1) determine whether and how attribution of blame to either situational or dispositional causes influences punishment orientations in white-collar crime cases; (2) find out whether these influences depend on the type of white-collar crime (i.e., financially harmful versus physically harmful); and (3) ascertain whether these associations are the same between French and US citizens. 1,068 respondents (536 from the US and 532 from France) answered an online survey that measured their blame attribution styles and punitiveness toward elite offenders in vignettes that described non-violent and physically harmful white-collar crimes. In both countries, subjects with a dispositional attribution style tended to be more punitive. In both scenarios, US subjects’ punitiveness seemed influenced by beliefs about micro-level factors of crime (e.g., personality traits such as low empathy and deceptiveness). Conversely, French subjects’ punishment orientations in the corporate violence case seemingly derived from beliefs about macro-level factors (an economic structure that promotes greed and a criminal justice system that protects greedy individuals even when their actions kill). This study uncovered cross-cultural differences in perceived blameworthiness of white-collar offenses. Its findings suggest that public expectations regarding the prosecution of upper-class offenders vary depending on a country’s level of legal socialization.

Author

• Cedric Michel, University of Tampa