The Corporate Criminal Career: Evidence from a systematic narrative review with implications for life course theory

• In Event: Euroc - Corporate crime: careers and features

Abstract

We employ a systematic narrative review of 33 longitudinal corporate crime studies to identify and describe elements of the corporate criminal career–specifically, dimensions of participation, frequency, crime mix, and duration. Our assessment describes the themes and patterns across data sources; what has been collected (industries, variables, methods for example) and found to inform a corporate criminal career perspective, and what remains unexamined. Our main findings reveal: (1) most longitudinal studies do not explicitly focus on the corporate criminal career or adopt an organizational life-course approach; (2) a significant number of companies offend occasionally over time, but others offend often (chronically) or not at all; (3) most studies examine only one or two types of offending and thus offer little insight into crime mix; and (4) identifiable groups of corporations have varying patterns of offending over time showing evidence of both stability and change. These studies provide informative insights for understanding the dimensions of corporate criminal careers (some more than others), but more explicit and detailed longitudinal work is needed. We end with potential areas for theoretical advances in life-course/organizational life cycle approaches and an agenda for future research.

Authors

• Marieke Kluin, Leiden University

• Natalie Schell-Busey, Rowan Univeristy

• Sally S Simpson, University of Maryland

• Jordan M Pierce, University of Maryland, College Park