Sutherland was quite critical of why some crimes were defined as deviant, while society appears more tolerant of other transgressions. For example, individual theft is seen as causing great harm, while the harm caused by illegal pollution and the dissemination of hazardous waste are hardly recognized. In 2002, for example, the Carnival Company, a Florida-based cruise company which operates 40 ships, was convicted of falsifying its oil record books. The company under-reported the levels of oil in the bilge water it discharged. The higher levels of oil threatened ocean life. To avoid prosecution, Carnival agreed to pay $18 million in fines (Ferro 2003).

Though Carnival was guilty of wrongdoing, few members of the general public at the time would go so far as to define Carnival's actions as criminally deviant.

In summary, both functionalist and social labeling theories help to explain how corporate deviance are both defined and addressed in society. Functionalist theories emphasize how ideas regarding deviance are created...

Thus, as more criminals engage in crimes like corporate embezzlement, society responds with punitive measures, as seen in the trial and conviction of Enron's former head Kenneth Lay.
Social labeling theories are concerned with how behavior gets defined as criminal or deviant. Crime today is still largely seen as an individual behavior, and at best, presidents and CEOs take the brunt of the blame and the punishment. Thus, it is difficult to define a corporation's actions as deviant or criminal.

Works Cited

Ferro, Jeffrey. 2003. "White-Collar Crime." Crime: A Serious American Problem. Reproduced in Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center. Farmington Hills, Mich.: Gale Group. http://0-galenet.galegroup.com.catalog.houstonlibrary.org:80/servlet/OVRC

Friedrichs, David O. 1996. Trusted Criminals: White Collar Crime in Contemporary Society. New York: Wadsworth.

Sutherland, Edwin H. 1983. White Collar Crime: The Uncut Version. Westport: Greenwood Publishing Group