Date/Time
Date(s) - April 10, 2020
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm
Location
LSC 300, Lory Student Center
Categories
Why commit crime when you already have everything?
UNDERSTANDING ELITE WHITE-COLLAR OFFENDING DECISIONS
In this presentation, Dr. Rorie describes recent attempts to understand why elites in society commit crime. Drawing on traditional criminological theories (e.g., rational choice/deterrence, techniques of neutralization, procedural justice, reintegrative shaming) as well as recent theoretical innovations (i.e., Rorie’s (2015) License-Choice Theory; Sohoni and Rorie’s (2019) Theory of Racial Privilege and Offending), she will attempt to answer the question of “Why would they risk everything?” Dr. Rorie will explore decision-making at (and across) different levels of analysis, decision-making for different types of white-collar crimes, and how an increased attention to cognitive processing styles challenges our assumptions about white-collar criminals.
DR. MELISSA L. RORIE is an Associate Professor of Criminal Justice at the University of Nevada-Las Vegas (UNLV). Her research predominantly examines the impact of formal and informal controls on corporate and white-collar offending. She is currently involved in a variety of projects that examine regulation and corporate compliance in the gaming industry, theoretical explanations for elite white-collar and corporate crime, and quantitative research methodology. Her research has been published in Oxford Handbooks and Edward Elgar readers as well as a variety of peer-reviewed journals, including: Crime, Law and Social Change, Criminology & Public Policy, Law & Policy, and the Journal of Quantitative Criminology. Dr. Rorie recently won the “Young Scholar Award” (in 2018) as well as the “Outstanding Publication Award” (in 2017) from the American Society of Criminology’s Division of White-Collar and Corporate Crime. She teaches courses on research methods and white-collar crime and is actively involved in university-level and professional service, including serving as the faculty advisor for UNLV’s Criminal Justice Club, Chair of UNLV’s Admissions Committee, Vice-Chair of ASC’s Division of White-Collar and Corporate Crime, and a Convener of the ComplianceNet organization.
Our annual Sociology-in-Progress (SIP) Colloquia are free and do not require registration. Questions? (970) 491-6044 or SocComm@colostate.edu.