Middle-class, white-collar offenders: needy women - greedy men?

Little research on white-collar offenders has focused on gender. This study focuses on previously neglected gendered dimensions of white-collar criminality by examining both motivations for crime and reactions to adjudication among men and women convicted of white-collar crimes. Data for this study were collected via in-depth interviews with 35 male and female white-collar offenders from the Eastern TennesseeFederal District. Information was also gathered from the offenders’ presentence investigation reports. The analysis suggests that gender differences among white-collaroffenders are not as stark as presented in previous research. Both men and women found to be equally represented among several categories of motivational accounts including, financial interest, need, psychological problems, and revenge. Gender Similarities were also found in the coping strategies used to adapt to imprisonment and in reactions to community supervision. By focusing on the experiences of both men and women convicted of white-collar crimes insight can be gained that may inform future research.