Par-delà le sacrifice nécessaire et le tueur absent : l’importance d’étudier les crimes en col blanc sous l’angle de crimes systémiques

Abstract

White-collar crimes cover numerous crimes, some of them appear to be not very serious, because they are only infractions to regulations (technical infractions), but at the opposite, some crimes represent real threats for the population under scrutiny, and therefore these conducts seem to be more the type of crimes that should be processed through the judicial system (via the Criminal Code). In order to highlight the paradoxical features of white-collar crimes, in this article, we revisit cases that have already been studied elsewhere precisely in relation with two contemporary theories (the necessary sacrifice and the absentee killer) that have proven their usefulness to explain what is happening when victims suffered great torts, and when ecosystems are destroyed. Therefore, to have a better understanding of the dynamics of white-collar crimes, we should study them as systemic crimes: as repetitive actions very well organized.