A new study suggests white collar criminals find it easier to adjust to prison than other offenders.
White collar criminals are those who have committed "fraud, embezzlement, tax violation, anti-trust and other business offenses," a University of Cincinnati news release reported.
"I originally got the idea a long time ago when I was conducting my dissertation research. For my dissertation I interviewed a small number of white-collar offenders about their experiences about what had happened to them after their crimes were exposed and they were convicted," Michael Benson, a professor of criminal justice at UC, told Headlines and Global News in an email. "A few of the men I interviewed were incarcerated and I asked them what it was like to be in prison. To my surprise most of them said it really wasn't as bad or as difficult [as] they had thought it would be."
Benson, along with Frank Cullen, distinguished professor in criminal justice at UC, and UC criminal justice doctoral student William Stadler, looked at data from 350 prisoners from two federal prisons.
"Before entering prison, most white-collar criminals are afraid for their safety and terrified about aspects of serving their sentences, but the survey data we mined shows that white-collar criminals have no greater problems adjusting to prison life than other populations. And, in some instances, white-collar criminals seem to cope better," Benson said in the statement. "That's likely due to the fact that these are people who have been successful in business, understand how a bureaucracy works as well as the need for rules and regulations. They also tend to have social support from families."
The white collar prisoners were exposed to all types of offenders, excluding those who committed a crime so severe they were placed in a high-security prison.
The team found that white-collar prisoners were more likely to make friends in prison and were less likely to report a safety concern, altercations with cell mates, and general difficulties.
"While we weren't completely surprised, we were pleased that the results confirmed our theory," Benson told HNGN.
