Reimagining Sutherland 80 years after white-collar crime*

Eighty years ago, Edwin H. Sutherland conceptualized and defined white-collar crime. In this article, I engage retrospectively with Sutherland's ideas and work to emphasize important aspects that continue to guide research today; to note where he was prescient as well as shortsighted. I center this discussion around "corporate crime" or crimes by business. Four main themes are discussed: 1) law and official responses to corporate offending-the data problem, 2) corporate crime and the life cycle of organizations, 3) psychological and trait-based explanations, and 4) consequences of definitional ambiguity.