Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology Volume 32 | Issue 4 Article 5 1942 Embezzlement: Pathological Basis Svend H. Riemer Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/jclc Part of the Criminal Law Commons, Criminology Commons, and the Criminology and Criminal Justice Commons Recommended Citation Svend H. Riemer, Embezzlement: Pathological Basis, 32 J. Crim. L. & Criminology 411 (1941-1942) This Article is brought to you for free and open access by Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology by an authorized editor of Northwestern University School of Law Scholarly Commons. EMBEZZLEMENT: PATHOLOGICAL BASIS1 Svend IL Biemer2 I Social Push and Pull The social constellation which we Embezzlement, in general, is the out- find at the background of the criminal come of a crisis at a relatively late act is to be defined as the cooperation stake of the individual career. In ex- of two different forces. In most cases ceptional cases only is there a record of the delinquent finds himself in a situa- juvenile delinquency in the life history tion which offers a special opportunity. of the embezzler. In many cases the But, also, the criminal act does not criminal act requires a special key-po- originate without a specific driving sition, the individual being trusted with force which necessitates the appropria- the administration of considerable sums tion of economic means. The delin- of money. A previous criminal record quent acts in an emergency situation. would exclude the individual from such Our material enables us to evaluate, responsible positions. Consequently, the furthermore, the influence of psycho- analysis of embezzlement more than pathological conditions in the origin of that of any other crime requires a con- this particular crime. They mitigate centration of attention upon the specific or emphasize the social constellation conflict situation in which the criminal that leads up to the criminal activity of act originates. We often find a contin- the embezzler. uous and accelerating progress of anti- social and delinquent behavior but the The Opportunity life career is, in most cases, not planned The economic system in our modern on the basis of crime. society presupposes highly complicated Three different aspects may be con- attitudes and voluntary self-restraint sidered in the conflict situation: in the participating members. Many 1) the social pull; the opportunity abstract business transactions are based 2) the social push; the emergency on a considerable amount of trust that situation the individual will play the rules of the 3) specific to our material; the psy- game or respect the "folkways" of the cho-pathological element in- business world. There are short cuts volved in the prevailing financial communica- 1 This article is based upon 100 cases of em- attorney. General conclusions have to be drawn bezzlement which during the 1930ies were with caution. investigated in a two-months observation period The case material was collected without the in the Langholmen prison clinic in Stockholm, Sweden. The material represents a one-sided help of the sociologist, under the guidance of selection. Only such cases are transferred to Prof. Olof Kinberg, director of the prison clinic. the prison clinic in behalf of which insanity is 2 Department of Sociology, State University, pleaded by either defense, judge or district Seattle, Washington. [ 4111: SVEND H. RIEMER tions which yield economic profit as Unemployed .................... 8 long as the institutions of social con- Craft and Labor ................. - 18 Students ........................ 3 trol can be deceived. These opportuni- Housewife, Housekeeper, etc ...... 4 ties are not restricted to trustees in ad- Professional Swindlers ........... 2 vanced positions only. In the form of Miscellaneous ................... - 9 any simple confidence game or as an Total ........................ 100 installment fraud, for example, they are In 45 of our 100 cases the criminal act open to any citizen of average intelli- did not require any other opportunities gence. If, nevertheless, embezzlement than those open to every citizen with is more restricted to trustees of one average insight in the functioning of kind or another, this is due only to two our most elementary economic institu- circumstances: 1) higher temptation tions. If more extensive research should inasmuch as the financial gains thus ob- confirm these conditions, the theory of tained more adequately balance the white collar crime originating in the risks involved; and 2) necessary expert professional atmosphere of civil service skill in anticipating and counteracting and business life might have to be some- the discovery by protective institutions. 3 what revised. A brief survey of our material as to However limited the scope of the key-positions held by the 100 embez- present investigation, a presentation of zlers reveals the following distribution. the occupational distribution of our 100 embezzlers is of interest in this connec- TABLE I tion. Embezzlement, obviously, is most Occupational Distribution frequent among the white collar group, though definitely not restricted to that Civil Servants ................... 7 Public Officials .................. 13 stratum of society only. Conditions, Clergymen ...................... 7 however, might vary in different coun- Public Office ................... - 23 tries, especially if undiscovered crime Entrepreneurs, High Business Executives ..................... 9 is also taken into account. Lawyers ........................ 4 There are certain loopholes in so- Salesmen ....................... 5 ciety. They are based upon the fact Agents .......................... 8 Exployees ...................... 4 that the individual member of the group Small Enterprise ................ 5 must to some extent be trusted to ad- Private Business ................ - 35 here to certain folkways concerning Real Estate Owner ............... 1 Farm er .......................... 5 money transactions. These loopholes Farm Labor ..................... 9 represent the opportunities that are Agriculture ..................... - 15 open to the embezzler. They form a Craftsmen ...................... 6 Labor ....................... "... 4 temptation if the embezzlers develop 3Cp. Prof. E. H. Sutherland: White Collar Swedish environment, and, finally, the term Criminality. Am. Soc. Review. Febr. 1940. Vol. embezzlement according to Swedish law covers 5, No. 1--Our field of observation, however, does a somewhat wider field. Our material contains not permit any definite conclusions as to the many cases (installment fraud) which accord- validity of Sutherland's thesis. Our attention ing to American Law would have to be classi- is limited to mainly pathological cases, to the fied as "larceny by bailee." EMBEZZLEMENT an anti-social attitude that makes pos- mental strain. Pathological deficiencies, sible an abandonment of the "folkways" however, that are apparent in the cul- of business behavior. Their character prit at the time of arrest will have to is more clearly brought out in an ac- be considered not only as a factor in count of the different techniquesof em- the causation of crime but also as a pos- bezzlement that were applied. sible consequence of worries and As a typical example of embezzle- energy consuming activities in connec- ment containing all basic elements in tion with the struggle against discovery. the sequence of criminal behavior,4 we In the most publicized cases of em- might mention those cases in which the bezzlement where considerable sums of institution of purchasing on the install- money are at stake, the application of ment plan was exploited as a basis for complicated techniques of bookkeeping systematic fraud. The fundamental and illegal transactions make it al- routine consists of acquiring possession most impossible for the layman to fully of the commodities in question by mak- understand the basic scheme of embez- ing the smallest possible first payment; zlement. Details in this respect are not thereafter the goods are sold or often of importance in the problem of crime exchanged for cash at the pawnbroker's. causation. The main feature in the de- As further payments on the installment velopment of the illegal practices, how- plan fall due, cash is being acquired ever, is the continuous effort to avoid by a continued series of similar trans- exposure. The embezzler might, with actions. Thus it is possible in principle TABLE: II to proceed indefinitely with this type Technique of Embezzlement* of embezzlement. Limitations, gen- 1. Confidence Game-Payments erally not anticipated, are of a practical promised and not carried out ..... 30 nature. In order not to arouse suspicion, Installment ............. 8 the purchases have to be made at dif- Purchases against Promise 5 ferent shops and the commodities have Trusted with Money ...... 15 Falsifications ............ 6 to be exchanged for cash at different II. Falsification of Signatures or pawnbrokers or sold to different per- Amount on receipts, etc ......... 37 sons. Embezzlement represents itself Savings Accounts ........ 7 as a cumulative process. The criminal Notes ................... 12 Wage Checks ............ 7 finally loses control of his manipula- Stamps used again ....... 14 tions. They outgrow the resources and Confidence Game ........ 6 the power of scheming available to the III. Embezzlement of Trusted