Abstract
The legal conceptualization of corporate entities as juristic persons has both obscured and enhanced their influence in the criminal justice process. We point to several consequences of this influence: greater success of corporate than individual actors in getting individual offenders convicted, greater formal equality in the treatment of individuals prosecuted for crimes against corporate than individual victims, and greater satisfaction of corporate than individual victims with their experiences in the criminal justice system. We discuss the apparent paradox that an increase in formal equality may accompany higher rates of conviction for individuals accused of crimes against “juristic persons,” and emphasize the important advantages a formal rational system of criminal law can provide these corporate entities. Making the role of corporate entities explicit is one way of adding a structural dimension that is lacking in contemporary criminal justice research.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 993-1022 |
| Number of pages | 30 |
| Journal | Social Forces |
| Volume | 60 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Jun 1982 |
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- History
- Anthropology
- Sociology and Political Science
