Crime on the Line. Telemarketing and the Changing Nature of Professional Crime

摘要: New opportunities for crimes of acquisition grew significantly in the second half twentieth century, but criminological consequences this development are poorly charted. We examine offenders who have stepped forward to exploit one category new opportunities. Drawing from interviews with 47 criminal telemarketers, we present a picture and interpretation them, their pursuits lifestyles. Ai vocational predators, they share several important characteristics professional thieves sketched by earlier generations investigators. Like latter, pursue hedonistic lifestyle featuring illiât drugs conspicuous consumption, acquire employ an ideology legitimation defence that insulates them moral rejection. Unlike thieves, however, telemarketing criminals disproportionately drawn middle class, entrepreneurial backgrounds. They markedly individualistic dealings another law enforcement. Finally, work organizations more permanent conventional outward appearance than created blue-collar offenders, which were grounded culture industrial proletariat. Our findings show how backgrounds predators reflect qualities challenges contem porary lucrative markets seek manipulate plunder, enacted environments embrace infinite variations, largely indistinguishable arenas capacitate legitimate pursuits.