THE THIEF IN THE WHITE COLLAR

Written primarily for businessmen by the president of a management consultant firm this book is an attempt to explain why honest people steal. Since there are almost as many motives for theft as there are thieves, much of the book is almost by necessity concerned with individual case histories -- whether they involve the thorough scoundrel such as Serge Rubenstein or the poorly paid desperate bank teller. But the authors do nage to isolate some general causes for embezzlement: gambling, extravagant living standards, unusual family expense, undesirable associates, inadequate income. And they point out that the essential difference between white collar crime and robbery or burglary that white collar crime is invariably concerned with violation of trust. After esimating that white collar employees, rank and file, supervisory and executive are tealing about four million dollars in cash and property from their employers each working ay the authors go on to deal, in cursory fashion, with corruption in government posts, labor unions, the kickback, bribery, padded expense accounts and a multitude of devious and ingenuous methods of petty thievery. They suggest that the fault of white collar crime rests with the top management who, they feel, foster dishonesty through poor business practices and they offer some specific pointers for dealing with the problem. At this point, though there is little that one can argue with, some readers might find the tone of the advice -- that good employee morale and reasonable working conditions are good for business -- slightly distasteful.