Almost everyone goes home after a long day at work and watches the news. Think, what is usually reported? The weather, local businesses, top news or daily criminal activity. Shootings, stabbings, murders, etc. are all discussed by media hosts these days. This causes almost everyone in our society to become familiar with crimes considered street crimes. What most people don't hear about on the news is what is considered white collar crime, sometimes known as corporate crime. White-collar crime is not only less reported in the media, but also receives weaker punishments than street crime. This article will first discuss the similarities between the two types of crime and then explain why their punishments are very different. Let's first start by defining each of these types of crime. Street crime is a general term that usually refers to criminal acts committed in public. Currently society is more aware and familiar with this type of crime. Examples of street crime include murders, shootings, robberies, etc.; crimes that are usually described in the news or on television programs such as COPS. White-collar crime, on the other hand, is defined as “illegal or unethical acts committed by an individual or organization in the course of legitimate employment” (Barkan, 2012). Simply put, white collar crime is basically any type of crime committed, usually by authority figures, in a business or corporation. This type of crime is usually associated with criminal acts such as fraud, theft, embezzlement or any type of corporate corruption. There are also two subtypes of white-collar crime: occupational crime and organizational crime. Individuals usually engage… middle of paper… and these factors influence why white-collar criminals tend to get away more than street criminals. However, there are ways to reduce white collar crime. A good start would be for the media to report more on white-collar crime as they do on street crime. Because money plays an important role in a company's ability to purchase excellent lawyers, pay large fines, etc., it is important to make punishments for white-collar workers more severe than they currently are (Barkan, 2012). With all these changes, society has a better chance of deterring white-collar crime. Works Cited Barkan, Steven E. Criminology: A Sociological Understanding. Upper SaddleRiver: Pearson Education, 2012. Print.FBI. Np, nd Web. 9 November 2011. us/investigate/white_collar>. Prentice, Robert. “ENRON: A BRIEF BEHAVIORAL AUTOPSY.” Wiley. Np, ndWeb. November 9th. 2011.