Focusing Anti-Corruption Efforts More Effectively: An Empirical Look at Offender MotivationPositive, Classical, Structural and Ethical Approaches

• NCJ Number: 254832
• Journal: Advances in Applied Sociology Volume: 8 Issue: 6 Dated: 2018 Pages: 471-485
• Author(s): Jay Albanese; Kristine Artello
• Date Published: 2018
• Length: 15 pages
• Grant Number(s): 2015-IJ-CX-0007
• Agencies: NIJ-Sponsored
• Publication Type: Research (Applied/Empirical); Report (Study/Research); Report (Grant Sponsored); Program/Project Description
• Award: Developing Empirically-Driven Public Corruption Prevention Strategies

Annotation

Since the level of public corruption cases remains high, the current study Interviewed 72 former investigators, prosecutors, community stakeholders, and individuals with first-hand experience in corrupt activities, together with analysis of court documents, in order to identify the motivations underlying the corrupt conduct in hundreds of known corruption cases.

Abstract

The study classified motivations to commit corrupt practices into four categories: positive, classical, structural, and ethical. Empirical examples from interviews and court cases were used to show how the identified causes and correlates of corruption can be grouped and used to develop more effective anti-corruption prevention strategies. The findings of this study indicate that each of these four kinds of explanations of offender motivation helps to explain the existence of corruption in some specific circumstances. Prevention approaches must be responsive to this finding, rather than focusing on limited, specific anti-corruption approaches. Recommendations are made for designing corruption prevention strategies around these identified offender motivations to reduce opportunities for corruption and improve the integrity levels of those in public service. Recommendations are offered to reduce the extent of corruption by applying the principles of positive, classical, structural, and ethical explanations of corruption to reduce opportunities for corruption and improve the integrity levels of those in public service. 5 tables, 2 figures, and 53 references (publisher abstract modified)