Business Crime Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Business Crime - Case Study Example Before proceeding to the topic of Christies Ltd. and business crime, it is important to understand how and why the Theft Act 1968 came into existence. This Act was original for it was the first British legislation, which the dealings of criminal law accessible to all citizens and not just limited to attorneys. An article from bbc.co.uk (2001) tells this history: Before 1968, theft and other, similar, offences were governed by a mass of conflicting legislation and common law and was over-complex. Before 1968, if 'ownership' passed by means of deception, the offence was 'obtaining by false pretences'. If 'possession' was passed, the offence was 'larcency by a trick'. Other offences existed, including 'larcency by a servant', 'fraudulent conversion' and 'embezzlement'. It had reached the point where it was harder to discover which crime the accused may have committed rather than whether or not the accused was guilty. The 1968 Theft Act, as well as the 1971 Criminal Damage Act, did much to overcome this problem. All previous theft legislation and common law were overruled, resulting in the creation of the first codified definition of law in England and Wales.... codified definition of law in England and Wales. Understanding the history of the Act allows one to understand why it was and still is needed. Now we shall begin the discussion of Christies Ltd. The situations at hand and the topic of this piece of writing are now presented: Business Crime--Christies Ltd 4 Phil Jackson has approached David asking for a higher salary, as he believes he is underpaid. David refuses. Phil then decides to augment his salary in a number of ways:(A) Phil decides to open a flower stall at the weekend. He obtains a large selection of daffodils and tulips from the roadside and aims to sell these at 2 per bunch.(B) Phil decides to go for a drive through the countryside. He sees anunattended pick up truck loaded with live wild pheasants. Phildecides to put these into his own vehicle, intending to sell them to a local butcher.(C) Phil decides to enter the safe of Christies Ltd and look at the plans for a new "HyperScoop". He draws the design of the scoop andoffers it for sale to Scooperman Ltd, a direct competitor ofChristies Ltd. The Theft Act 1968 lists the basic definition of the word theft. According to this Act, a person is guilty of theft if "he dishonestly appropriates property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it; and 'theft' and 'steal shall be construed accordingly". Let us look at the term "permanently depriving" more closely in order to gain abetter understanding of theft and dishonesty. Webster's II New Riverside Dictionary(1984) defines the word permanently as "lasting

Social Security's role in our society and public administration Essay

Social Security's role in our society and public administration - Essay Example This Civil War Pension program provided benefits to war veterans with disabilities, in addition, widows and orphans could receive pensions equal to the amount paid to veterans. Starting with the year 1906 old age has become the main qualification for the benefits payment. Thus, by the year 1960 the following groups of people were receiving benefits: Civil War veterans, survivors with disabilities, and the old-aged. Later, these programs would become known as Social Security. In particular, four major demographic changes led to the emergence of Social Security in the early 1930s: the Industrial Revolution, the urbanization of America, the disappearance of the extended family and the market increase in life expectancy. Also, as a result of an Agricultural Revolution the majority of self-employed workers were transformed into industrial working class. When primary income comes from wages, economic security is threatened by recessions, layoffs and business failures, factors that employees have no control over. Industrialization has led to city growth and by 1930 half of the population was living in cities. The trend towards urbanization resulted in the disappearance of the extended family. This was due to large families living in the same residence. The major advantage of an extended family was that when one member became too old too work, the other members assumed responsibility for his well-being. Urbanization limited this kind of support and many old peo ple appeared behind the line of poverty. Finally, due to improved healthcare and sanitation Americans began to live significantly longer. The net result from these demographic changes was that Americans were older, more industrial and fewer people lived in extended families. The existing provisions of economic security were becoming increasingly fragile. The Social Security programs adopted in late 1935 relied on the concept of social insurance common in Europe at that time. The initial aim of the Social Security system was to shift the responsibility for economic security to the governmental institutions. In the late 19th century several European and Latin American states already had some form of the social insurance campaigns. The major points of the American Social Security included old age assistance, unemployment insurance, aid to dependent children and grants to the states to provide medical care (Tanner, 2004). The section on old-age benefits is what people think about Social Security today. Although the American social insurance program has been initiated much later, it was relatively successful compared to the other systems. For example, in the book "Relief and Social Security" Meriam notes the following: " . . . social insurance and the allied services, as they exist today, are conducted by a complex of disconnected adminis trative organs, proceeding on different principles, doing invaluable service but at a cost in money and trouble and anomalous treatment of identical problems for which there is no justification. In a system of social security better on the whole than can be found in almost any other country there are serious deficiencies which call for remedy" (Meriam, 1946, p. 2). Meriam talks about the American Social Security Act of 1935 as one of the most successful. Particularly, she outlines four major benefits this act has offered (Meriam, 1946, p. 16-19): The creation of the Civilian Conservation Corps by the national government