Politics of corporate social control: the federal response to industrial water pollution
In the annals of criminology and the sociology of law, the phenomenon of corporate illegalities has been seriously neglected. Moreover, the relatively few social scientific studies of illegal corporate behavior have often approached the subject from limited theoretical perspectives. These studies have generally overlooked a critical element in criminological understanding; the role of law and its administration in generating violation rates that may be said to be characteristic of the prevailing social structure. This dissertation develops an integrated theoretical approach to a type of corporate illegality, environmental pollution. In this approach, law is seen as integral to the understanding of crime, and both are situated within the broad socio-economic structure of the United States in the latter half of the 20th century. This research first reviews and analyzes the history of the federal government's efforts to control industrial water pollution, seeking to identify the social structural limits on regulatory activity. Statistical analyses of data on the federal processing of industrial pollution violations are then presented, with a view toward analyzing the correlates of both business behavior and the federal response. The analyses test a proposed model of industrial regulation, and provide important support for the perspective linking law and crime.
- OSTI ID:
- 5487137
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Thesis (Ph. D.)
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
POLICY AND ECONOMY
54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
INDUSTRY
WATER POLLUTION
LEGAL ASPECTS
LIABILITIES
CRIMINOLOGY
LEGISLATION
REGULATIONS
SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS
INSTITUTIONAL FACTORS
POLLUTION
290200* - Energy Planning & Policy- Economics & Sociology
290300 - Energy Planning & Policy- Environment
Health
& Safety
520600 - Environment
Aquatic- Regulations - (-1989)