Criminology · April 4, 2026
In every country and every society, punishments for crimes are prescribed. These punishments may range from the death penalty to fines. Their duration may extend from life imprisonment to dismissal from service. An ideal punishment is always proportionate to the gravity of the crime. For example, the punishment for murder is death; at times, life imprisonment or transportation across the sea was also prescribed. However, there are also such heinous crimes whose punishments are not proportionate to their severity or heinousness. This includes those crimes which are called white-collar crimes and computer crimes.
White-collar crimes, that is, crimes of respectable people, include the illegal activities of big traders, industrialists, government employees, and bank officials. This term was first used in 1939 by the American criminologist and president of the American Sociological Society, Edwin Sutherland. Until that time, crime was always considered an activity of the lower class, and traders, industrialists, government employees, and bankers—who used to violate the law with complete immunity—were ignored.
However, Sutherland’s concept made it clear that deviance or crime is also committed by the wealthy and middle classes. This concept brought crime into the normal functioning of society. Economic deprivation, an unbalanced mind, or a broken family cannot explain white-collar crimes. This concept compelled experts to view these crimes in the same light in which they viewed the criminal activities of the lower class. In Sutherland’s view, the unlawful actions of officials associated with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, National Labor Relations Board, and Federal Trade Commission should also be included among crimes. Some people do not agree with this theory. In their opinion, this idea is contrary to the penal code.
Thus, the criminal acts of people belonging to the upper class and high professions—such as bribery, illegally influencing opponents or potential opponents (in our context, “horse trading”), illegally collecting funds, laundering black money, committing breach of trust, and carrying out illegal activities through computers—fall under white-collar crimes.
White-collar crimes cause loss, damage, and destruction to a very large number of people, yet those who commit such crimes receive very little punishment. The reason is the status of the offender in society. In comparison, robbery does not cause as much damage to society, yet its punishment is comparatively much harsher. A bank president who has committed embezzlement of large sums is generally not regarded as an ordinary criminal. Thus, public opinion and the social status of the offender influence the punishment he receives. There are many heinous examples of this in Pakistan. Mehran Bank is one major example. Those who have taken billions of rupees in loans from banks and never repaid them are another example. Another example is Taj Company and the various finance companies and cooperative societies that emerged in different places and swallowed the lifetime savings of millions of people. There are several other examples. Employees of BCCI also came under the category of white-collar crimes. In Pakistan, bribery has spread like an epidemic, yet to this day, except for one person, no action has been taken against any government employee, nor has any government officer gone to jail.
Despite this diversity in nature, there is a unity in the phenomenon of crime.
Legal experts divide crimes into two categories: felony (serious crimes), for which the punishment may be death or life imprisonment, and misdemeanour (minor offense or less serious crime). This category includes crimes with lesser punishments.
According to another classification, crimes are also divided into two categories: crimes against persons (human life) and crimes against property. The first category includes those crimes in which violence is inflicted upon a person. In such cases, the offender kills someone, threatens or intimidates them, or causes some other bodily harm—whether grievous hurt or minor injury. Kidnapping and rape also fall within this category.
Crimes against property include robbery, theft, robbery with violence, burglary, arson, theft of vehicles, motorcycles, and livestock, and other such crimes.
Two more types of crimes have also been included in this category: white-collar crimes and crimes committed through computers. Both of these have already been mentioned above.
Computer Crimes
These are crimes which are committed through the misuse of computers, making embezzlement, theft, burglary, sabotage, forgery, espionage, and even murder possible. These crimes are carried out by preparing faulty programs or by entering incorrect data or figures into the computer. Such crimes are committed by experts in computer technology or by people who have a hobbyist interest in computers. These crimes occur in large firms and companies. The victims of such crimes often conceal them so that their reputation is not damaged, because in such a case, the company fears a loss far greater than the damage caused by the crime itself.
Organized Crime
Organized crime is a criminal activity in which many individuals participate. The selection of participants is made on very strict criteria; not just anyone can become a part of it. Members are assigned separate responsibilities. The objective of such groups is the acquisition of wealth and, through it, the attainment of political power. Their activities are often concealed under the cover of legal operations, behind which they continue their illegal business. The wealth accumulated in this manner is often invested in non-criminal activities so that black money may be converted into white and their criminal activities remain hidden. The aim of such groups is to gain complete control over the buying and selling of various goods. In our context, the drug trade falls into this category. In addition, gold smuggling and the smuggling of electronic and other goods also fall under this category. They then invest the wealth obtained from these criminal activities into legitimate businesses and, on that basis, strive to acquire political power. More often than not, they succeed in this objective. There are abundant examples of this in Pakistan.
Including Pakistan, organized criminal groups exist in many countries of the world. In Japan, the Yakuza; in China, the Triads; in Sicily, the Mafia; in Colombia and Mexico, criminal families; in the United States, Italian-American families and motorcycle gangs such as the Hell’s Angels, as well as white, black, and Asian groups are all examples of organized crime.