Concern at lack of research into corporate crime

The lack of research into corporate and white-collar crime in Ireland will be highlighted today in a new publication from the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice.

Towards a Directory of Irish Criminological Research will be launched in Dublin by Minister for Justice Brian Lenihan. It deals with current criminological research in Ireland, which contains just one reference to an examination of corporate crime.

Speaking in advance of the launch, Father Tony O'Riordan, director of the Jesuit Centre for Faith and Justice, said "it is curious that more scholarly attention is not given to a form of wrong-doing that we, as a society, have become more aware of in recent years, and which in financial terms dwarfs what is conventionally considered crime."

He said "crimes of the well-off and privileged leave many victims in their wake, and in many cases are far more harmful than other crimes".

Commenting on the importance of crime research, he said "criminology in Ireland is very much underdeveloped, and public debate and policy often suffers as a result".

He added: "We hope that this directory will make a small contribution to ensuring evidence-led crime debates and policies."

The directory will also be available on the Jesuit Centre website www.cfj.ie