White-Collar Criminality: The Construction of Legitimacy and the Concealment of Injustice

Abstract

This academic article examines and analyzes the phenomenon of “elite criminality,” or white-collar crime, by situating it within the structural interplay among power, law, and interests. Drawing on an interdisciplinary framework that integrates criminology, political sociology, and legal studies, the study argues that crimes committed by elites should not be understood merely as individual deviant acts. Rather, they are systemic outcomes of social structures that enable individuals with economic, social, and political capital to mobilize resources and authority in ways that shape legal interpretations, attenuate the perceived severity of their actions, and strategically evade legal accountability. The author advances an analytical framework structured around two key dimensions. The first concerns mechanisms of legitimation, encompassing the deployment of economic capital, power networks, and interpretive flexibility in law to recast wrongful conduct as policy decisions or rational business practices. The second dimension addresses mechanisms of obscuring injustice, including the control of discourse, the production of knowledge, and the restriction of public perception. These processes render structural harms effectively “invisible,” thereby limiting both public scrutiny and institutional response. In addition, the article critically interrogates structural limitations within the Thai legal system, including the disproportionate leniency of sanctions relative to the scale of harm, the high evidentiary burden required for prosecution, and inequalities in access to justice. Collectively, these factors contribute to the ineffectiveness of legal enforcement against white-collar offenders. The study concludes that addressing elite criminality requires comprehensive reforms at both the level of legal structure and institutional mechanisms, alongside the development of interdisciplinary knowledge frameworks. Such reforms are essential to enhancing transparency, accountability, and equality within the justice system, thereby reinforcing the rule of law and sustaining public trust in the long term.