Expert highlights importance of neighborhood context in the fight against white-collar crimes in the US, other countries

Originally from Nigeria and currently pursuing his doctoral degree in the Department of Sociology at Mississippi State University, United States, David Ademule has made significant progress in highlighting the role of neighborhood context in the fight against white-collar crimes such as embezzlement, forgery, welfare fraud and bribery in the United States and other countries around the world.

Using complex statistical models to analyze data from the American Community Survey and the National Incident Based Reporting System of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Ademule’s groundbreaking research establishes the link between neighborhood characteristics (such as poverty, population turnover, and residential mobility) and the rate of white-collar crimes in 3,144 counties across the United States.

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One of Ademule’s novel findings highlights the inverse relationship between poverty and the rate of white-collar crimes. Unlike most violent crimes that are positively correlated with the rate of poverty, Ademule’s work demonstrates that the likelihood of white-collar crimes is greater in affluent neighborhoods than it is in economically disadvantaged neighborhoods where opportunities are less available. In addition, Ademule’s research shows the positive association between population turnover and the rate of white-collar crimes.

With these key findings, which recently won Ademule the first place in the graduate student paper of distinction award at the 2024 Mid-South Sociological Association (MSSA) conference held in Nashville, Tennessee, the fight against white-collar crimes in the United States may witness a significant shift as law enforcement agencies begin to beam their crime-fighting searchlight on affluent neighborhoods, which could potentially improve efficiency by saving enforcement costs.
In addition, policy makers may also begin to see the need to strengthen neighborhood cooperation and stability, knowing that the risk of white-collar crimes are lower in neighborhoods with strong collective efficacy and social ties.

As Ademule continues to pursue his PhD degree in Sociology (with concentration in Criminology) at Mississippi State University, where he also teaches introductory courses and has been awarded excellence in teaching prize by the College of Arts and Sciences, his research demonstrates great effort in bridging the gap between theory and practice, which is one of the major challenges in the field of sociology.