Assessment of Causes of White-Collar Crimes among the Civil Servants in Kenya: Case of Public Institutions in Eldoret Town

Abstract

In Kenya, the causes of White-collar crimes among the civil servants are the pursuit of profit, power, and position within their organizational environment. The study sought to find out the causes of white-collar crimes among the civil servants in Kenya. The research design was a case study type. The data for this study was collected from primary and secondary sources. While the research instruments were questionnaire, interview and document analysis, the study population comprised of 100 respondents of civil servants. The samples for the study were selected using simple random sampling method. The data from the research instruments were coded and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, frequency tables, percentages and mean. Findings revealed that, corruption was rated position 1 by majority of the respondents, followed by theft 50%, fraud 12% while only 1% ranked manipulation as position 1. Findings on the ranking of the three groups of white-collar crime causes revealed that the three groups are opportunistic causes, organizational and managerial causes, and behavioral causes. The majority of the respondents perceived that white-collar crime is usually committed because there are many opportune moments for such illegalities to be perpetrated. Following opportunistic causes, the study also revealed that the causes of white-collar crime can also come from the organization and the management of the organization themselves. Behavioural factors, according to the respondents, are the least common contributors of white-collar crime in Kenya. The study concluded that, due to poor internal controls and ethical practices, potential and existing perpetrators can always find opportune moments to carry out the crime. In addition, corporate governance can always be suppressed by the board of directors by the overriding of internal controls.