When news broke that millions of US dollars had gone missing from the investment accounts of Jamaican sprint legend Usain Bolt it once again highlighted the devastating impact of white-collar crime on our society.

This is not an isolated incident, it is a reminder that white-collar crime is one of Jamaica’s most pressing threats. Yet despite the seriousness of these crimes, we are not doing enough to prepare the next generation of justice professionals to address them.

Why White-Collar Crime Matters

The term “white-collar crime” was first introduced in 1939 by criminologist Edwin Sutherland to describe crimes committed by people of respectability and high social status in their occupations. Today, the phrase covers everything from fraud, embezzlement, and corruption to environmental offences and unsafe labour practices.

Unlike street crime, these offences don’t always make sensational headlines about violence. But their consequences can be far more damaging: victims lose life savings in Ponzi schemes; workers face unsafe conditions because of corporate negligence; and communities suffer when companies pollute rivers and destroy the environment. National economies are destabilised when fraud, money laundering, and corruption are left unchecked.

A major US study estimated that the financial cost of white-collar crime is as high as US$1.7 trillion annually. In Jamaica, while official numbers are smaller, the damage is no less profound. Between 2010 and 2022, nearly 400 incidents of white-collar crime were recorded. Offences such as larceny by servant — where employees steal from their employers — reveal how breaches of trust undermine businesses and institutions alike.

What My Study Found

Recently, I published a study in the Journal of Criminal Justice Education titled ‘Assessing the Representation of White Collar and Corporate Crime in Jamaican Undergraduate Criminology and Criminal Justice Programs’. It examined how Jamaica’s universities and colleges are preparing students to confront these crimes. I analysed course catalogues and programme descriptions from nine criminology and criminal justice programmes across the island.

The findings were striking. Most associate degree programmes offered by community colleges include some discussion of white-collar crime, but only as part of a broader “technology-based crime” course. This means students learn about fraud mostly in the context of cybercrime. At the bachelor’s level, the picture is worse. Out of all the programmes reviewed, only one — University of the Commonwealth Caribbean — requires students to take a dedicated white-collar crime course. Other bachelor’s programmes either integrated the subject superficially or omitted it altogether. Critical areas such as environmental crime, elite corruption, and non-technological forms of corporate misconduct were rarely mentioned. In other words, the very issues dominating Jamaican headlines are largely missing from our classrooms.

Why the Gap Matters

Jamaica’s criminal justice education system still focuses heavily on street crime, gangs, and traditional policing. Of course, these issues remain urgent. But when curriculum design neglects white-collar crime we risk producing graduates who are ill-prepared to address the kinds of scandals that devastate our economy and erode public trust.

Think about the cascading effects: investment frauds that wipe out retirement savings; corruption that diverts funds away from schools, hospitals, and roads; and environmental crimes that destroy fisheries and rivers. These harms disproportionately impact the poor and vulnerable, even though the perpetrators are often people in positions of privilege. If we want a justice system that reflects Jamaica’s real challenges, our universities must equip students with the tools to investigate, prosecute, and prevent corporate wrongdoing.

The Way Forward

There are clear steps we can take. Universities should:

• introduce dedicated courses on white-collar and corporate crime at both the associate and bachelor’s levels rather than relegating the subject to a single lecture in a broader class.

• use Jamaican and Caribbean case studies — Cash Plus, Olint, Stocks and Securities Limited, etc — so students see the relevance to their own society, not just to US or European contexts.

• address the full range of crimes: fraud and corruption, yes, but also environmental offences, occupational crimes, and abuses by powerful institutions.

• train faculty and provide resources to ensure instructors are comfortable teaching these often complex and politically sensitive topics.

Ultimately, strengthening our curricula is about crime prevention. Jamaica will be better positioned to safeguard its economy, environment, and people if tomorrow’s criminologists, lawyers, policymakers, and law enforcement officers graduate with a deep understanding of white-collar crime.

White-collar crime is not victimless. It robs us of our money, natural resources, and trust in institutions. Jamaica has paid a heavy price for failing to take it seriously. If we do not act now to prioritise this subject in our classrooms, we will continue to produce graduates trained for yesterday’s crimes while leaving tomorrow’s crises unsolved.

As the Bolt scandal has shown, white-collar crime is not just a theoretical problem, it is a lived reality. Let us ensure that our education system reflects that reality and prepares our students to meet it head-on.

Dr Deneil D Christian is a Jamaican American criminal justice professor and researcher. Send comments to the Jamaica Observer or libertyphd2021@gmail.com.