Donald Ray Cressey (April 27, 1919 – July 21, 1987) was an American

penologist Penology (from "penal", Latin '' poena'', "punishment" and the Greek suffix ''-logia'', "study of") is a sub-component of criminology that deals with the philosophy and practice of various societies in their attempts to repress criminal activities ...

, sociologist, and

criminologist Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''logos'' meaning: "word, reason") is the study of crime and deviant behaviour. Criminology is an interdisciplinary field in both the behavioural and so ...

who made innovative contributions to the study of

organized crime Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...

prison A prison, also known as a jail, gaol (dated, standard English, Australian, and historically in Canada), penitentiary (American English and Canadian English), detention center (or detention centre outside the US), correction center, correc ...

s, criminology, the sociology of

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It prescribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and moral welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal law i ...

white-collar crime The term "white-collar crime" refers to financially motivated, nonviolent or non-directly violent crime committed by individuals, businesses and government professionals. It was first defined by the sociologist Edwin Sutherland in 1939 as "a ...

.Akers, Ronald L. and Matsueda, Ross L. "Donald R. Cressey: An Intellectual Portrait of a Criminologist." ''Sociological Inquiry.'' 59:4 (October 1989).Salinger, Lawrence M. ''

Encyclopedia of White-Collar & Corporate Crime Lawrence M. Salinger (January 7, 1958 in Bono — November 23, 2013 in Jonesboro) was a professor of criminology and sociology at Arkansas State University. His research interests in criminology focused on violent victimization and organizational ...

.'' Thousand Oaks, Calif.: SAGE, 2004.

Life and work

Born in 1919 in

Fergus Falls Fergus Falls is a city in and the county seat of Otter Tail County, Minnesota, Otter Tail County, Minnesota, United States. The population was 14,119 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. History The falls from which the city gets par ...

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

, he obtained his

bachelor's degree A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...

from

Iowa State College Iowa State University of Science and Technology (Iowa State University, Iowa State, or ISU) is a public land-grant research university in Ames, Iowa. Founded in 1858 as the Iowa Agricultural College and Model Farm, Iowa State became one of the n ...

in 1943 and earned his

Ph.D. A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, Ph.D., or DPhil; Latin: or ') is the most common degree at the highest academic level awarded following a course of study. PhDs are awarded for programs across the whole breadth of academic fields. Because it is ...

from

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universit ...

in 1950."Prof. Donald R. Cressey, 68, Expert on Sociology of Crime." ''New York Times.'' July 28, 1987.
/ref> He taught sociology at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduate ...

. Along with

Edwin Sutherland Edwin Hardin Sutherland (August 13, 1883 – October 11, 1950) was an American sociologist. He is considered one of the most influential criminologists of the 20th century. He was a sociologist of the symbolic interactionist school of thought ...

, he co-authored ''

Principles of Criminology ''Principles of Criminology'', written by Edwin H. Sutherland and Donald R. Cressey, is hailed as an authoritative work in the field of criminology Criminology (from Latin , "accusation", and Ancient Greek , ''-logia'', from λόγος ''l ...

,'' for 30 years the standard text in criminology. He also wrote ''Other People's Money,'' a study of

embezzlement Embezzlement is a crime that consists of withholding assets for the purpose of conversion of such assets, by one or more persons to whom the assets were entrusted, either to be held or to be used for specific purposes. Embezzlement is a type ...

, and co-authored the popular textbook ''Social Problems.'' After his retirement, he was president of the Institute for Financial Crime Prevention, a foundation for the research of

. He served as a consultant on organized crime for the

President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice The President's Commission on Law Enforcement and Administration of Justice was a group of 19 people appointed by President Johnson in 1967 to study the American criminal justice system. Johnson assigned the group the task of fighting crime and r ...

in 1966 and 1967. Based on research conducted in this capacity he wrote the acclaimed ''Theft of the Nation,'' a treatise on the

Cosa Nostra The Sicilian Mafia, also simply known as the Mafia and frequently referred to as Cosa nostra (, ; "our thing") by its members, is an Italian Mafia-terrorist-type organized crime syndicate and criminal society originating in the region of Sicily a ...

, and later the smaller ''Criminal Organization,'' in which he extended his conceptualization of organized crime to include criminal groups other than the Cosa Nostra. Cressey is credited with the theory of the "

fraud triangle In law, fraud is intentional deception to secure unfair or unlawful gain, or to deprive a victim of a legal right. Fraud can violate civil law (e.g., a fraud victim may sue the fraud perpetrator to avoid the fraud or recover monetary compensa ...

," three elements that must be present for occupational fraud. Dr. Cressey died in

Solvang, California Solvang (; ) is a city in Santa Barbara County, California. It is located in the Santa Ynez Valley. The population was 6,126 at the 2020 census, up from 5,245 at the 2010 census. Solvang was founded in 1911 and incorporated as a city on May ...

, in 1987. He was surrounded by his wife, Elaine, and three daughters (Martha, Ann, and Mary).

Awards

The Donald Cressey Award is bestowed annually on an American academic by the National Council on Crime and DelinquencyNational Council on Crime and Delinquency
Web site. for outstanding academic contributions to criminology. The Cressey Award is bestowed annually by the

Association of Certified Fraud Examiners The Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE) is a professional organization of fraud examiners. Its activities include producing fraud information, tools and training. Based in Austin, Texas, the ACFE was founded in 1988 by Joseph T. Wells ...

on one of its members for lifetime achievement in the detection and deterrence of fraud.

Works

Solely authored works

*''Criminal Organization: Its Elementary Forms.'' New York: Harper and Row, 1972. *"Methodological Problems in the Study of Organized Crime as a Social Problem." ''Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science.'' 374 (1967). *"Organized Crime and Inner-City Youth." ''Crime and Delinquency.'' 16:2 (1970). *''Theft of the Nation: The Structure and Operations of Organized Crime in America.'' New York: Harper and Row, 1969. *''Other People's Money: A Study in the Social Psychology of Embezzlement.'' Montclair, N.J.: Patterson Smith, 1953.

Co-authored works

*Coleman, James W. and Cressey, Donald R. ''Social Problems.'' New York: Prentice Hall, 1980. *Sutherland, Edwin H. and Cressey, Donald. ''Principles of Criminology.'' 11th ed. Lanham, Md.: AltaMira Press, 1992.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Cressey, Donald 1919 births 1987 deaths People from Fergus Falls, Minnesota American criminologists Penologists University of California, Santa Barbara faculty