Strain, coping and sustained fraud offending
- The Australian Institute of Criminology has today released a Trends and issues paper on strain, coping and sustained fraud offending.
- This qualitative study examines the various ways in which fraud offenders who commit fraud over a sustained period of time use coping strategies to deal with their ongoing offending.
- While there was some evidence of ‘problem-focused’ coping and ‘social-focused’ coping, the research found that examples of ‘emotion-focused’ coping were more prevalent.
- Emotion-focused coping included:
- Suppression – keeping unwanted thoughts at bay.
- Compartmentalisation – sectioning off upsetting thoughts, emotions, pressures or relationships.
- Escapism – absconding from threatening situations through immersion in alternative activities.
- Compensation – engaging in activities that allow offenders to see themselves in a positive light.
- There was also evidence of behavioural changes as a result of sustained fraud. This included changes in work patterns and social withdrawal.
These findings are of relevance to fraud prevention efforts as they help to identify behaviours that should be treated as risk factors for potential fraudsters who continue to offend over a long period of time.
The paper is available for free download on the AIC website: https://aic.gov.au/publications/tandi/tandi596
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