Abstract
D.Litt. et Phil. (Philosophy)
With unsettling regularity the media reports about people from previously advantaged
communities who commit acts of fraud in the workplace. From the above the following
question arose. "Why do people from previously advantaged communities commit acts of
fraud?" To try and kind an answer to this question interviews were conducted with
people from previously advantaged communities to try and determine why they broke the
law in this fashion. Two themes of note emerged from the transcribed interviews namely,
motivation and justification with their subsequent categories and subcategories.
The need to address this escalating problem is of paramount importance. The question
now arises, "Which approach will be most suitable to address this problem?" Much
research has centred upon managing the consequences of fraud rather than preventing it.
This study proposes an approach that would prevent acts of fraud occurring in the
workplace, rather than managing the consequences thereof.
An educational approach is proposed to try and help prevent the escalation of such
criminal acts. One can ask why an educational approach is proposed when the tusk of the educator lies basically within the academic sphere of the child's development only? The literature study undertaken for this research yielded a number of reasons as to why an educational approach may be the answer.