Abstract
Corruption has existed ever since antiquity as one of the worst and, at the same time, most widespread forms of behavior which is inimical to the administration of public affairs when indulged in by public officials and elected representatives. In the last hundred years, it has come to encompass behavior within the purely private domain.
Gilinskiy (Crime and deviance: Russian survey. Baltic University of Ecology, Politics and Law, St. Petersburg, 2009), a prominent professor of sociology and criminology and professor of the Saint Petersburg Judicial Institute, contends that, while definitions of corruption vary, making it difficult to select one that is appropriate for all situations, there is no disagreement that some corruption permeates all of the sectors of a country, including all levels of government, public service agencies, the business enterprise, educational institutions, and other private organizations. The same conclusion was reached by William J. Chambliss in his research titled “On the Take” (Chambliss, On the take: From petty crooks to presidents. Indiana University Press, Bloomington, IN, 1988).
In this chapter, the predominant types of corruption are identified and the ways corruption is manifested are identified. In addition, the sociological foundations of corruption are analyzed in the context of the cultural traditions of a country in which the corruption is manifested. The changes in the methods used by those who instigate corruption and fraud are considered, with particular focus on the Internet, as well as the methods used by government and private agencies to prevent corruption and fraud.