Simpson, Sally (1954–)

AFTER RECEIVING A Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, Sally Simpson secured a post-doctoral research fellow position at Harvard University's business school and then joined the faculty at the University of Maryland. Her research in corporate crime has spanned a wide range of topics including: the intersection of criminological theories and explanations of corporate criminality, measurement of corporate crime, antitrust offending, and corporate crime control.

In addition to numerous studies directly testing the assumptions of traditional criminological theories' (such as deterrence, strain, and low self-control) applicability to corporate offending, Simpson, along with Raymond Paternoster, posited a rational choice model of corporate crime (1993). Their subjective, expected utility model privileges individuals over organizations as actors and decision-makers, but recognizes that the individual's calculation of cost and benefits will incorporate both personal and organizational factors.

In order to overcome the paucity of corporate crime data sources, Simpson has engaged in several data collection efforts. On two separate occasions, she administered vignette surveys to M.B.A. and executive education students as well as to a group of managers from a Fortune 500 company. Additionally, she has amassed one of the few longitudinal data sets that details antitrust offending.

More recently, Simpson assessed the effectiveness of corporate crime control with attention focused on the increasing use of criminalization and punitive legal penalties for corporate violators. Her research examines a corporate crime deterrence model juxtaposed against compliance strategies, and she concludes that deterrence strategies are ineffective in controlling corporate misbehaviors, but that compliance strategies built on a foundation of self-regulation and cooperation may hold some promise for effective control.

In addition to her work in corporate crime, Simpson also works in the areas of criminological theory and gender and crime.