Stereotyping is ugly, dangerous and discriminatory. As such it is always wrong. Profiling is useful in forensic accounting. I know something about this as I used to do contract forensic work for National Westminster Bank.
So when I read Finding a thief: personal red flags of fraud by fraud expert Tracy Coenen my sense of outrage was piqued:
Back in May, I published an article in the Wisconsin Law Journal about red flags of fraud related to employees. The article is a must-read for business owners and executives.
Tracy – you say it’s a must read but without adequate justification. She goes on:
The article covers the work habits, attitudes, and lifestyles of employees. A few of the specific red flags include:
Unusal dedication to job
Rationalization of poor work performance
Instability in relationships and household
Personal financial problems
Substance abuse problems
So the many partners I’ve known who work long hours, struggle to get things done on time, have golf widow wives in the name of client relationships and hit the scotch most nights to chill out are potential thieves and fraudsters?
At worst I’d argue they’re poor business people who may be ill. Does Tracy not know that substance abuse is widely regarded as an illness? Does Tracy not realise there are 1,001 reasons why relationships run into difficulty? Has she never come across the over-stretched partner?
Linking the heavily loaded ‘red flags of fraud’ to a combination of factors: ‘habits, attitudes and lifestyles’ in what she calls ‘common characteristics’ creates the stereotype.
Stereotypes leads to labelling, another socially destructive get out for ill-informed people.
If, instead, Tracy had said something like: “In my experience, the typical profile of a person who may be considered as an at risk employee generally, but not always displays a combination of…” then the tone would have been entirely different. None of that appears in her post.
I would have left a similar comment on Tracy’s site but there’s no commenting facility. I’ve tracked back.
Words matter.
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