Corruption

These are the following types of corruption we address:

  1. Scale
    1. Petty: Occurs at a smaller scale and takes place at the implementation end of public services when public officials meet the public.
    2. Grand: Corruption occurring at the highest levels of government in a way that requires significant subversion of the political, legal and economic systems. Such corruption is commonly found in countries with authoritarian or dictatorial governments but also in those without adequate policing of corruption, like Guyana.
    3. Systemic or Endemic: Corruption which is primarily due to the weaknesses of an organization or process. It can be contrasted with individual officials or agents who act corruptly within the system. Factors which encourage systemic corruption include conflicting incentives, discretionary powers; monopolistic powers; lack of transparency; low pay; and a culture of impunity.
  2. Sector
    1. Public
      1. Judicial: Corruption-related misconduct of judges, through the receiving or giving of bribes, the improper sentencing of convicted criminals, bias in the hearing and judgement of arguments and other forms of misconduct. Judicial corruption can also be conducted by prosecutors and defense attorneys.
      2. Political: Political corruption is the abuse of public power, office, or resources by elected government officials for personal gain, by extortion, soliciting or offering bribes. It can also take the form of office holders maintaining themselves in office by purchasing votes by enacting laws which use taxpayers’ money.
      3. Police: Police corruption is a specific form of police misconduct designed to obtain financial benefits, personal gain, career advancement for a police officer or officers in exchange for not pursuing or selectively pursuing an investigation or arrest or aspects of the “thin blue line” itself where force members collude in lies to protect their precincts, unions and/or other law enforcement members from accountability.
    2. Private
      1. Corporate: Crimes committed either by a corporation (i.e., a business entity having a separate legal personality from the natural persons that manage its activities), or by individuals acting on behalf of a corporation or other business entity.
      2. Education: Corruption in admissions to universities is traditionally considered one of the most corrupt areas of the education sector. This can include bribes to bypass bureaucratic procedures and bribing faculty for a grade. The general public is well aware of the high level of corruption in colleges and universities, including thanks to the media. Doctoral education is no exception, with dissertations and doctoral degrees available for sale, including for politicians.
      3. Healthcare: The abuse of entrusted power for private gain.
  3. Methods
    1. Bribery: The improper use of gifts and favours in exchange for personal gain. This is also known as kickbacks.
    2. Embezzlement, theft and fraud: Embezzlement and theft involve someone with access to funds or assets illegally taking control of them. Fraud involves using deception to convince the owner of funds or assets to give them up to an unauthorized party.
    3. Graft: The political act of graft is when funds intended for public projects are intentionally misdirected to maximize the benefits to private interests of the corrupt individuals.
    4. Extortion and blackmail: While bribery is the use of positive inducements for corrupt aims, extortion and blackmail centre around the use of threats. This can be the threat of physical violence or false imprisonment as well as exposure of an individual’s secrets or prior crimes.
    5. Influence peddling: The illegal practice of using one’s influence in government or connections with persons in authority to obtain favours or preferential treatment, usually in return for payment.
    6. Networking: Networking (both Business and Personal) can be an effective way for job-seekers to gain a competitive edge over others in the job-market. The idea is to cultivate personal relationships with prospective employers, selection panelists, and others, in the hope that these personal affections will influence future hiring decisions. This form of networking has been described as an attempt to corrupt formal hiring processes, where all candidates are given an equal opportunity to demonstrate their merits to selectors. The networker is accused of seeking non-meritocratic advantage over other candidates; advantage that is based on personal fondness rather than on any objective appraisal of which candidate is most qualified for the position.
    7. Abuse of discretion: Abuse of discretion refers to the misuse of one’s powers and decision-making facilities.
    8. Favouritism, nepotism and clientilism: The favouring of not the perpetrator of corruption but someone related to them, such as a friend, family member or member of an association.

Source: Wikipedia

SentinelGuyana