A public perception study on bribery as a crime in Turkey

Purpose - The purpose of this study is to explore the perception of Turkish citizens of the severity of bribery relative to other crimes and violations. Design/methodology/approach - A questionnaire survey was administered to 545 Turkish people respondents. A five-point Likert scale that measures attitudes and behaviors using answer choices was used to categorize the degree of seriousness of each crime for data analysis. Findings - The results of the study show that bribery ranked 16th among the 33 offences surveyed, that is, it lies in the middle in terms of seriousness. The results also indicate that the average person views bribery as not a very serious crime. When compared to violent crimes, bribery is significantly less serious. As for the property crimes, bribery is significantly less serious than arson and carjacking, but it significantly more serious than damage to public property, shoplifting and bike theft. When compared to white-collar crimes, bribery is remarkably less serious than embezzlement and appreciably more serious than welfare fraud, insider trading, child labor, minimum wage and insurance fraud. The results of this study are substantial; general public do not perceive bribe as a serious crime. Originality/value - This is an important study in relation to Turkey. This is as a pioneer study that indicates the relationship between bribery as a crime and other offences in Turkey. The results of this study should be useful to policy-makers in Turkey and elsewhere. Another important sight of this study is the fact that the results show different correlations with similar studies put through in the other countries. According to the studies, bribery was the least serious crime in Australia and New Zealand; it ranked in the middle in terms of seriousness in Mexico, similar to Turkey; and it was also less serious than the average offense in the USA.