INVESTIGATING THE ASSOCIATION BETWEEN ACCOUNTABILITY MECHANISMS AND WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES AMONG CIVIL SERVANTS IN DISTRICT KARAK

Abstract

The study, titled "Investigating the Association between Accountability Mechanisms and White-Collar Crimes among Civil Servants in District Karak," aimed to examine the weaknesses in the accountability system that contributed to the prevalence of white-collar crimes within selected government departments. Using a cross-sectional quantitative design, data were collected from 217 civil servants through a structured Likert-scale questionnaire, with a reliability coefficient (α = 0.631 for accountability and α = 0.677 for white-collar crime). Univariate findings showed that 82% of respondents believed weak accountability encouraged corruption, 83% agreed that strong accountability promoted honesty and efficiency, and 82% cited political interference as a major barrier to fair enforcement. The relationship between the variables was tested by applying the Chi-Square test and Tau-C statistics. The results reveal significant associations between accountability indicators and white-collar crimes, particularly political interference (χ² = 36.917; p = 0.000; Tau-C = 0.142), weak monitoring and auditing (χ² = 19.131; p = 0.002; Tau-C = 0.102), absence of performance evaluation (χ² = 18.866; p = 0.001; Tau-C = 0.136), and inadequate whistleblowing mechanisms (χ² = 12.865; p = 0.012; Tau-C = 0.128). The results confirmed that politically influenced, selective, and poorly monitored accountability systems lead to the misuse of authority and resource mismanagement. The study concluded that depoliticizing oversight institutions, improving auditing systems, enforcing whistleblower protections, and introducing regular performance evaluations are vital to curbing white-collar crimes among civil servants in District Karak.