1. Concept Stretching and Organized Crime: “The night in which all cows are black”
The term ‘organized crime’ encompasses such diverse phenomena as the whole illegal market, quasi-governmental criminal structures, corporate crime and state crime. This ambiguity is also the result of the fact that perpetrators of crimes from the same organization may include members of any occupational group, corrupt business executives, members of the professions, public officials, politicians, in addition obviously to the conventional racketeer element (Hagan 1983:56). Therefore, it has become commonplace to observe that there is no uniform understanding of organised crime, not to speak of a generally accepted definition (Levi, 1998). Within the international literature on organized crime are there different scientific approaches that often disclose single facets (economic, cultural, political, etc.) of this phenomenon, with the result that ‘as many descriptions as there are authors’ (Albanese, 1985: 4). The multidisciplinary dimension has not necessarily ensured a high level of theoretical penetration of the objects of study. Despite recent advances, the theoretical literature on organized crime remains to be fairly thin and fragmented. In describing the object of study, one should speak about a number of different empirical phenomena, which are examined in a rather loose conceptual context. Not all approaches contain a clearly formulated conception of ‘organised crime’, being it as a formal definition or as a less restrictive outline. Often enough, a conceptualization of ‘organised crime’ is only implicitly made, at times merely taking the form of vague associations. Secondly, in some cases it seemed difficult to distinguish between claims co...
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...d argues that organized crime operates as a governance structure mostly addressed to the underworld so that its activities cannot be reduced to the supply of illegal goods. Contrary to Schelling’s claim (1971), extensive evidence exists that the services offered by MCOs can be ultimately genuine. For instance, scholars have established that MCOs are able to supply genuine services like protection against extortion; protection against theft and police harassment; protection in relation to credit obtained informally and the retrieval of loans; and the settlement of a variety of social disputes. The Mafia offers protection services to entrepreneurs of illegal commodities, such as protection for thieves, prostitutes, loan sharks and drug dealers. Mafiosi also protect their clients against law enforcement, or enforce illegal agreements and deals among corrupt actors.
This “business” aspect of organized crime is what the movie industry has latched on to in the Gangster genre. In Scarface, Tony Camonte is in the business of selling beer to the town watering holes. Of course, he doesn’t so much sell the beer as force it on the bar owners at jacked up prices. And just like any other business, there is competition for dominance in the market. And for this dominance, or rather monopoly, ringleaders do not think twice about taking their competition out – not by buying them out or forcing them into bankruptcy, but by sending a squad out to murder them.
Organized crime is a collective result of the commitment, knowledge, and actions of three components: (1) Criminal groups, who are core persons tied by racial, linguistic, ethnic or other bonds; (2) Protectors, who are persons who protect the group’s interests; and (3) Specialist support, which are persons who knowingly render services on an side-job basis to enhance the group’s interests. In order to thrive, an organized crime group needs many different elements. First, it needs an ensured continuity of members, clients, supporters, funds, etc. Additionally, it needs structure, criminality, violence, memberships based on common grounds, and a willingness to corrupt a power and profit goal. Generally, mafia organized crime groups disguise themselves behind the ownership of a legitimate business to avoid questioning from the Internal Revenue Service (I.R.S.) regarding any financial sources. The ille...
Organized crime has developed a stigma regarding its power and influence, especially during its hay day in the 1930’s. The mob has always been viewed as a powerful “family-like” organization. In Scarface, Hawkes brings the mafia into a seemingly more realistic light. By overturning Lovo’s position of power, Tony represents the idea of “every man for himself,” within a supposed organized group. The viewer steps into a cut-throat world of power hungry men, all trying to get rich quick. In this world, Hawkes asks, how can you organize men towards any goal if they all seek personal gain?
Organized crime takes many forms, from low-level street violence committed on city streets to white collar crime and fraud perpetrated in corporate settings. It is not surprising then, that one of the key problems pertaining to organized criminal activity in Canada is the convoluted legal definition of organized crime. Indeed, there remains little to no consensus as to what organized crime and criminal organizations should be defined as, how the presence of said crime should be measured, and what types of policies and strategies should be implemented to remove this problem from the Canadian criminal justice landscape.
more clearer when put in the light of an analysis of how the mafia enterprise
In the 1920s, Prohibition caused organized crime to be at an all time high, and so gangsters were at their prime, dealing in bootlegging and the illegal distillation and distribution of alcohol. The big gangsters and their crimes had a big impact on the society and the economy of the 1920s.
Shelley, Louise I. “Post-Soviet Organized Crime: A New Form of Authoritarianism.” Russian Organized Crime: The New Threat?. Ed. Phil Williams. London: Frank Class, 1997. 123-138.
Prior to Prohibition, the majority of organized crime in Chicago was centered on the markets of prostitution and gambling because these were both illegal practices with high demand that could easily be exploited for large profits (Sullivan). Gambling appealed to impoverished men who dreamed of changing their lives by winning big bets against all odds and therefore were willing to spend their paychecks on a game of chance. Prostitution, on the other hand, was lucrative due to the amount of adolescents who thought it was cool and the market of married men who were experiencing marital troubles. Both of these illegal practices provided gangsters with a living but had notable limitations and did not allow for them to rise from utter poverty to
Research for this assignment will be done to see if get tough policies have any effect on organized crime. Will organized crime through lucrative deals prevail? Will also be researched and answered within the context of this paper. By analyzing to see why get tough policies being put in place to stop organized crime, doesn’t work, then how organized crime can be stopped, will be explained and researched within this paper. The author of this paper will implement a point of view on how to stop organized crime, within the context of this paper. Lastly answer what effect does the war on crime against organized, will be researched and explained, if it works or not.
Peter Maas declares organized crime the “biggest business in the country” (Maas). “The largest and best known organized crime group is the nationwide organization variously known as the ‘syndicate’, the ‘mob’, the ‘Mafia’, and the ‘Cosa Nostra’” (Nash, Jason O-155). Some activities of the Mafia include gambling, loan sharking, pornography, illicit drugs, and racketeering. The Mafia began in Sicily, but did not retain to just that one location. In fact, in the late nineteenth century many of the Sicilian members immigrated to the United States (Nash O-155). The Mafia in the United States contains members that are Americans with Sicilian ancestry (“Mafia” M-48). There are several Mafia groups in the United States. Law enforcement authorities agree that there are around twenty-five groups that operate in large cities across the nation (Nash O-155).
people. The police is a government service to all people, but all people do not
Shanty, Frank, and Patit Paban. Mishra. Organized Crime: From Trafficking to Terrorism. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2008. Print.
According to the FBI, organized crime is consisting of Russian Mobs that fled to the U.S., groups that are engaging in drug trafficking and scams from African countries and Enterprises based in Eastern European nations like Romania. Many groups have started using the in...
With the world changing and advancing with technology, criminal organizations are taking advantage of new opportunities. The advancement of travel, ease of communication, and an increase in demand, has all contributed to the globalization of crime. Every nation has been affected by the globalization of crime and the problem continues to grow.
The existence of bribery and unethical behavior is rampant in the world market and may not change overnight. The question of bribery has been distilled in business literature as a question of ethics. In this situation at the airport with the customs officer, it is important to distinguish between business ethics and personal ethics. In a business ethics situation, the Foreign Corruption Practices Act would prohibit offering any bribe to the custom office – for example to free a shipment of goods that was lost in red tape (Pitman & Sanford, 2006). Most companies also have policies against bribery as well. In this situation, however the main issue at hand is that of personal ethics. When in a situation where your company is unknown and there is no business being conducted, normal business ethics and laws (including FCPA) do not apply only personal ethical standards.