Book Report on The New Ethnic Mob by William Kleinknecht

Book Report on The New Ethnic Mob by William Kleinknecht

The New Ethic Mob by William Kleinknecht explores how the current

criminals involved in organized crime are no longer just the Italians.

He could be Cuban, Chinese, Russian, African-American, Haitian, or

Jamaican. These are the new breed of more sophisticated and more

brutal organized criminals. In the preface of the book Kleinknecht

states not to mistake this work for a case against immigration in the

United States. The author does a great job giving background

information on how organized crime emerged in the early part of the

nineteenth century. Then became much stronger though prohibition with

Italian, Irish, and Jewish groups controlling this period. However,

Kleinknecht's main focus is the new adeptness of the ethnic organized

criminal. After calling and emailing William Kleinknecht many times

with no response I am sorry to say that I have no background

information on his current interests. I however did find out that he

is a crime reporter for the Newark Star Ledger in New Jersey, and The

New Ethnic Mob is Bill's first published book.

As mafia boss after mafia boss goes to jail there is a new ethnic

criminal emerging to the forefront of organized crime. A major player

that is likely to leave a lasting impact is the Russian mafia. Many

experts say they have even surpassed the Italian mafia in there

cleverness. They are involved in sophisticated forging, counterfeit,

and credit card schemes that have netted them millions of dollars.

They have also teamed up with the Italians in gasoline tax evasion.

This method of tax evasion is so wide spread the government has set up

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scholarly expert, more specifically a Criminologist. The author goes

into great detail about each ethnic group's activity in organized

crime. The authors writing style flows beautifully making this a

particularly easy read.

As Robert Merton said the Goal is emphasized not the Means. Immigrants

learned this from the Robber barons such as Rockefeller and Morgan

that would go any means ethical or unethical to get that dollar. This

is true in today's society as with scandals such as Enron looming over

us. Culture then and now are materialistic and money hungry. They

equate how big ones check book is with success in life. I feel that

how much money one makes does not parallel how successful of a person

they are. As long as there is a preoccupation with money there will be

organized crime in America.