NCJ Number
185858
Journal
Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice Volume: 16 Issue: 4 Dated: November 2000 Pages: 424-444
Editor(s)
George E. Rush Ph.D.
Date Published
November 2000
Length
21 pages
Annotation
This article reports on an ethnographic study of Russian-speaking immigrants in the Netherlands in which interviews and media accounts explained why Russian immigrants chose the Netherlands as a place to conduct organized crime operations, why criminal proceeds were invested in the Netherlands, and why there was a prevailing view of consensual organized criminal activity as being non-serious.
Abstract
Images and perceptions of organized crime and criminals were studied through participant observations of the Russian-speaking community in the Netherlands, especially in Amsterdam and Rotterdam. First impressions of organized crime among Russian immigrants to the Netherlands seemed to corroborate the findings of previous research in that there was no evidence of a tangible, well-organized Red Mafia. Nonetheless, the criminal image of Russian immigrants was widespread in the Netherlands and elsewhere in Europe. The image of organized crime set a behavior pattern for some immigrants and, privately or collectively, they learned to manipulate it to further their economic and political interests. Factors associated with the negative identity of Russian-speaking immigrants are discussed, and ways in which Russian immigrants manipulate their identity in such organized crimes as prostitution are noted. 23 references