NCJ Number
184596
Date Published
1999
Length
280 pages
Annotation
This volume describes the characteristics and nature of organized crime globally and in the United States and concludes that it is useful to envision organized crime in terms of informal relationships among a wide variety of both underworld and upperworld societal participants and not as a set of organizations of criminals.
Abstract
The discussion emphasizes that organized crime transcends issues related to ethnicity. In addition, it is generally far more informal in its structure and processes than a formal legal organization; political and economic elites from around the globe coordinate organized crime to some extent. Organized crime in the United States has evolved from the localized vice enterprises of the colonial period to the complex criminal networks that exist today. The enterprise paradigm is an intriguing and promising step in the study of organized crime, especially in the economic-based direction it has taken. However, this paradigm has flaws. The alternative paradigm that focuses on patron-client relations perceives society in terms of countless exchanges among individuals and is specifically oriented toward explaining phenomena such as the complex relationships observed among public officials and the purveyors of goods and services. The enterprise paradigm and the patron-client paradigms of organized crime are not mutually exclusive and may have the potential for integration into a holistic approach. Understanding organized crime requires empirical studies and a variety of perspectives, including sociology, economics, and political science. Reference notes, index, and approximately 250 references