NCJ Number
148964
Date Published
1990
Length
581 pages
Annotation
Intended for classroom use, this basic text addresses the important dimensions of organized crime and its control, with updated material provided in this third edition.
Abstract
Following a chapter on the definition and structure of organized crime, a chapter discusses the causal theories and historical antecedents of organized crime. Theories reviewed are anomie, differential association, cultural transmission, differential opportunity, ethnic succession, and social control. Historical antecedents include the "robber barons," urban machine politics, and "Prohibition." A chapter on the history of organized crime in New York considers media accuracy regarding organized crime, the personalities involved in Jewish organized crime, and the "families" of Italian organized crime. The chapter on the history of organized crime in Chicago focuses on the criminal individuals, notably Al Capone and Sam Giancana; the organizations; and the significant organized-crime events in that city. A new chapter for this third edition addresses emerging, nontraditional organized crime groups, including cocaine families, prison gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, Asian organized crime, crack gangs, and Sicilian Mafia groups operating in the United States. Three chapters discuss the criminal enterprises of organized crime. These are gambling, loansharking, theft, fencing, sex, drug trafficking, labor racketeering, and infiltration of legitimate business. Federal Laws and Federal law enforcement efforts that target organized crime are profiled, followed by a concluding chapter on Federal committees, commissions, and policy issues that have focused on organized crime. Chapter review questions, 675 references, and author and subject indexes