NCJ Number
179660
Editor(s)
Stanley Einstein,
Menachem Amir
Date Published
1999
Length
563 pages
Annotation
Eighteen papers on organized crime address relevant theory and meta-theory, national and regional levels of description and analysis of organized groups, special activities or enterprises of organized crime, and the reaction of the state to organized crime.
Abstract
The first paper describes the developments in the definition of transnational and international crime in the deliberations of the United Nations agencies, followed by a paper that examines the threats to national and international security posed by transnational criminal organizations and transnational terrorist groups. Papers on national and regional levels of description and analysis of organized groups focus on social and political developments, including historical descriptions of the emergence of organized crime groups with their special characteristics. These papers include studies on social change and organized crime in former East European communist block countries, in changing mainland China, and in South Africa, which, like Russia, is moving toward democracy and a free market economy. The history of organized crime and its current structure and activities are documented in the studies on Austria and Israel. Both papers emphasize the role of immigration in the development of organized crime in the particular country. The studies that analyze Japan's Yakuza and organized crime groups in Italy document yet another change which led to the emergence of organized crime. This was the movement from feudalism to that of a modern state. Among the special activities or enterprises of organized crime discussed are the global sex trade, art and antiques theft, money laundering by Italian organized crime, and state-organized crime. The final section of papers discusses the legal and criminal justice measures taken by the state against organized crime, including a discussion of the future of narco-terrorism in Colombia and prospects and problems in the globalization of crime and criminal justice. 16 figures, 48 tables, appended supplementary information, and a subject index