NCJ Number
187504
Journal
Crime & Justice International Volume: 16 Issue: 47 Dated: December 2000 Pages: 9-10,25-26,29
Date Published
December 2000
Length
5 pages
Annotation
The perceived threat of transnational organized crime (TOC) has become an issue of major importance to policy-makers and social scientists over the past decade.
Abstract
Much of the discussion about organized crime is associated with the process of globalization and its consequences for national and international security. The knowledge base for the emergence of a "global crime problem" is premised on two basic measures, the volume of organized crime and intelligence reports on the activities of particular criminal organizations and individuals. Also related to the existence of a global crime problem is the surveillance of particular criminal organizations and their activities in and across different countries. Policy responses to TOC and criminality are examined in terms of licit and illicit economies, distinctions between organized and corporate crimes, and attributes of serious criminals and criminal organizations (disposition toward criminal activity versus opportunity). Implications for the research-policy relationship in formulating and implementing responses to organized crime are identified that focus on tensions between strategies of organized crime prevention and regulation, between public and private responsibilities for security, between government and professional agencies and multi-agency partnerships, and between accountability and ethics dimensions of policy reform in relation to efficiency.