Assessing organized crime: Provisional situation report on trafficking in contraband cigarettes

This report has a dual purpose. On one hand it aims at providing an assessment of the cigarette black market in Northwest Europe, based on a review of open source data. On the other hand, it serves to tentatively explore the possibilities for a comprehensive and meaningful assessment of the organized crime situation in this particular sector.     

The enterprise “model” of organized crime: Assessing theoretical propositions

In recent years, the study of organized crime has been oriented around the enterprise “model.” This model is really an approach to studying organized crime, founded on the notion that legal and illegal businesses are quite similar. This notion provides the method used by enterprise theorists: theories established for studying formal legal organizations are applied to the study of businesses that provide illegal goods and services. The most noteworthy research based on the enterprise approach is that of economist Peter Reuter. Reuter used principles of industrial organization and marketplace dynamics to predict that illegal enterprises will be relatively small and shortlived, and that illegal markets will be characterized by competition, not by collusion. Here I seek to assess the degree to which Reuter's propositions were confirmed or disconfirmed by observations of the numbers gambling industry in New York City in the 1960s. Most of Reuter's propositions were not supported by the data used in this study.     

证券、期货犯罪的成因及防范透视

证券、期货犯罪的成因探讨是有效防范证券、期货犯罪的重要内容。本文认为,证券、期货犯罪产生的个体原因就在于人们在投资时的图利目的;社会原因在于重利轻义的观念;客观原因则是有关法律制度的不完善。对于证券、期货犯罪的防范需要树立与证券、期货市场相适应的刑法观;理顺证券、期货市场管理体系,强化查处证券、期货犯罪的职能;并加强对证券、期货违法犯罪的研究。     

有组织犯罪的概念及特征探究

有组织犯罪的产生最早可以溯源到1282年意大利西西里岛首府巴勒莫市产生的家族式的犯罪集团,意大利被称作"Mafia"(中文称其为"玛啡亚"),即黑手党之意,自此有组织犯罪渐渐在世界范围内获得发展,并渐成蔓延之势.     

Corruption and organized crime: Lessons from history

The intention of this paper is to serve in part as a warning to the international community concerned about corruption, to keep the focus based on the critical analysis of empirically verifiable information. In ways similar to how theorists spoke about organized crime in the 1960's and 1970's, articles today attempt to refer to corruption as if there were one agreed upon definition. However, like the concept “organized crime”, the term “corruption” involves diverse processes which have different meanings within different societies. Corruption (or a focus on corruption), may be the means toward very diverse ends and each may have a different impact on the society. While in some societies corruption may correctly be seen to be the “cause” of forms of social disorganization, in other situations corruption may be the “result” of larger changes. Understanding the processes within a specific context allows one to understand the nature of the corruption. Corruption rhetoric may too easily become apolitical platform for ranking and evaluating nations as to their worth based on criteria that lose meaning when applied across jurisdictions. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Problems of definition: What is organized crime?

What do most people, or at least most Americans, think of when they hear, see, or read the term “organized crime”? What do they know about it? And from whence do they get their information? What about law enforcement practitioners, prosecutors, judges, and politicians? And, what about academics and journalists, the folks who study and write about organized crime? Agreeing upon a commonly accepted definition of just what is organized crime has been a continuing problem for both research and policy. The discussion that follows addresses various dimensions of this problem, looks at the implications, and makes certain recommendations.     

Praxis and the disruption of organized crime groups

Although reports state the frequency of general crime has fallen across the developed world, no such trend is evident within organised crime. This has caused law enforcement agencies to search for more innovative approaches to tackle this global problem. Emerging prominently within this period has been a ‘disruption’ approach, albeit little systematic research currently supports its use. This study explores the way one English Police Force has tackled 15 Organised Crime Groups (99 individuals), using this type of approach. The study specifically examines the characteristics of the offender, the tactics used, and the re-offending levels following the police activity. It concludes by highlighting: the methodological challenges associated with the measurement of organised crime disruption; the ethical questions surrounding this type of intervention; and the overall effectiveness of the approach.     

“Organized crime” and “organized crime”: Indeterminate problems of definition

Despite decades of effort, the search for a universal definition of organized crime has eluded both academics, criminal justice agencies, as well as international bodies. More than two decades ago, a content analysis of such definitional efforts by this writer (Hagan, 1983) noted that, while many writers, including those of textbooks, failed to supply explicit definitions of organized crime, some consensus was apparent. These earlier findings are explored and compared with updated content analyses of American criminology and criminal justice textbooks and organized crime textbooks. Also discussed are definitions offered by criminal justice agencies and those by international organizations. A distinction is made between “Organized Crime” groups and “organized crime,” activities by groups that are organized. This paper was presented at the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, Baltimore, Maryland, March 2006.