| Abstract: | This essay and review systematically charts the various influences from other areas of scientific research, including economy,
psychology, and neurobiology, on the study of organized crime. Drawing on an analysis of American and international literature,
metaphorical, and substantive references to other disciplines are highlighted on five levels of observation: the individual
“organized criminal,” the activities these individuals are involved in, the associational patterns through which they are
connected, the power structures that subordinate these individuals and collectives to common or particular interests, and
the relations between these individuals, structures and activities on the one hand, and the legal spheres of society on the
other. It is argued that a research program aiming at building up a cumulative body of knowledge is needed to overcome the
shortcomings of the current eclectic use of concepts and theories from other disciplines. |
