Deconstructing Organized Crime

Deconstructing Organized Crime
Author: Joseph L. Albini
Publisher: McFarland
Total Pages: 219
Release: 2012-09-25
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0786465808

What is organized crime? There have been many answers over the decades from scholars, governments, the media, pop culture and criminals themselves. These answers cumulatively created a "Mafia Mystique" that dominated discourse until after the Cold War, when transnational organized crime emerged as a pronounced, if nebulous, threat to global security and stability. The authors focus both on the American experience that dominated organized crime scholarship in the second half of the 20th century and on the more recent global scene. Case studies show that organized crime is best understood not as a series of famous gangsters and events but as a structure of everyday life formed by numerous political, social, economic and anthropological variables. Instructors considering this book for use in a course may request an examination copy here.

From Mafia to Organised Crime

From Mafia to Organised Crime
Author: Anna Sergi
Publisher: Springer
Total Pages: 321
Release: 2017-07-19
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319535684

This book presents primary research conducted in Italy, USA, Australia and the UK on countering strategies and institutional perceptions of Italian mafias and local organized crime groups. Through interviews and interpretation of original documents, this study firstly demonstrates the interaction between institutional understanding of the criminal threats and historical events that have shaped these perceptions. Secondly, it combines analysis of policies and criminal law provisions to identify how policing models which combat mafia and organised crime activities are organized and constructed in each country within a comparative perspective. After presenting the similarities between the four differing policing models, Sergi pushes the comparison further by identifying both conceptual and procedural convergences and divergences across both the four models and within international frameworks. By looking at topics as varied as mafia mobility, money laundering, drug networks and gang violence, this book ultimately seeks to reconsider the conceptualizations of both mafia and organized crime from a socio-behavioural and cultural perspective.

Organized Crime

Organized Crime
Author: Klaus von Lampe
Publisher: SAGE Publications
Total Pages: 641
Release: 2015-07-16
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1483321266

Organized Crime: Analyzing Illegal Activities, Criminal Structures, and Extra-legal Governance provides a systematic overview of the processes and structures commonly labeled “organized crime,” drawing on the pertinent empirical and theoretical literature primarily from North America, Europe, and Australia. The main emphasis is placed on a comprehensive classificatory scheme that highlights underlying patterns and dynamics, rather than particular historical manifestations of organized crime. Esteemed author Klaus von Lampe strategically breaks the book down into three key dimensions: (1) illegal activities, (2) patterns of interpersonal relations that are directly or indirectly supporting these illegal activities, and (3) overarching illegal power structures that regulate and control these illegal activities and also extend their influence into the legal spheres of society. Within this framework, numerous case studies and topical issues from a variety of countries illustrate meaningful application of the conceptual and theoretical discussion.

Organized Crime, Corruption and Crime Prevention

Organized Crime, Corruption and Crime Prevention
Author: Stefano Caneppele
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
Total Pages: 338
Release: 2013-10-30
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 3319018396

​​​This volume collects new contributions to research on mafias, organized crime, money laundering, and other forms of complex crimes, gathering some of the most authoritative and well-known scholars in the field. The chapters for this volume are original peices written in honor of the retirement of Dr. Ernesto U. Savona, highlighting his research and legacy. Throughout his academic career, Professor Ernesto U. Savona has investigated complex crimes ranging from organized crime, to economic crime, to money laundering. In his work, he has tried to bring together academics, policy makers, and practitioners to bring understanding for crime problems and innovative solutions. His passion towards the practical application of the findings of scientific research led him to found Transcrime in 1994, which is today among the most important criminological think-tanks in Europe.This important book is aimed at scholars studying criminal policy and research, particularly in the areas of criminal networks, organized crime, white collar crime, the history of criminology.

Made Men

Made Men
Author: Antonio Nicaso
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers
Total Pages: 183
Release: 2013-07-05
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1442222271

The novel The Godfather (1969) and the movie of the same name (1972) entrenched the myth of the Mafiosi as valiant knights, men of honor, and defenders of the traditional concept of family. As a result of this movie and other popular portrayals, the image of mobsters as “men of honor and tradition” has become iconic throughout America. Yet the truth of the matter belies this more noble image. The Mafia is a ruthless organization. Their concept of family is a twisted one. But viewed through the lens of popular culture, it is often difficult to separate the fiction from the reality. Made Men demystifies this image by dismantling the code of honor that Mafiosi live by, including its attendant symbols, rituals, and the lifestyle that it demands. Since the end of World War II, the Mafia in Italy and America has undergone major changes, which are charted by the authors through the present day. Nicaso and Danesi also consider all kinds of related organizations, not only the Italian ones, including the Yakuza, the Triads, and the Russian Mafia. The authors look at organized criminal culture in general, attempting to explain why its symbols, rituals, and practices continue to draw people in, both as literal members, or as consumers of the pop culture that glorifies them. This story traces and decodes the origins, history and success of the mafia in the U.S., bringing a better, and more accurate understanding of this ultimately brutal, violent, and corrupting “family business.” It is a story that has rarely been told in this way, but which is believed, nonetheless, important to tell.

Demystifying ‘Ndrangheta: Challenging the Organized Crime Phenomenon of Calabria

Demystifying ‘Ndrangheta: Challenging the Organized Crime Phenomenon of Calabria
Author: Vincent C. Figliomeni PhD
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Total Pages: 249
Release: 2023-03-29
Genre: Social Science
ISBN:

This book is focused on demystifying ‘Ndrangheta, which includes unraveling ‘Ndrangheta’s behavioral elements that exploit criminal opportunities through conspiracy, collusion, and corruption, common among most mafia’-type groups, reinforced by ‘mafia-mystique’. The ‘Ndrangheta phenomenon has evolved over time by exploiting critical supporting elements of power present within the cultural, socio-economic, and political environments of Calabria, which in turn perpetuates, protects, and sustains 'Ndrangheta's presence and persistence. A comprehensive and practical anti-/ counter-‘Ndrangheta overarching campaign plan model is presented to assist policy makers, security practitioners, and criminologists in developing a method and a process for taking actions that neutralize essential elements of power and prestige that besides wealth, are primary objectives of ‘Ndrangheta.

Defining and Defying Organised Crime

Defining and Defying Organised Crime
Author: Felia Allum
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 354
Release: 2010-02-25
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1135273154

Organized crime is now a major threat to all industrial and non-industrial countries. Using an inter-disciplinary and comparative approach this book examines the nature of this threat. By analysing the existing, official institutional discourse on organized crime it examines whether or not it has an impact on perceptions of the threat and on the reality of organized crime. The book first part of the book explores both the paradigm and the rationale of policy output in the fight against organized crime, and also exposes the often ‘hidden’ internal assumptions embedded in policy making. The second part examines the perceptions of organized crime as expressed by various actors, for example, the general public in the Balkans and in Japan, the criminal justice system in USA and circles within the international scientific community. Finally, the third part provides an overall investigation into the realities of organized crime with chapters that survey its empirical manifestations in various parts of the world. This book will be of interest to students and scholars of international relations, criminology, security studies and practitioners.

Criminality and Business Strategy

Criminality and Business Strategy
Author: John Zinkin
Publisher: Walter de Gruyter GmbH & Co KG
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2022-10-03
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 3110712156

Criminality and Business Strategy: Similarities and Differences explores what can be learned from criminal organizations on four continents based on comparisons of their historical and cultural origins, chosen governance and power structures, and business models. It discusses how these contexts determined their applications of the principles and practice of effective, but amoral leadership, and whether these lessons can be applied to legitimate business enterprises. In this book John Zinkin and Chris Bennett argue that defining a "crime" is a contested issue and that criminality can be viewed as a spectrum, comprising a range of different types of crimes, the harms caused, and the variety of punishments involved. They discuss the critical role of the state in determining where criminality is perceived to sit on the crime continuum. The authors delve into how the state and organized crime are natural competitors, and how organized crime and legitimate businesses are subject to many of the same internal and external strategic considerations. They contend that the resulting similarities between criminality in organized criminal organizations and legitimate businesses are greater than the differences and that the differences are only in degree and not in kind. This thought-provoking study of criminality will be of immense interest to professionals, coaches, consultants, and academics interested in the techniques and ethics of leadership. The book is, in effect, the result of an intellectual journey of the authors from the ideas presented in their earlier book, The Principles and Practice of Effective Leadership, to the issues in this book discussing important, difficult, and contested subjects. The journey continues in their third book: The Challenge in Leading Ethical and Successful Organizations.

Mafia Organizations

Mafia Organizations
Author: Maurizio Catino
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 359
Release: 2019-02-07
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1108750931

How do mafias work? How do they recruit people, control members, conduct legal and illegal business, and use violence? Why do they establish such a complex mix of rituals, rules, and codes of conduct? And how do they differ? Why do some mafias commit many more murders than others? This book makes sense of mafias as organizations, via a collative analysis of historical accounts, official data, investigative sources, and interviews. Catino presents a comparative study of seven mafias around the world, from three Italian mafias to the American Cosa Nostra, Japanese Yakuza, Chinese Triads, and Russian mafia. He identifies the organizational architecture that characterizes these criminal groups, and relates different organizational models to the use of violence. Furthermore, he advances a theory on the specific functionality of mafia rules and discusses the major organizational dilemmas that mafias face. This book shows that understanding the organizational logic of mafias is an indispensable step in confronting them.

The New Technology of Financial Crime

The New Technology of Financial Crime
Author: Donald Rebovich
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 296
Release: 2022-08-08
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 1000630927

Financial crime is a trillion-dollar industry that is likely to continue to grow exponentially unless new strategies of prevention and control can be developed. This book covers a wide range of topics related to financial crime commission, victimization, prevention, and control. The chapters included in this book closely examine cyber-victimization in their investigation of online fraud schemes that have resulted in new categories of crime victims as the result of identity theft, romance fraud schemes, phishing, ransomware, and other technology-enabled online fraud strategies. This book also offers new strategies for both financial crime prevention and financial crime control designed to reduce both offending and victimization. It will be a great resource for researchers and students of Criminology, Sociology, Law, and Information Technology. The chapters in this book were originally published in the journal Victims & Offenders.