Organized Crime And Mafia Essay ⋆ Political Science Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

The United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime defines organized crime as “structured groups of three or more people acting in concert to commit one or more serious crimes for material benefit.” However, many criminologists suggest that this definition is too simplistic, as street gangs and white-collar criminals could fit this description. Street gangs are usually not classified as a form of organized crime because they are not organized enough, nor are their primary aims to accumulate and reinvest capital. Likewise, white-collar criminals do not appear to use deliberate violence to maintain territorial dominance, nor are they structured in a manner that allows the continual perpetuation of their activities, even if certain members of the organization are arrested or otherwise removed.

Thus, a criminological definition of organized crime might add the following characteristics to the United Nations (UN) definition: the deliberate use of violence to maintain territory and protect interests, the accumulation and reinvestment of capital, and a hierarchical structure that allows for durability over time, regardless of the removal of certain members.

Transnational organized crime has globalized alongside the globalization of the world economy. Trade agreements and unions have created new markets as well as easier movement between these markets. A major feature of organized crime groups or syndicates is their adaptability to change. As the world becomes increasingly globalized, so does organized crime.

Despite the vast array of activities engaged in by organized crime groups in today’s global world, four common activities appear to be trafficking illicit goods, extortion, human exploitation, and money laundering. Throughout history, organized crime groups have thrived from supplying illicit goods on the black market—including supplying alcohol during Prohibition to the current illegal trafficking of firearms, illicit drugs, stolen vehicles, people, and diamonds or gemstones.

Another central activity of organized crime groups, extortion, involves forcing individuals or businesses to pay portions of their profits in exchange for protection. If the individuals or businesses refuse or are unable to pay, they face threats of physical or financial harm. Extortion has been widely represented in mafioso films, whereby the local organized crime syndicate goes around collecting money from all of the businesses in their territory in exchange for protection or vigilante justice. A third common activity of organized crime groups is human exploitation, which can take several forms, including the trafficking of women and children for sexual purposes, worker exploitation, and debt bondage. According to the United Nations, the trafficking of human beings—the transportation and harboring of human beings by means of coercion and abduction, primarily for the purposes of sexual exploitation or prostitution—has become one of the most serious forms of crime in the modern world. Some victims, who are essentially enslaved through human trafficking, might be forced to work under exploitative conditions in workshops or agricultural settings. Debt bondage is one of the primary means by which people become enslaved into trafficking. Individuals, families, or businesses unable to pay back a high-interest loan from an organized crime group offer themselves, their wives, or their children to participate in prostitution or carrying drugs and other illicit goods across borders.

A final common activity of organized crime groups is the laundering of money. Through both legal and illegal enterprises, organized crime groups can generate millions, even billions, of dollars of revenue. However, to avoid the scrutiny of law enforcement these groups must ensure that money appears to have been legally earned so it must be passed through legitimate sources. Money laundering is done primarily through three main steps: placement, layering, and integration. Placement involves putting the dirty money into the legitimate market, such as buying an expensive painting or car in cash. Layering then involves moving further from the dirty money by selling the goods to buyers with legitimate money. This legitimate money can then be reinvested, which is what is referred to as integration.

Bibliography:

Bhattacharyya, Gargi. Traffick: The Illicit Movement of People and Things. London: Pluto Press, 2005.
DeVito, Carlo. The Encyclopedia of International Organized Crime. New York: Checkmark Books, 2005.
Lunde, Paul. Organized Crime. New York: Dorling Kindersley, 2004.
Sheptycki, James, and Ali Wardak. Transnational and Comparative Criminology. London: Glasshouse Press, 2005.

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