Contemporary Organized Crime

This edited volume explores recent research and developments in the study of organized crime. It covers six key areas: drug-related issues; human trafficking and prostitution; sports and crime; procurement and corruption; and enforcement and prevention. The contributors provide timely research for understanding various aspects of organized crime, as well as the responses that have been developed worldwide to prevent and contain them. These contributions were presented at seminars of the Centre for Information and Research on Organized Crime (CIROC). It will be of interest to researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with an interest in organized crime and criminal networks, as well as related fields such as Comparative Law, and Political Science. This collection represents the most current thinking on entrenched problems of organized crime....This book is an important contribution in developing new approaches to organized crime and its control. — Jay S. Albanese, Ph.D., Professor and Chair, Criminal Justice Programs, Virginia Commonwealth University The book is very well organised and written and deals with a diversity of topics and approaches. — Ernesto U.Savona, Director of Transcrime, Professor of Criminology, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore, Milan

Despite strenuous efforts from local, national, and international law enforcement, organized crime continues to thrive and prosper—even centuries-old crime outfits are surviving the global forces of mass migration and multinational business and finance. From traditional gangland enterprises such as narcotics, gambling, and prostitution, the world’s mafias have moved into new sources of illegal income, including high-tech arms smuggling, money laundering, and identity fraud. Traditional Crime in the Modern World tracks these organizations—the Italian and Mexican mafias, Columbian drug cartels, Chinese triads, and others—across five continents as they adapt to change, and assesses their prospects in the short and long term. World events such as the collapse of the Soviet Union and the 9/11 terror attacks are discussed in the context of contributing to emerging markets for illicit goods and services, and to evolving partnerships among criminal entities. This timely volume: • Provides a comprehensive overview of how mafia-like structures function today. • Analyzes in depth national crime situations with global implications. • Examines the migration of organized crime groups and their operations in their new countries. • Gauges the influence of digital and other technologies on organized crime. • Where applicable, notes the links between organized crime and national political institutions. • Describes the impact of the global financial crisis on crime organizations. Concise, compelling, and deeply documented, Traditional Crime in the Modern World is an eye-opening resource for researchers in Criminology and Criminal Justice, particularly with an interest in organized crime and trafficking, as well as related topics of Demography, Political Science, and International Relations.

This volume represents the first attempt to systematically compare organised crime concepts, as well as historical and contemporary patterns and control policies in thirteen European countries. These include seven ‘old’ EU Member States, two ‘new’ members, a candidate country, and three non-EU countries. Based on a standardised research protocol, thirty-three experts from different legal and social disciplines provide insight through detailed country reports. On this basis, the editors compare organised crime patterns and policies in Europe and assess EU initiatives against organised crime.

Organized Crime: The Essentials provides students with an engaging introduction to the complex and pernicious world of organized crime. Students learn key concepts and principles within the discipline and study real-world examples of organized criminal activity. The text demonstrates how organized crime has adapted to changing times, become more sophisticated, and embedded itself into the fabric of economic, political, and social life in many nations around the world. The book begins with a definition of organized crime, an overview of key attributes and specific types, and discussion of its sociological foundations. Students are provided with a brief history of organized crime in America, including discussions of street gangs, prohibition, gambling, La Cosa Nostra, contemporary organized crime, and more. Later chapters examine illegal lotteries, sports betting, drug trafficking, organized theft, money laundering, and other ways in which organized crime operates as a business. The text concludes with chapters dedicated to transnational criminal enterprises, organized crime around the globe, and strategies for responding to organized crime. Approachable and informative, Organized Crime is ideal for undergraduate courses in criminology, criminal justice, and organized crime.

This book - whose contributors are all major European scholars - steps back from the sometimes overblown and over-homogenised imagery of 'organised crime' and unpacks its local, regional and international variations, emphasising the barriers to crime globalisation created by low ambition, language, contacts and trust. Articles on drugs, exortion, fraud, money-laundering and their control provide a more sober platform for the understanding of how crimes are organised and might be controlled than is offered in contemporary media and law enforcement debates.

Elgar Advanced Introductions are stimulating and thoughtful introductions to major fields in the social sciences and law, expertly written by the world’s leading scholars. Designed to be accessible yet rigorous, they offer concise and lucid surveys of the substantive and policy issues associated with discrete subject areas. Organised crime has become a major problem globally. Its negative impact on economies, societies, politics, human rights and security is profound: fraud, money laundering, drug, arms and human trafficking, and collusion with both law enforcement and terrorists, for example, are all significant issues. Yet specialists disagree not only on the scale and nature of organised crime, but even on its definition. This Advanced Introduction to Organised Crime explores these disagreements, examines the nature and causes of contemporary organised crime, and offers constructive suggestions on how to counter it. Key features include: • Emphasis on the rapidly changing structures of organised crime, its increasingly transnational nature and sophisticated use of the internet • Psycho-social and cultural explanations, as well as system-related ones • Exploration of the latest techniques for measuring organised crime • Detailed analyses of six of the best known transnational organised crime syndicates • A focus on human trafficking to exemplify many of the key points • Examination of the many methods that can be used – not only by states and international organisations, but also by civil society and individuals – to combat organised crime. Accessible and comprehensive, the Advanced Introduction to Organised Crime is an ideal resource for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying criminology, political science, international relations, law and sociology. Its profound insights are invaluable to practitioners, including law enforcement officers, investigative journalists and criminologists.

The latest in ABC-CLIO's series of background information for discussions or writing about contemporary issues. Ryan (criminal justice, Long Island U.) examines the Mafia and other organized crime groups, and efforts to control it. Included are a chronology from 1850 to 1995, biographical sketches of cops and robbers, documents and quotations from a wide variety of sources, a directory of resource institutions, and lists of selected print and non-print resources, and a glossary without pronunciation. The treatment is structured around ethnic minorities. Annotation copyright by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR