Organized Crime

- Attempts to regulate and control the production and distribution of a given

commodity or service unlawfully
o e.x. attempts economic governance: control of the rules and norms that
regulate an exchange market
- Governance requires:
o capacity for violence
o information
- Some similarities and distinctions
o White collar crime
 Goals: financial or other material benefits
 Modes: deviation with legitimate business activity
 Organization: individual or group
o Organized crime
 Goals: financial or other material benefit
 Modes: illicit activity (can include violence)
 Org: group
o Terrorism
 Goals: political or social objectives
 Modes: intimidation, violence, and coercion
 Org: individual or group
- Activities of Organized criminal groups
o Provision of illicit groups and services
 Characteristics: usually relying on vulnerabilities, not necessarily
inherent violence although violence in its protection and or
enforcement
 Harm: harm to victims, economic harm, harm to health, supports
underground, untaxed, and illicit economy
o Infiltration of legitimate business or government
 Characteristics: usually non-consensual activities, threats and violence
are endemic
 Harm: economic harm, harm to public institutions (legitimacy), misuse
of public funds
- Organization and composition
o Hierarchical vs network based
o Territorial vs non-territorial
o Role of ethnicity
o Role of gender
o But there is variation in relation to criminal markets and activities
Mafia Groups
- Attempts to control the supply of protection
o Against: extortion, theft, police harassment, informal credit and recovery of
loans
o Can settle a variety of social disputes
Relationship to the state
- State: a human community that successfully claims the monopoly of the legitimate
use of physical force within a given territory

Constraints/accountability
to the people
No mechanisms for
accountability
Control of single market Control of several markets/
markets for protection
states
Organized crime groups Mafia groups

- A point was brought up just now about how mafia groups provide services to fulfill
the needs of a community that may be overlooked by the state
o What are some policy implications for this  Do you think mafia groups
should still be criminalized?
 If yes: what are possible ways the state could intervene to fill the
needs of the community
Violence
- What is “normal”
- Violence  individual vs group
o Respect seems to play a big role
- Questioning what is deviant
o Like when you get rid of the violence you see
o Subcultures  providing platforms for people