Organized Crime
1) First, by definition, organized crime is comprised of participants who incorporate themselves into more or less complex systems for the purpose of committing crimes. 2) The second attribute of organized crime is its instrumental nature. Instrumental crimes are defined as illegal acts committed when individuals unable to obtain desired goods and services through conventional means, resort to crimes-for-profit. Organized crime exists for the sole purpose of making money. 3) Organized crime, at its core, offers illegal goods and services in order to make profits -- examples are illegal gambling, prostitution, pornography, loan-sharking, bootlegging, and fees for "protection" in the form of extortion. Murders within the world of organized crime are generally committed to ensure the ongoing survival and profitability of the organization. Organized crime has also been known to promote other crimes-for-pr
4) An important characteristic of organized crime is its connections with government and politics. Finally, it is the adaptive nature of organized crime that is both its most important defining characteristic, and the one that ensures its survival. The generational persistence of organized crime can be attributed in part to an auxiliary feature common to all crime syndicates: rules of conduct. Its deeply entrenched and pervasive powers of corruption extend well beyond the "traditional" mob activities such as extortion and drug trafficking, and into nearly every facet of legitimate business. Political corruption (graft) is a critical part of the survival of the business of organized crime. Graft greases the governmental machine, from politicians and judges to law enforcement officials. b) Dirty graft is money offered to cover up murder, rape, armed robbery or drug trafficking. The Mafia's adaptive nature, however, ensures that while it may be down, it will never be out. The Mafia owns waste management companies, construction firms, is firmly seated on Wall Street, runs several fraud schemes involving faulty prepaid telephone calling cards. The payoff ensures the widespread power and profitability of organized crime. It is the flexible and persistent nature of the American Mafia, in conjunction with the characteristics listed above, that have enabled its evolution from loosely knit bands of extortionists around the turn of the century to a high-tech, multinational conglomerate. " The line between clean and dirty graft is, however, illusory -- clean graft ensures the survival of the "victimless" rackets which, in turn, fund more serious crimes, such as murder for hire and drug trafficking. Note that graft generally falls into one of two categories: clean or dirty.
Common topics in this essay:
Crime Characteristics,
Mafia Mafia's,
Wall Street,
American Mafia,
organized crime,
drug trafficking,
dirty graft,
clean graft,
law enforcement,
attribute organized crime,
law enforcement officials,
victimless rackets,
enforcement officials,
labor racketeering,
conduct set,
adaptive nature,
|
Acceptance Essays
