Understanding organized crime

Over the past decade, the topic of organized crime has become an increasingly popular addition to criminology courses in the UK, previously attracting little more than a passing reference. Its growing recognition as a subject for serious academic discussion has, in part, been provoked by a growing awareness of organized crime on an international scale, what is sometimes referred to as 'transnational' organized crime (TOC). Despite the so-called 'sexy' nature of the topic, organized crime is a complex and thought-provoking phenomenon, which too often finds itself subject to exaggeration and over simplification. The chapter addresses some of the problems of understanding organized crime. It examines the major debates on definition and the role played by the media in influencing the public's perception of a form of crime rarely encountered directly. The chapter also includes a brief history of organized crime in the US, the country which has arguably exerted the greatest impact on crime-fighting strategies worldwide. The section on transnational organized crime considers how global changes, such as the collapse of communism, have affected the nature of organized crime and the way policy makers and law enforcement respond to it. Finally, the section on theory and methods discusses the various criminological explanations of organized crime and the different ways in which data are collected on a particularly elusive form of offending.