NCJ Number
150428
Date Published
1991
Length
17 pages
Annotation
This study of organized crime focuses on what the author views as an empirically groundless conception of the Mafia in America.
Abstract
The author argues that the preoccupation with the Mafia has hindered any useful understanding of organized crime's dynamics. Recent research shows that the concept of a national syndicate should be replaced by the conception of organized crime as flexible, informal networks of associations at a local level. The analysis ties organized crime's success or failure to prevailing market conditions. Thus, if the local configuration of suppliers, customers, regulators, and competitors is favorable, organized crime will flourish. Paradoxically, to the extent that government intrudes into private decisions, such as those involving sexual behaviors, market conditions for organized crime are enhanced. The chapter concludes with a discussion of the effects of prosecution efforts against mob figures in recent years. It notes that although these law enforcement activities have had short-term disruptive effects on organized crime, they have also caused organized crime to shift into safer, more sophisticated criminal markets. Ultimately, control of organized crime will occur only when policymakers understand and can disrupt the market conditions that shape it. 1 table