NCJ Number
131403
Journal
Criminal Justice International Volume: 7 Issue: 1 Dated: (January/February 1991) Pages: 11-18
Date Published
1991
Length
8 pages
Annotation
This article characterizes the qualities and operations of the Yakuza, compares them with other inmates, and analyzes their management by Japan's Correction Bureau.
Abstract
The nature and operations of Japanese gangsters conform to the concept of organized crime. However, their specific organizational structure and subculture is definitively Japanese. Revision of laws regarding drug trafficking, illegal gambling, prostitution, and extortion as well as increased police campaigns has led to increased imprisonment of the Japanese gangsters. Their population has increased from 21 percent in 1975 to 30 percent in 1986. The approach of the Corrections Bureau toward inmate management relies on basic Japanese values and encourages offenders to abandon criminality. In contrast to this philosophy, the Yakuza are committed to a criminal subculture, demonstrate loyalty to their gangs, and exhibit a criminal orientation. For this reason, Yakuza inmates are assigned to security prison where they are managed through Japanese-style control methods that promote internal orderliness. 1 chart, 3 photographs, 5 notes, and 24 references (Author abstract modified)