Organized Crime and the Social Perspective, Essay Example

Organized crime can be defined as a systematic illegal activity whose goal is to get profit or power either on international scale, interstate or city –wide. The meaning has evolved and today organized crime refers to gangsters who have now acquired a lot of power by corrupting greedy, weak and passive public officials or even through violence (Woodiwiss 2000). Criminal organizations do their illegal operations secretly and in most cases members of such organizations confer through a word of mouth.  Sometimes gangs become sufficiently systematic to be termed as organized a criminal organization is dependent in part on the support provided by the society in which it exists. Therefore, there is a big possibility for it to compromise some upright members of  the society  especially people in the police forces, judiciary, and legislature through blackmail , bribery, and by  cultivating  mutually dependent relationships  between the organizations and  legitimate businesses. Therefore a racket is integrated into lawful society under the shield of corrupted politicians, law officers as well as legal counsel. These organizations get their   revenue from extortion, narcotics trafficking, prostitution and gambling, among others.

Models of organized Crime

According to Jay Albanese 1989 there are three models of organized crime which are hierarchical model, enterprise model and patron-client model all originally known as American Cosa Nostrica. Jay Albanese has emphasized, these “models” are a representative of different ways of explaining different paradigms of organized crime. The view of Cosa Nostra as a bureaucratic entity with a national wide organizational structure and framework was attributed to the Hierarchical model of organized crime. On the other hand, another work by Joe Albini views the same as Cosa Nostra as a mesh of  ties that have an asymmetric network that is engrossed in ethnic as well as local networks and so described as patron client model (Abadinsky 2003)

Bureaucratic model emphasizes on efficiency as the main factor for big activities or operations. According to this model when activities continue to increase the need for bureaucratic structure sets in .this structure is important in controlling the enterprise through setting rules ,through specialization,  means of communication and hierarchy. An example of this type of structure is the outlaw biker groups whose target is to support activities of criminals and the Colombian cartels (Abadinsky 2003)

The patron –based organization is based on the ties that unite an organization. According to this model the role of the patron is to protect and help the client while the client becomes a respected loyal member. This model puts emphasis on traditions such as personal relationship and rituals (Abadinsky 2003)

The bureaucratic model is more centralized with more control over subordinates as opposed to the patron-client model whose activities are decentralized with a big number of social networks which has members who have no connection with each other and also has a little control over subordinates. According to (Abadinsky 2003) The American Mafia activities are characteristic of Patron-client model while its structure is a bureaucratic and a hierarchy. The American Mafia aim is gain profit by carrying out criminal activities

All the models are similar in that they have a strong orientation to solid settings and events. These models are constructed   based on some signs in mind of organized crime that have resulted under specific cultural and historic conditions.
The quoted authors also combine different approaches in order to overcome the limits towards applicability of the models. Although these models cover a wide range of issues they still have the limitation of lacking an overall framework necessary to compare and analyze phenomena across cultural and historical variations because the models only  put in order and then link the phenomena as if historical cases are the only provider of constellations. Organized criminal models are vital in understanding organized crime in that they represent the reality in a clear and simple manner. This  helps in understanding the reasons to why organized crime exist and thus the government and law enforcement bodies are able to make plans to  deal with it. All efforts to unravel as well as combat crime should be reinforced with intensive study and analysis of the way it is organized as well as controlled. This not only makes the job of crime busters easy but also enables them to fight organized crime with efficiency and thereby wipe out organized crime on the long term.

The Social Institutional Perspective of organized crime

Sociologists are able to see far beyond the people living in a city and the physical infrastructure the city of. Sociologists are able to see the social institutions that have been created by people to help them realize personal and collective goals.

A social institution is made up of a group of people who come together to realise a unique goal. Families are organized with the goal of procreation, providing intimate nurturing and helping to socialize the children in the society. Commerce is a social institution whose goal is to provide a means through which people can earn income after the schools have prepared them so that they can find a means of employment and are able to contribute to the larger society .Faith institutions on the other hand point out and nurture positive social values. Other social institutions are health care, government, the military, the criminal justice system and the media, each of which has unique goal and address a different set of problems (McDowell C. 1984)) .

A social institutional perspective perceives communities as composed of these social institutions with the residents of these communities as their members. Where healthy social institutions are present, sociologists call them social organizations.  On the other h and they talk of social disorganization where the existing organization are weak or do not exist completely. In most cases gang members live in socially disorganized neighbourhoods ;this is because In such  neighbourhoods , the social institutions responsible for  providing informal control to the  youth do not take their responsibility and therefore the justice system,  is  required to impose formal  social control through formal processing, arrests, and   punishment and treatment mandated by the court( Katz L. 1981).

From a social institutional perspective view, for a family to be healthy social institution, support from other social institutions in the community which should also be healthy and strong is necessary. Mike Carlie likens this to stool with three legs one being  education or  schools , another  leg as commerce or the places of work and the third leg being  the faith communities which instil values in the family. They each give support and contribute to the strength of the family which is seen as the platform. If one of the legs is missing or is weak the stool will definitely fall or will be forced to have extra legs which re government, healthcare and the media. If a mother or father lacks meaningful job, if the family values are not socially appropriate and or re undeveloped and if children lack Education that can give them meaningful job then the family does not have any hopes for success and consequently the children my turn to deviant behaviours. The primary thing here is the healthy of the family as a social institution. While most single-parent families produce children who do not become gang members, some  research body  suggests that  a disproportionate number of gang members originate from single-parent families, or re orphans  or children whose  parents  participate in violence , gangs , child abuse, or are  involved in substance abuse  and are role models to their children. According to Miller J. communities with gangs in most cases are likely to have more single parent families than other communities and gangs would increase proportionately to the number of single parent households. A social institutional perspective therefore perceives communities as made up of a collection of social institutions with solutions to social problems being dependent on how healthy these institutions are.

Social crime is strengthened by several factors which plays a major role in future victimisation of ones character. Some of the factors of interest and of discussion that tend to expose social crimes are; people’s status, age, marital status, social status and also person’s sex. To start with is the issue of gender, in that females are more likely to be exposed to assaults like sexual harassment than men. On the other hand men fall in traps of violent crimes perhaps due to their masculine nature where they are likely to fight for their lives, families, properties, freedom and also for friends. The other thing is age whereby young being extremely mobile and out in public for long are more exposed to social crimes than old people who mostly are indoors especially late in the evening. Seemingly, unmarried people tend to be out late at night since they have no responsibility or routines to attend to thus they do not worry hence posing risks of victimisation and exposure to crime.  However, persons with lower income and living in a compromised neighbourhood fall  into temptations of stealing from the rich, things like jewellery, vehicle spares that are sold to get money to pay rent and get food (Tanyasee 2009).

According to Miethe (2009), behavioural settings are also potential influences to social crime where different motivations and frequencies are involved. They include home environment, school environment, work and leisure environment. On the basis of home conditions, the familiar environment of ones dwelling give an added advantage to the victims of social crime compared to a new area. First is because there are possible escape routes well known and also crimes committed around where ones live is viewed as a private matter and does not attract public intervention. Another issue is that any social disorganisation among the people is quite visible to everybody who passes by hence anything could happen with no much struggle and planning.

In schools, the level of supervision of children determines the level of social crime committed by pupils considering that they are in a stage of trying to experiment anything and proving that they are capable of accomplishing what their seniors are doing. Peer pressure, status threats, and large population concentration with adequate structural setting enhance crime. Basically that stage of adolescence is so disturbing that most students are quite influenced by their immediate feeling of superiority hence increased crime among them. Work settings in some cases are vulnerable to crime, a place like banks are at high risk of crime due to the money available in them thus generally most groups associated with such business institutions are bound to be victims of crime since they are in the location of crime activities. Violence among the co-workers in some corporate businesses could be facilitated by competitiveness in work or reward allocation where every one is pulling on her/his side to ensure better returns thus jealous overrules their dignity resulting into crime.

The last behavioural domain is leisure activities like dinner, music concerts or sporting activities since they usually occur in public and at night where there is high possibility of being in contact with strangers and also alcohol consumption is a major event to many which results to wrangles. All these behavioral settings provide a good cover for crimes being done and escape routes thus being a tool and facilitator in that offenders are concealed and unidentified in time. Following all those predisposing factors that determine ones fate with crime, several characteristics need to be identified and habits changed to ensure safety.

Drugs and Gangs

Many countries have adopted the social policy which lists drugs as illegal and this has resulted into more problems than it has solved. The policies on drugs have created a conducive environment for the formation and growth of gangs. Growth of drug trade best explains the increase in violence youth activity.

In history youth gangs have engaged in various illegal income-producing activities, including e robbery, extortion and larceny. The widening of market for illicit drugs and the increased availability of these drugs especially crack cocaine provides new sources of income. There is  relative ease of obtaining  large sums of money through drug trafficking and this  provides  a concrete financial underpinning for gangs, increase existing gangs solidarity as well  offering  strong incentives for new gangs  to  develop (Monti D. 1995). As gangs fight one another over who should control the trade of drugs in local areas, inter-gang violence also arise and, in the process there is increased gang incentives and cohesion to form unions with other gangs. Such developments together with market requirements have resulted in wide expansion of drug-dealing gangs networks. The clearly models organized crime during Prohibition, with rival mobs forming rivalries and alliances and also fighting over markets and therefore drug trade is an important factor that has contributed to the growth of gangs illegalizing certain drugs has bred a dangerous and illicit industry which is similar to crime organizations that developed to manufacture, distribute, and sell alcohol when it was burned in the United States. As a result of the drugs being illegal and the increased and continued demand for these drugs, their price as well as the danger associated with their cultivation or manufacture, their processing, distribution, use and sale has also escalated (Miller J. 2008).

Concerns about organized crime

Gangs are local, national and international phenomenon and therefore they raise serious concerns bout the best approach to reduce their influence.In the local level the nature of gangs is obvious and this is seen through signs like groups of youths throwing hand signs, displaying colours, wearing tattoos, using gang monikers to refer to one another. The national link however is not as apparent to some. The link between national gang scene and the local gang activity is only clear to gang researchers, criminal justice practitioners, and other groups familiar with gangs (Kantor I. 1997).

Migration

Migration of documented gang members is one of the greatest concerns .The gang members move from their home community to the target community   for a various reasons: one of the aims of this movement is to further the gangs criminal enterprise, to establish new gang in the community of target, they may also move to escape detection in their home community by law enforcements or to escape punishment or even with the aim of abandoning the gang culture completely

Relationship between mass media and violence in the society

Youth all over the world get exposed to the mass media and its messages with the most visual and powerful of these being television, the internet, movies and music. Violence in the media results into violence in the society although there is no conclusive proof for this.  Some researchers show media violence as stimulatory for societal violence while others say that violence in the media impact on the audience by provoking purge of violent feeling this means that through watching violence in the media the audience vent their own feelings of anger or rage or in the case of the stimulating effect observing violence in the media cause viewers to behave and act out violently.

Movies and Television

The wearing of colors in 1970s by gangs was common place in the Los Angeles area exclusively until the movie Colors was introduced in movie theatres across the United States .Police departments started reporting that they were seeing youths wearing colors depending on the gangs to which they belonged. So if Colors had such a significant influence, it is possible that the newer movies especially the ones showing gangster lives to have a similar impact. Today’s music is also filled with categories such as hip hop and gangsta rap.  Some of these songs have lyrics that tell a story of inner-city life full of guns and violence. these guns are portrayed as providing  means of reaching  manhood and  maintaining it  and also  suggest  devaluing of human life overally as well s the  society’s social institutions especially  the family,  schools, religious groups and the criminal justice system. The bad thing is that the music is available to youths as broadcast on the internet, MTV, on the radio, as well as in stores.

The Internet

The Internet may be friend or an enemy to the well being of children. It is friendly, if it provides valuable and healthy information and entertainment. On the other hand it becomes a foe, when it connects the youths to sites that encourage them to participate in deviance. Some of the sites which are accessible from all corners of the world s long s there is internet connection expose youth to unhealthy ideas and images .While the national and international gang links are real, the fact remains that the best approach for reducing the attractiveness of the youths to gang life is to address the phenomenon at the local level. The approach needs to be a two-pronged approach.  First hand, there is a need to address the national influences as identified by remaining alert and responding to immigrating gang members and also limit exposure to media messages that are inappropriate. On the second hand there is need to focus on our local youths basic human needs and be vigilant in serving those needs (Moore J. 1991).

Solutions to organized crime

Mike Carlie uses the phrase “The spigot and the spill” as a metaphor to describe gangs. The spill refers to the members of the community who are already in the gang groups and the spigot to refer to ending the problems causing the spill which include substance abuse, irresponsible parents, child abuse and illiteracy. This perspective suggests that we should be more  focused on prevention rather than cure that is  reducing the problems which encourage  gangs to form and make  people to join these gangs  at an early age instead of  identifying  the gang members and  making arrests. Just to put it we should focus more on the spigot than the spill if the society wants to end the problem http://www.faculty.missouristate.edu/m/MichaelCarlie/Orientation/perspective.htm

To be a able to reduce the amount and rate of crime commitment it must first be known to us that criminal behaviour is not the problem but  a symptom of the problems that re making  people to violate the law. Solution is cure to problem and therefore If the problem is not well diagnosed, then there is likelihood of the solution failing. This is the case when it comes to gangs there has been misdiagnosis that the gangs are the problem which is not true. The problem is the reasons for the gang formation and therefore if the causes can be identified then the society can reduce youth violence and gang activity effectively. Most communities identify gangs as the problem and resort to arresting the gang members then assume gang activity will reduce but arresting these gang members is like giving them go ahead ( Robert L. 1983). And while in prison, gang members learn much and they associate with other gang members who are also in prison and upon their release into the community they may even become more dangerous to the community than they were before arrest because as ex-convicts they re nearly unemployable, they are angrier, the prison my have fostered new gang alliances and the fact that their status as ex-cons on the street have increased. Therefore suppressing gang members through arrest, incarceration and conviction is not the best tool for youth violence and gang activity because it will probably fail www.fas.org/irp/eprint/snyder/globalcrime.htm. The leader of the regional Federal gang task force once said “the criminal justice system has more to do than just imprison people .there is need for multifaceted approach including prevention, intervention as well as apprehension”. By dressing School failure, substance and child abuse in the homes, and other known problems which make the youth join gang life in conjunction with suppression of gang members led to reduced gang activity (Dukes R. & valentine J. 1998).

References

Abadinsky, H. (2003).  Organized Crime. New York. Penguin Books

Dukes R. & valentine J. (1998). Gang membership and bias against young people who break the law.the social science journal vol.35

http://www.faculty.missouristate.edu/m/MichaelCarlie/Orientation/perspective.htm

Jay A. (1994). Models of Organized Crime, in: Robert J. Kelly, Ko-lin Chin, & Rufus Schatzberg (eds.), Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States. Westport, CT: Greenwood.

Kantor I. 1997.the youth gang problem: a community approach. A journal of criminal justice vol. 25. New York; Irving spergel oxford university press.

Katz L. (1981). The justice imperative: an introduction to criminal justice.  A  journal of criminal justice vol.9 .Cincinnati: Anderson publishing company.

McDowell C. (1984). Criminal Justice: A community relations approach. A  journal of criminal justice vol.12 .Cincinnati: Anderson publishing company.

Miethe T.D (2009) Crime and its Social Context, A Book Retrieved on August 1, 2009 from <http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=_4wTiaBRclIC&dq=characteristics+that+predispose+one+to+victim+of+social+crime&source=gbs_navlinks_s> Pg 69-70.

 Miller J. (2008) Gangs: A criminal justice approach: Cincinnati: J. Mitchell Miller and Jeffrey P. Rush Anderson Publishing Company.

Monti D. (1995). The origin and impact of contemporary youth gangs’  in the united states.A journal of criminal justice vol.23. New York; state university of New York press.

Moore J. (1991).  Chinese gangs and extortion. New York: Lexington Books.

Robert L. (1983). Criminal justice research sources.  A journal of criminal justice vol.11 .Cincinnati: Anderson publishing company.

Tanyasee (2009) “Characteristics that predispose one to becoming a Victim” An Article Retrieved on August 1, 2009 from http://209.85.129.132/search?q=cache:0yx4pVjiiOsJ:hubpages.com/hub/Characteristics-That-Predispose-One-To-Becoming-AVictim+characteristics+that+predispose+one+to+victim+of+social+crime&cd=1&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=ke

Woodiwiss P, (2000) Organized Crime –The Dumping of Discourse, British Criminology conference 2000: Selected proceedings.

www.fas.org/irp/eprint/snyder/globalcrime.htm