How did organized crime come to have such enormous power in Russia? There are three reasons offered by Barkan (which he got from Cameron Hall, 1997): a) the sudden collapse of the communist control over the legislative, executive and judicial components of the country meant that those forces that had in previous years managed to keep organized crime groups somewhat in check were not there anymore; in other words, there was a "power vacuum" and organized crime was quick to fill that vacuum; b) the very fact that the economy quickly transitioned from a socialist to a capitalist system "opened a wide range of previously nonexistent criminal opportunities"; and c) there was no real set of laws dealing with property or the changing economy and this allowed corruption to flourish (Barkan, 110). An article in the Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice (Albini, et al
Meanwhile professor Steven Barkan (University of Maine) goes a little deeper into Soviet history to explain the emergence of organized crime. The Russian Revolution of 1917 offered glowing promises of "a workers' paradise" but in fact what the people got was a "dictatorship" founded by elitists in the Communist Party (Barkan, 2011, p
Professor Gennadii Khokhriakov explains that the corrupt values in the Soviet Union really began well before the end of communism with a kind of "underground business" that eventually led to organized crime. Underground "entrepreneurs" counted on the support of ordinary workers, who "kept quiet… in return for higher pay" when petty theft occurred in full view of their workstations (Khokhriakov, 2002, p
It is no wonder these crimes could take place because "…No investment literature existed before 1991, and very little exists today" (Neimanis, 358). The Literature -- Did new Political Realities Spawn More Organized Crime? Authors David Kotz and Fred Weir suggest in their book that organized crime was a "serious but peripheral phenomenon" in the old Soviet Union but it "…emerged as a major force in Russia" (Kotz, et al
Stephen Mallory argues that it is perfectly logical for gangs began to exist (organized crime gangs) right after the breakup of the Soviet Union. Why? Because a "large number of Russians were earning as little as $11 per day" and though those poor wage earners did not necessarily wish to be lavishly rich, they simply wanted to survive (Mallory, 2011, p
Organized Crime -- the Fall of the Old Soviet Union How much influence did organized crime have on the collapse of the old Soviet Union? Did organized crime flourish during the events that culminated in the end of communist rule -- or was much of the growth of organized crime due in fact to the collapse of the Soviet Union? What were the factors that were relevant to organized crime in that era of perestroika? These questions and other issues will be critiqued and reviewed in this paper. Corruption & Lack of Ethics in the Soviet Union According to a peer-reviewed article in the Journal of Business Ethics (Neimanis, 1997), there are old values associated with the former Soviet Union that linger on, and some of those ethics and values have led to lawlessness
At the moment, there is not generally accepted statutory definition of organized crime. The Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 however defined the term as the unlawful activities of various members of a rather highly organized and yet disciplined associates who are engaged in the supply of illegal products and services that include and not limited to prostitution, gambling, loan sharking, labor, narcotics as well as engagement of in various unlawful activities by the members of these organizations (Finklea,2010)
The power of this group grew and evolved over time into the concept of organized crime that we see today. The Italian mafia as it still works in Italy is extremely powerful (Summerfield,2005)
undoubtedly encouraged some entrepreneurial youth to take up drug dealing." (Hagan 2001) North America suffered great decreases in employment specifically in inner-city areas as well as a lowering of wages of a sum up to 30% "which affected mostly young, under-educated, racial minorities
: The history of organized crime in the United States stretches for a long period of time, which is mainly traced to the period before the 20th Century. it's widely stated that organized crime began to flourish during the time of Prohibition, a period in which it grabbed the attention of policymakers (Finklea, 2010)
There are three key factors that could be used to explain the presence of transnational organized crime groups in Mexico: corruption, lack of political will to tackle transnational criminal cells operating in the country, and an enabling drug trade environment. Indeed, in the past, it has been noted that "corruption has hampered international efforts to assist Mexico in improving its law-enforcement response to organized crime" (Galeotti, 2014, p
For instance, Singapore manages to keep drugs at bay due to its severe punishment regime for those charged and found guilty of drug and drug related offenses. Recently, a man was hanged after being found guilty of attempting to import marijuana (Juergensmeyer, 2014)
Organized crime "remains one of the ways by which vigorous minorities bypass the traditional and orthodox routes to power" (Kelly, 1986, p10). What differentiates an organized crime group from temporary alliances among criminals is that it allows for a long-term relationship of contacts, shared interests, and hierarchy of accountability (Finckenauer & Waring, 1998, p
16). Lepke is said to have reacted with violence to business associates who failed to comply; "owners who tried to resist the Lepke mob would have their business establishments destroyed" (Kavieff, 2006, p
Organized crime "remains one of the ways by which vigorous minorities bypass the traditional and orthodox routes to power" (Kelly, 1986, p10)
The crime groups do have a distinctive set of rules and regulations that they adhere to and they have an "enormously complex, richly endowed culture of vice and criminality" (Jewish Crime, 2010). Michael LaSorta comments that the Jewish criminals tend to "administer their own form of justice based on a code of conduct and have their own tribunals" (LaSorta, 2007)
Exclusivity of its Membership Here again the definition of an organized crime group seems to fail in the Jewish underworld. The group's internal language being based on Yiddish (Lewis, 2007, p xi) seems to limit membership to Jews
Phishing refers to use of technological approaches in order to access bank details that eventually lead to loss of money and other pertinent information by the banks in the region. In order to foster threats and other accessible chances that offer such groups equitable maintenance of the opportunistic activities, phishing has risen to the government concern (Abadinsky, 2010)
The American FBI and other security agencies have dealt with massive investigations that are aimed at ending organized crime activities in and outside the United States of America. Nonetheless, it is quite palatable to understand that the happening of these crime activities is directed at the expanse of the ways and means of human interaction in the society (Benson & French, 2008)
There are many cases and instances of organized crime in the streets of the United States of America and the world as a whole. The natures in which these crimes are organized dictate their qualification to be termed as organized (Christensen & Levinson, 2003)