Editing Organized crime (section)

==Models of organized crime==
Various models have been proposed to describe the structure of criminal organizations.

===Organizational===
[[File:Sam Giancana.jpg|thumb|200px|[[American Mafia]] mobster [[Sam Giancana]]]]

====Patron–client networks====
Patron–client networks are defined by fluid interactions. They produce crime groups that operate as smaller units within the overall network, and as such tend towards valuing significant others, familiarity of social and economic environments, or tradition. These networks are usually composed of:

* Hierarchies based on 'naturally' forming family, social and cultural traditions;
* 'Tight-knit' focus of activity/[[Employment|labor]];
* Fraternal or nepotistic value systems;
* Personalized activity; including family rivalries, territorial disputes, recruitment and training of family members, etc.;
* Entrenched belief systems, reliance of tradition (including religion, family values, cultural expectations, class politics, gender roles, etc.); and,
* Communication and rule enforcement mechanisms dependent on organizational structure, social etiquette, history of criminal involvement, and collective decision-making.<ref name="Albini 1995"/><ref name="Albini 1988"/><ref name="Albini 1971"/><ref>{{cite book|last=Abadinsky|title=Organized Crime|date=2007|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=sJ8gAAAACAAJ&q=abadinsky}}{{Dead link|date=April 2023 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Lyman & Potter|title=Organized Crime|date=2010|publisher=Pearson Prentice Hall |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5wCkRAAACAAJ&q=lyman+potter+organised+crime|isbn=9780132457774}}</ref>

====Bureaucratic/corporate operations====
Bureaucratic/corporate organized crime groups are defined by the general rigidity of their internal structures. They focus more on how the operation works, succeeds, sustains itself or avoids retribution, they are generally typified by:

* A complex authority structure;
* An extensive division of labor between classes within the organization;
* Meritocratic (as opposed to cultural or social attributes);
* Responsibilities carried out in an impersonal manner;
* Extensive written rules/regulations (as opposed to cultural praxis dictating action); and,
* 'Top-down' communication and rule enforcement mechanisms.

However, this model of operation has some flaws:

* The 'top-down' communication strategy is susceptible to interception, more so further down the hierarchy being communicated to;
* Maintaining written records jeopardizes the security of the organization and relies on increased security measures;
* Infiltration at lower levels in the hierarchy can jeopardize the entire organization (a '[[house of cards]]' effect); and,
* Death, injury, incarceration or internal power struggles dramatically heighten the insecurity of operations.

While bureaucratic operations emphasize business processes and strongly authoritarian hierarchies, these are based on enforcing power relationships rather than an overlying aim of protectionism, sustainability or growth.<ref>{{cite book |last=Abadinsky|title=Organized Crime|date=2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Schloenhardt | first1 = Andreas |title=Organized crime and the business of migrant trafficking|journal=Crime, Law and Social Change|date=1999|volume=32|issue=3|doi=10.1023/A:1008340427104|pages=203–233 |s2cid=151997349| issn = 0925-4994 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Passas | first1 = Nikos |title=Anomie and corporate deviance |journal=Crime, Law and Social Change |date=1990 |volume=14 |issue=2 |doi=10.1007/BF00728269 |pages=157–178 |s2cid=144676017  | issn = 0378-1100 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Hagan | first1 = Frank E. |title=The Organized Crime Continuum: A Further Specification of a New Conceptual Model |journal=Criminal Justice Review |date=1983 |volume=8 |issue=52 |pages=52–57 |url= http://heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?collection=journals&handle=hein.journals/crmrev8&div=24&id=&page= |doi=10.1177/073401688300800209 |s2cid=144389146 | issn = 0734-0168 }}</ref>

====Youth and street gangs====
{{main|Gang}} 
[[File:Christopher Coke.jpg|thumb|upright=0.65|Jamaican gang leader [[Christopher Coke]]]]
An estimate on youth street gangs in the United States provided by Hannigan, et al., marked an increase of 35% between 2002 and 2010.<ref name="HenniganKolnick2015">{{Cite journal | last1 = Hennigan | first1 = Karen M. | last2 = Kolnick | first2 = Kathy A. | last3 = Vindel | first3 = Flor | last4 = Maxson | first4 = Cheryl L. |date=2015-09-01|title=Targeting youth at risk for gang involvement: Validation of a gang risk assessment to support individualized secondary prevention|journal=Children and Youth Services Review|volume=56|pages=86–96|doi=10.1016/j.childyouth.2015.07.002| issn = 0190-7409  }}</ref> A distinctive gang culture underpins many, but not all, organized groups;<ref>{{cite book |last=Wright|first=A|title=Organized Crime|date=2006| publisher=Willan| url=https://books.google.com/books?id=P4naAAAAMAAJ&q=wright+organised+crime|isbn=9781843921417}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.gangwar.com/dynamics.htm |title=Street Gang Dynamics |work=The Nawojczyk Group, Inc. |access-date=2017-07-25 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060427202435/http://www.gangwar.com/dynamics.htm |archive-date=2006-04-27 }}</ref> this may develop through recruiting strategies, social learning processes in the corrective system experienced by youth, family or peer involvement in crime, and the coercive actions of criminal authority figures. The term "street gang" is commonly used interchangeably with "youth gang," referring to neighborhood or street-based youth groups that meet "gang" criteria. Miller (1992) defines a street gang as "a self-formed association of peers, united by mutual interests, with identifiable leadership and internal organization, who act collectively or as individuals to achieve specific purposes, including the conduct of illegal activity and control of a particular territory, facility, or enterprise."<ref>Miller, W.B. 1992 (Revised from 1982). Crime by Youth Gangs and Groups in the United States. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of JusticePrograms, Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.</ref> Some reasons youth join gangs include to feel accepted, attain status, and increase their self-esteem.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Pesce|first1=Rosario|last2=Wilczynski|first2=James|date=2005|title=Gang Prevention - National Association of School Psychologists|journal=Student Counsiling|pages=11–15}}</ref> A sense of unity brings together many of the youth gangs that lack the family aspect at home.

"Zones of transition" are deteriorating neighborhoods with shifting populations.<ref>{{cite book |last=Rex|first=J|title=The sociology of a zone of transition|date=1968|publisher=Oxford University Press}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Burgess | first1 = Ernest W.  |title=Residential Segregation in American Cities |journal=Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science|date=November 1928|volume=140|pages=105–115|jstor=1016838 |doi= 10.1177/000271622814000115 |s2cid= 144829665 | issn = 0002-7162 }}</ref> In such areas, conflict between groups, fighting, "turf wars", and theft promote solidarity and cohesion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Thrasher|first=F|title=The gang: a study of 1,313 gangs in Chicago|date=1927|publisher=University of Chicago Press|url=https://archive.org/details/gangstudyofi313g0000unse|url-access=registration|quote=thrasher 1927.}}</ref> Cohen (1955): working class teenagers joined gangs due to frustration of inability to achieve status and goals of the middle class; Cloward and Ohlin (1960): blocked opportunity, but unequal distribution of opportunities lead to creating different types of gangs (that is, some focused on robbery and property theft, some on fighting and conflict and some were retreatists focusing on drug taking); Spergel (1966) was one of the first criminologists to focus on ''evidence-based practice'' rather than intuition into gang life and culture. Participation in gang-related events during adolescence perpetuate a pattern of maltreatment on their own children years later.<ref name="HenniganKolnick2015" /> Klein (1971) like Spergel studied the effects on members of social workers' interventions. More interventions actually lead to greater gang participation and solidarity and bonds between members. Downes and Rock (1988) on Parker's analysis: strain theory applies, labeling theory (from experience with police and courts), control theory (involvement in trouble from early childhood and the eventual decision that the costs outweigh the benefits) and conflict theories. No ethnic group is more disposed to gang involvement than another, rather it is the status of being marginalized, alienated or rejected that makes some groups more vulnerable to gang formation,<ref>{{cite journal  | last1 = Klein | first1 = Malcolm W. | last2 = Weerman | first2 = Frank M. | last3 = Thornberry | first3 = Terence P.  |title=Street Gang Violence in Europe|journal=European Journal of Criminology|date=2006|volume=3|issue=4|pages=413–437|url=http://www.angelfire.com/planet/crimeandsociology/StreetGangViolenceinEurope.pdf |doi= 10.1177/1477370806067911 |s2cid=9727289 |access-date=2011-06-08|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190805195906/http://www.angelfire.com/planet/crimeandsociology/StreetGangViolenceinEurope.pdf |archive-date=2019-08-05|url-status=dead | issn = 1477-3708  }}</ref><ref name="Klein et al 2001">{{cite book   | first1 = Jody   | last1 = Miller | first2 = Cheryl Lee | last2 =Maxson | first3 = Malcolm W.  | last3 =Klein |title=The modern gang reader |date=2001 |publisher=Roxbury |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=u4LaAAAAMAAJ&q=klein+et+al+2001+gang |isbn=9781891487446 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book  | first1 = Malcolm  | last1 =Klein  | first2 = Hans-Jürgen | last2 = Kerner  | first3 = Cheryl  | last3 =Maxson  | first4 = E. | last4 =Weitekamp |title=The eurogang paradox: street gangs and youth groups in the U.S. and Europe |date=2001 |publisher=Springer |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=trTHT_qv-osC&q=klein+et+al+2001+gang |isbn=9780792368441}}</ref>  and this would also be accounted for in the effect of [[social exclusion]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Young|first=J|title=The exclusive society: social exclusion, crime and difference in late modernity |date=1999|publisher=SAGE|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=2Jn1SasTM4wC&q=young+1999+social+inclusion|isbn=9781446240724}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Finer| first=C|title=Crime and social exclusion|date=1998 |publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XfBzMuLL6wQC&q=social+inclusion+crime| isbn=9780631209126}}</ref>  especially in terms of recruitment and retention. These may also be defined by age (typically youth) or peer group influences,<ref>{{cite book |last=Decker & Van Winkle|title=Life in the gang: family, friends, and violence|date=1996|publisher=Cambridge University Press|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=shmK3PaaT_UC&q=decker+van+winkle+1996|isbn=9780521565660}}</ref> and the permanence or consistency of their criminal activity. These groups also form their own symbolic identity or public representation which are recognizable by the community at large (include colors, symbols, patches, flags and tattoos).

Research has focused on whether the gangs have formal structures, clear hierarchies and leadership in comparison with adult groups, and whether they are rational in pursuit of their goals, though positions on structures, hierarchies and defined roles are conflicting. Some studied street gangs involved in drug dealing - finding that their structure and behavior had a degree of organizational rationality.<ref>{{cite book |last=Skolnick|title=GANG ORGANIZATION AND MIGRATION -- AND -- DRUGS, GANGS, AND LAW ENFORCEMENT|date=1993|publisher=National Youth Gang Information Ctr|url=https://www.ojp.gov/ncjrs/virtual-library/abstracts/gang-organization-and-migration-and-drugs-gangs-and-law-0 |id={{NCJ|142659}}}}</ref> Members saw themselves as organized criminals; gangs were formal-rational organizations,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sanchez-Jankowski|first=M|title=Gangs and Social Change|journal=Theoretical Criminology|date=1991|volume=7|issue=2|url=http://www.observatoriodeseguranca.org/files/191.pdf|access-date=2011-06-08|archive-date=2018-03-01|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180301044325/http://www.observatoriodeseguranca.org/files/191.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sanchez-Jankowski|first=M|title=Ethnography, Inequality, and Crime in the Low-Income Community|date=1995|publisher=Stanford University Press|pages=80–94|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XGIR4xzyuqkC&q=Sanchez-Jankowski+%281991%29+gang&pg=PA80|isbn=9780804724043}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last=Sanchez-Jankowski|first=M|title=Islands in the street: gangs and American urban society|date=1991|publisher=University of California Press|url=https://archive.org/details/islandsinstreetg00sn|url-access=registration|quote=Sanchez-Jankowski (1991) gang.|isbn=9780520911314}}</ref>  Strong organizational structures, well defined roles and rules that guided members' behavior. Also a specified and regular means of income (i.e., drugs). Padilla (1992) agreed with the two above. However some have found these to be loose rather than well-defined and lacking persistent focus, there was relatively low cohesion, few shared goals and little organizational structure.<ref name="Klein et al 2001"/> Shared norms, value and loyalties were low, structures "chaotic", little role differentiation or clear distribution of labor. Similarly, the use of violence does not conform to the principles behind protection rackets, political intimidation and drug trafficking activities employed by those adult groups. In many cases gang members graduate from youth gangs to highly developed OC groups, with some already in contact with such syndicates and through this we see a greater propensity for imitation. Gangs and traditional criminal organizations cannot be universally linked (Decker, 1998),<ref>{{cite book |last=Curry & Decker|title=Confronting Gangs: Crime and Community|date=1998|publisher=Roxbury|url=http://www.ncjrs.gov/App/abstractdb/AbstractDBDetails.aspx?id=171548  |id={{NCJ|171548}} }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Decker | first1 = Scott H. | last2 = Bynum | first2 = Tim | last3 = Weisel | first3 = Deborah   |title=A tale of two cities: Gangs as organized crime groups |journal=Justice Quarterly |date=1998 |volume=15 |issue=3 |doi=10.1080/07418829800093821 |pages=395–425 | issn = 0741-8825}}</ref>  however there are clear benefits to both the adult and youth organization through their association. In terms of structure, no single crime group is archetypal, though in most cases there are well-defined patterns of [[vertical integration]] (attempting to control all or part of the supply chain), as is the case in arms, sex and drug trafficking.

===Individual difference===

====Entrepreneurial====
The entrepreneurial model looks at either the individual criminal or a smaller group of organized criminals, that capitalize off the more fluid 'group-association' of contemporary organized crime.<ref name="Smith1978"/>  This model conforms to social learning theory or differential association in that there are clear associations and interaction between criminals where knowledge may be shared, or values enforced, however, it is argued that rational choice is not represented in this. The choice to commit a certain act, or associate with other organized crime groups, may be seen as much more of an entrepreneurial decision - contributing to the continuation of a criminal enterprise, by maximizing those aspects that protect or support their own individual gain. In this context, the role of risk is also easily understandable,<ref name="Albanese2008"/><ref name="Albanese2000"/> however it is debatable whether the underlying motivation should be seen as true entrepreneurship,<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Carter | first1 = David L.  |title=International Organized Crime: Emerging Trends in Entrepreneurial Crime|journal=Journal of Contemporary Criminal Justice|date=1994|volume=10|issue=4|pages=239–266 |doi=10.1177/104398629401000402 |s2cid=153563199 | issn = 1043-9862 }}</ref>  or entrepreneurship as a product of some social disadvantage.

The criminal organization, much in the same way as one would assess pleasure and pain, weighs such factors as legal, social and economic risk to determine potential profit and loss from certain criminal activities. This decision-making process rises from the entrepreneurial efforts of the group's members, their motivations and the environments in which they work. Opportunism is also a key factor – the organized criminal or criminal group is likely to frequently reorder the criminal associations they maintain, the types of crimes they perpetrate, and how they function in the public arena (recruitment, reputation, etc.) in order to ensure efficiency, capitalization and protection of their interests.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Galemba|first=R|title=Informal and Illicit Entrepreneurs: Fighting for a Place in the Neoliberal Economic Order|journal=Anthropology of Work Review|date=2008|volume=29|issue=2|doi=10.1111/j.1548-1417.2008.00010.x|pages=19–25|pmc=3819937|pmid=24223472| issn = 0883-024X }}</ref>

===Multi-model approach===
Culture and ethnicity provide an environment where trust and communication between criminals can be efficient and secure. This may ultimately lead to a competitive advantage for some groups; however, it is inaccurate to adopt this as the only determinant of classification in organized crime. This categorization includes the [[Sicilian Mafia]], [['Ndrangheta]], [[Triad society|ethnic Chinese criminal groups]], Japanese [[yakuza]] (or [[Boryokudan]]),  [[Illegal drug trade in Colombia|Colombian drug trafficking groups]], [[Organized crime in Nigeria|Nigerian organized crime]] groups, [[Corsican mafia]], [[Kkangpae|Korean criminal groups]] and [[Jamaican posses]]. From this perspective, organized crime is not a modern phenomenon - the construction of 17th and 18th century crime gangs fulfill all the present day criteria of criminal organizations (in opposition to the Alien Conspiracy Theory). These roamed the rural borderlands of central Europe embarking on many of the same illegal activities associated with today's crime organizations, with the exception of money laundering.
When the French revolution created strong nation states, the criminal gangs moved to other poorly controlled regions like the Balkans and Southern Italy, where the seeds were sown for the Sicilian Mafia - the linchpin of organized crime in the New World.<ref>{{cite web|last=Morrison|first=S|title=Approaching Organized Crime: Where Are We Now and Where Are We Going?|url=http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/6/B/2/%7B6B21C915-591C-4478-AEB6-ED58E6241D86%7Dti231.pdf|publisher=[[Australian Institute of Criminology]]|access-date=2011-06-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110329192011/http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/6/B/2/%7B6B21C915-591C-4478-AEB6-ED58E6241D86%7Dti231.pdf|archive-date=2011-03-29|url-status=dead}}</ref>

=== Computational approach ===
While most of the conceptual frameworks used to model organized crime emphasize the role of ''actors'' or ''activities'', computational approaches built on the foundations of [[data science]] and [[artificial intelligence]] are focusing on deriving new insights on organized crime from [[big data]]. For example, novel [[machine learning]] models have been applied to study and detect urban crime<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.takedownproject.eu/|title=TAKEDOWN {{!}} Organized Crime and Terrorist Networks|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tundis | first1 = Andrea | last2 = Kaleem | first2 = Humayun | last3 = Muhlhauser | first3 = Max  |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/333320647|title=Tracking Criminal Events through IoT devices and an Edge Computing approach {{!}} Request PDF|website=ResearchGate|access-date=2019-09-20|doi=10.1109/ICCCN.2019.8846956| s2cid = 199002437 }}</ref> and online prostitution networks.<ref>{{Cite book |doi=10.1109/asonam.2018.8508276|isbn=9781538660515|chapter=Covert Online Ethnography and Machine Learning for Detecting Individuals at Risk of Being Drawn into Online Sex Work|title=2018 IEEE/ACM International Conference on Advances in Social Networks Analysis and Mining (ASONAM)|pages=1096–1099 |date=2018 |last1=Kostakos|first1=Panos |last2=Sprachalova|first2=Lucie |last3=Pandya|first3=Abhinay |last4=Aboeleinen|first4=Mohamed |last5=Oussalah|first5=Mourad |s2cid=53080972|chapter-url=http://urn.fi/urn:nbn:fi-fe201901222703}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://onezero.medium.com/how-artificial-intelligence-is-tracking-sex-traffickers-276dcc025ecd|title=How Artificial Intelligence Is Tracking Sex Traffickers|last=Brody|first=Liz|date=2019-05-08|website=Medium|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref> Big data has also been used to develop online tools predicting the risk for an individual to be a victim of online sex trade or getting drawn into online sex work.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://medium.com/rightmesh/girls-in-tech-x-ubc-hack-for-humanity-hackathon-recap-656131e51b9f|title=Girls in Tech x UBC: Hack for Humanity Hackathon Recap|last=MacNeil|first=Brianna|date=2018-02-13|website=Medium|access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://devpost.com/software/online-sex-work-risk-prediction|title=Online Sex-work Risk Prediction|website=Devpost|date=11 February 2018 |access-date=2019-09-20}}</ref> In addition, data from Twitter<ref>{{cite book | last1 = S Al Dhanhani | first1 = Safaa | title = Computer Science & Information Technology |chapter-url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/322336420|chapter=Framework for Analyzing Twitter to Detect Community Suspicious Crime Activity|via=ResearchGate| date = 2018 | pages = 41–60 |access-date=2019-09-20|doi=10.5121/csit.2018.80104| isbn = 9781921987793 }}</ref> and [[Google Trends]]<ref>{{cite journal |first=Panos |last=Kostakos |date=2018 |title=Public Perceptions on Organised Crime, Mafia, and Terrorism: A Big Data Analysis based on Twitter and Google Trends |journal=International Journal of Cyber Criminology |volume=12 |issue=1 |pages=282–299 |url=https://www.cybercrimejournal.com/KostakosVol12Issue1IJCC2018.pdf |doi=10.5281/zenodo.1467919 |issn=0974-2891 |access-date=2019-09-20 |archive-date=2019-08-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190801120121/http://www.cybercrimejournal.com/KostakosVol12Issue1IJCC2018.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref> have been used to study the public perceptions of organized crime.

{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Model type || Environment || Group || Processes || Impacts
|-
| National || Historical or cultural basis || Family or hierarchy || Secrecy/bonds. Links to insurgents || Local corruption/influence. Fearful community.
|-
| Transnational || Politically and economically unstable || Vertical integration || Legitimate cover || Stable supply of illicit goods. High-level corruption.
|-
| Transnational/transactional || Any || Flexible. Small size. || Violent. Opportunistic. Risk taking || Unstable supply of range of illicit goods. Exploits young local offenders.
|-
| Entrepreneurial/transactional || Developed/high technology regions || Individuals or pairs. || Operating through legitimate enterprise || Provision of illicit services, e.g., money laundering, fraud, criminal networks.
|}