Organized Crime Essay, Research Paper

Are they the same?

Organized offense is bad. That statement is merely about all I knew about organized offense before this assignment. I ne’er saw any of the authoritative films about the Mafia, or even bothered to read anything about them. The lone sort of offense that I knew approximately was the sort that I could hear about on the wireless, or see in my metropolis ; that s why I chose to compare earlier signifiers of organized offense, specifically the Mafia, to show twenty-four hours street packs.

Searching for the information was one of the easiest subjects that I have done, but merely for the Mafia half. When I had to happen more current articles about packs in America I ran into a small spot of a job with published beginnings. I couldn t find books any subsequently than the mid 1980s. I found a batch of beginnings on the cyberspace, but since they were likely merely a clump of pre-teens who were merely mesmerized by the gangsta blame I decided non to utilize those. I alternatively persuaded an familiarity to allow me interview him. This took attention of the remainder of the information that was needed to complete the paper, except he didn T desire me to utilize his name. I had to speak with him a few times and promise that I wasn t traveling to turn this paper into the constabulary, but I wasn t traveling to utilize any criminative information anyhow.

We like to believe that we have matured as a society as the old ages base on balls. But, the concatenation that is society is merely every bit strong as its weakest nexus. That nexus would be the offense organisations of America. I wanted to cognize if the organized crime ways have changed.

The Mafia of the first half of the last century obtained money through many different agencies. Some of these were extortion, harlotry, gaming, drugs & A ; intoxicant, and racketeering. There are even more specific means that were used, but I am merely traveling to concentrate on drugs and racketeering.

The drug of pick in the Mafia s earlier yearss was intoxicant. Prohibition was in consequence, but the populace would non abandon their old ways so easy. But, like all illegal substances, you have to acquire them from the black, or grey, market. That market was composed of the Italian households who were experienced in acquiring what they wanted back in Europe. One of the gangsters in peculiar was none other than the ill-famed Al Capone. Capone made $ 60 million on bootlegging entirely ( Mob Roots 1 ) . With all that money coming in and traveling, he had to maintain records and do certain that all of the money was accounted for, welcome to the beginning of genuinely organized offense.

Another one of things that the Mafia was fond of was to take control of a specific industry. They would frighten or assail concern proprietors to endorse off and allow another concern, owned by the Mafia, to supply their services, or give a big per centum of the net incomes to the Mafia. The followers is an first-class illustration of such a pattern:

-Hello, I d like a word with the president.

The president asked who was talking.

-Never head, merely person.

-But what do you desire?

-I privation. . . it s about this contract at Varapodio, this aqueduct. . . , we ve already had a word with all the other houses that want to offer, but none of them want to take portion, because a frie

neodymium of ours demands this contract. We are bespeaking you non to take portion either. ( Arlacchi 90 )

This clearly illustrates how a concern proprietor would be confronted about a specific occupation and be threatened apparently courteously out of context, but with baleful inflexion. This tactic would be used in any and all concern legitimate or non. But some were non so lucky ; some of them had to turn over their concerns to the Mafia so they would hold all of the net income ( Morton 265 ) .

Gangs in the present twenty-four hours are slightly different than households of the Mafia. Today packs make money through burglary, robbery, drugs, and racketeering ( Pace IV ) . Two of the old illustrations likely jump out because we merely covered them, that s good because those are the subjects I will depict packs.

Like the Mafia, packs are the chief beginning for drugs in the United States. The drugs range from marihuana to crack-cocaine. Gangs largely purchase drugs from a jobber who buys in greater measures from a husbandman or mill ( Chambers 291 ) . The drugs are so sold to the population. The sale of drugs is a reasonably common and public happening. In fact, when I was completing up my research for this paper I stopped at a fast nutrient eating house and I saw a immature adult male acquire off a coach, give something to an older adult male standing on the pavement, and walk off. This struck me as strange, so I watched the immature adult male walk off. When he looked in his manus I saw that he had a fictile bag of marihuana. This was done so matter-of-factly that I am surprised that I even noticed it.

Racketeering is besides a pattern of today s packs. One such illustration is the International District in Seattle, WA. Gangs are non every bit influential as the Mafia was, nevertheless, they can still frighten the concern proprietors into paying every hebdomad or month. The packs will travel to a concern, most normally a eating house be because they are less likely to hold picture surveillance, and offer protection from the local packs. If the concern does non pay, force will follow either on the belongings or the employees ( Wong ) . This is really closely related to the Mafia s patterns, but this one seems less cunning.

Looking back on what I have learned, I can see that the packs of today a batch like the earlier yearss of the Mafia. They both portion some of the same patterns and schemes for agitating money out of the working category, and they both supply the populace with the drugs that our authorities has prohibited. Possibly this century will convey us some alteration.

Plants Cited

Anderson, Annelise. The Business of Organized Crime. USA: Hoover Institution Publications, 1976.

Arlacchi, Pino. Mafia Business. Great Britain: Biddles Ltd. 1986.

Chambers, James A.. Blacks and Crime. Westport, Connecticut: Praeger. 1995.

Klein, Malcolm W.. Street packs and Street Workers. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc. 1977.

Morton, James. Gangland International. Lancaster Place, London: Claies Ltd. 1999.

Pace, Denny F.. Organized Crime: constructs and control. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall, Inc. 1975.

Spergel, Irving. Street Gang Work. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley, Inc.. 1966.

Wong, Aaron. Personal Interview. 11 Jan 2001.