Summary
Contents
Subject index
Organized Crime: Analyzing Illegal Activities, Criminal Structures, and Extra-legal Governance provides a systematic overview of the processes and structures commonly labeled “organized crime,” drawing on the pertinent empirical and theoretical literature primarily from North America, Europe, and Australia. The main emphasis is placed on a comprehensive classificatory scheme that highlights underlying patterns and dynamics, rather than particular historical manifestations of organized crime. Esteemed author Klaus von Lampe strategically breaks the book down into three key dimensions: (1) illegal activities, (2) patterns of interpersonal relations that are directly or indirectly supporting these illegal activities, and (3) overarching illegal power structures that regulate and control these illegal activities and also extend their influence into the legal spheres of society. Within this framework, numerous case studies and topical issues from a variety of countries illustrate meaningful application of the conceptual and theoretical discussion.
Associational Structures
Associational Structures
Introduction
This chapter continues the examination of the three basic types of structures that define the organization of criminals: entrepreneurial structures, associational structures, and quasi-governmental structures. The previous chapter discussed entrepreneurial structures that link criminals who interact in the commission of one or a number of crimes. Entrepreneurial structures, by definition, are centered on economic activities in a broad sense. They are geared toward attaining financial or other material benefits through market-based crime (e.g., drug dealing) or predatory crime (e.g., burglary). In contrast to illegal entrepreneurial structures, this chapter examines associational structures, which support illegal economic activities only indirectly, by serving functions of a social nature. For example, associational structures facilitate contacts between criminals; they give status, reinforce deviant values, and provide ...
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