Perception of Organized Crime Essay Example for Free

Perception of Organized Crime EssayOrganized crime has been defined as il legal acts castted by a unlawful formation or group. The NCIS (2005) described fig upd crime as having 4 salient attributes (1) nonionized crime group contains at least three mess (2) the criminal activity the group engages in is ongoing and indefinite in duration (3) the group is motivated by a desire for profit or military unit and, (4) the group commits serious criminal offenses (Lynman Potter, 2007). There are different categories of organized criminal doings. They include the provision of illicit services, provision of illicit goods, conspiracy to commit crime, penetration of legitimate business, extortion, and corruption. Illicit services are services that legitimate business do non provide. These services include but are non limited to gambling that is illegal, protection rackets, loan sharking, and prostitution. Illicit goods are also not available not available from legitimate businesses . Illegal drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and heroin are examples of illicit goods. Unregistered guns and stolen property are also examples of illicit goods.Conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to violate the law. Conspiracy is a vital category of organized criminal behavior. Organized crime members often throw together for the purpose of making money. They work together to sell drugs, stolen property, loan sharking, gambling, prostitution and other illegal activities they have going on within their organization.Organized crime organizations have no legal way to spend their profits so they must hide their revenue. They do this by penetrating legal businesses. Many of these crime organizations have businesses such as construction and contractors. Extortion is another category of organized crime. Many organized crime organizations use extortion to infiltrate legitimate businesses. Extortion is the use or threatened use of wildness or force to achieve a criminal en d (Lynman Potter, 2007). Corruption is also a category of organized crime. Many of these organized crime groups could notflourish if it wasnt for for the aid of pubic and private figures such as police officers, judges, prosecutors, mayors, bankers, attorneys, and elected and appointed officials.Organized crime groups have different hierarchies. There is the sample hierarchy in which thither is a single organized crime group which is led by a single powerful individual. These organizations have all the way defined roles, a readily identified chain of command, and a hierarchy that is designed to provide a strong system of internal discipline. Then there is the regional hierarchy. These hierarchies are tightly controlled groups with strong systems of internal discipline and clearly defined roles and lines of authority.Next theres the clustered hierarchy. This is an organized crime group that involves a enactment of smaller organized crime groups that coordinate their activities a nd enterprises. There is also a core group. This is an unstructured group of organized criminal surrounded by a larger network of individuals engaged in serious criminal activity. Finally, theres the criminal network. Criminal networks are loosely organized, highly adaptable, very fluid of networks of individual participants who organize themselves around ongoing criminal enterprise (Lynman Potter, 2007).The perception I had of organized crime is different from what I read in week one. Before this week, I always associated the Mob or the Mafia with organized crime. I think this comes from the movies and television shows that I have watched. I described organized crime as a group of people working for a boss to break the law. I thought that there was one head and people reported to him. I did not know that there were different categories of organized crime. I always associated drug trafficking and murder for hire as organized crimes. The readings have helped me to understand what or ganized crime really is and who is or can be involved. Before now, I would have never associated corruption or extortion with organized crime.I ultimately believed that this was something that was do up for movies and TV shows such as The Godfather, Scarface, The Sopranos, and The Wire. Before watching The Wire, I only associated Italians with organized crime. The characteristics I believe are associatedwith organized criminal behavior varies. First, all members of the organization are expected to live by a certain set of rules or a code. They should protect the organization and do what is asked of them by the leaders. I thought the characteristics of organized criminal behavior were similar to that of a gang. The people involved in organized crime may not erupt a certain color or live in a certain area but they have the same goal in mind. nurture the group by any means necessary. They have to be loyal to the group, do what they are told by someone else, and do what it takes to m ake money or a profit for the group.After this first week of class my views on organized crime has changed drastically. I now have a better savvy of what organized crime is and a more knowledge on organized criminal groups. I can let go of all of the stereotypes I may have had and now understand that organized criminal organizations have one goal in mind, make a profit for the organization no discipline if it is financial or political.ReferencesLyman, M., Potter, G. (2007). Understanding Organized Crime. Organized Crime (Fourth ed., pp. 1-38). New York Pearson Education.