Controlling Organized Crime Paper

Controlling Organized Crime Paper

Celia King

CJA/384

February 25, 2013

Angela Morrison

Controlling Organized Crime Paper

Throughout United States history, organized crime has been a huge issue with law enforcement and the rest of society. Organized crime dates back to the 19th century with the Irish Mob being the first group to run the streets of America (Lyman, Potter, 2007). Since then, there have been many other groups that have imitated this type of organized crime, starting with the Mafia to ordinary street gangs; however, people involved in organized crime do not only consist of those in gangs or mobs. We can see a great example by looking at those involved with the fraud and mismanagement of funds through Fannie May and Freddie Mac. I guess the question that still remains since the 19th century is “how would one control organized crime?’ Throughout this paper, there is detailed information identifying the problems presented and the various relationships established by organized crime. There is also a description of the legal limitations associated with combating organized crime, including a critique of major federal laws and strategies that support this effort. To sum up the information provided throughout this paper, I will suggest a realistic solution to control organized crime by discussing and evaluating the effectiveness of organized crime prosecutions.

When trying to identify the problems presented and the various relationships established by organized crime it is important to begin with some speculative and empirical theories that I feel relate most to why people decide to take part in organized crime. One of the theories that I believe relates best to most criminal behavior is the relative deprivation theory. This particular theory states that the inequality between communities where the poor and the rich live in close proximity to one another creates a general feeling of anger, hostility, and social injustice on the part of inner-city inhabitants (Lyman, Potter, 2007). This theory gains validity when we look at cities like Chicago, Detroit, and New York, and we witness some of the underprivileged youth take out their frustrations through violence, anger and robbery on their well to do neighbors in the surrounding suburban areas. Another theory that I believe relates to this reasoning for criminal behavior is the differential opportunity theory. This theory states that many lower-class male adolescents experience a sense of desperation surrounding the belief that their position in the economic structure is relatively fixed and immutable (Lyman, Potter, 2007). With these individuals believing that their fate is fixed and that they will