Description
Organized crime remains one of the most fascinating manifestations of criminal behavior, yet it remains one of the least understood. Since the first edition of this book, there has been a Presidential Commission on Orga- nized Crime, many important convictions of major racketeers, massive attention given to the importation and use of narcotics in North America, and closer scrutiny to the entrepreneurial aspects of organized crime. This book reports on these, and other, significant developments in organized crime in recent years.
This new edition attempts to convey in a concise manner the nature, history, and theories of organized crime, together with the criminal justice response. This includes an evaluation of the investigation, prosecution. defense, and sentencing of organized criminals to date. In addition, a review of alternative futures in the prevention of organized crime is con- ducted. This book is designed, therefore, to provide a synthesis of impor- tant developments in the understanding, prevention, and criminal justice response to organized crime.
This book is the only existing book on organized crime that devotes more than one-third of its contents to the criminal justice response to orga- nized crime, making it ideal for use in criminal justice courses. Another entire chapter is devoted to law, and still another to the two Presidential investigations of organized crime in the last 30 years.
The careful reader of this book will come away with a clear understand- ing of the definition of organized crime, how it is categorized under law (as a number of distinct crimes), the individual causes of organized crime, models to explain its persistence, the history of the Mafia, Presidential investigations, nontraditional groups, and investigation, prosecution, defense, and sentencing of organized crime suspects, defendants, and offenders. A final chapter addresses the significant issues that will influence the future of organized crime and the criminal justice response. Rather than merely sum- marizing the existing literature in encyclopedic fashion, this book organizes information in a meaningful way. This will empower the student to separate the fact from fiction of organized crime. The incorporation of critical think- ing exercises throughout the book will reinforce the student's ability to apply the important principles of organized crime in new fact situations, and to anticipate portentous issues in the future.
