Deck 5: Paradigms of Organized Crime

Question 1

Why is it important to distinguish between the facts and perceptions on which models are based and the conclusions drawn from those facts and perceptions?

Answer 1

The deduction of wrong conclusions does not mean necessarily that the facts and perceptions on which they are based are also inaccurate

Question 2

What are hierarchical models of organized crime?

Answer 2

Models that characterize organized crime as a government-like structure whose activities are conducted with the approval of superiors Organized crime is large, centrally controlled, and highly organized See Table 51 in the text

Question 3

How is the testimony Sammy Gravano and Joseph Valachi about the structure of the Cosa Nostra remarkably similar?

Answer 3

They testified more than 20 years apart, and their description of being inducted into the Cosa Nostra, and the "family" and "commission" structures were quite similar

Question 4

Where is the hierarchical model the weakest?

Question 5

What are local, ethnic models of organized crime?

Question 6

What are the similarities between the hierarchical model and local, ethnic model of organized crime?
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Question 7

What is the business enterprise model of organized crime?

Question 8

Does there exist empirical support for the business enterprise model?

Question 9

How is the business enterprise model different from the other models of organized crime?

Question 10

To what extent do these three models of organized crime overlap?

Question 11

How do these three models differ in their focus on what is organized?

Question 12

How do the focus of models differ for scholars versus law enforcement officials?

Question 13

Why might future forms of organized crime occur via the virtual world of the Internet, rather than in the physical world of traditional illicit activities?

Question 14

In the future, how might continuing criminal associations become less important, replaced by changing "networks of convenience" in which criminals associate only temporarily when it is necessary to do so?