Models of Organized Crime Research Assignment

Models of Organized Crime
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Organized crime refers to crime that is carried out in an organized strategic manner as opposed to spontaneous crime. Usually organized crime just as the name suggests involves a group of people who are well organized and who carry our crimes in manner that cannot easily be detected. They may hide behind a company that seemingly carries out genuine business (Schelling, 2011). Organized crime takes various forms and models and the two major models of organized crime are discussed below.
The two major models of organized crime include bureaucratic organizations and patron client organization. Under bureaucratic organization, there are set down regulations and rules which guide the manner in which things are done (Fijnaut & Brit, 2010). When it comes to this form of organized crime, there is a lot of protocol. In this kind of organized crime, those that are ranked lower are not given a chance in the decision making process. The patrol-client kind of organized crime is somewhat different in that in this case, even the junior members of the organization are given a chance to participate in the decision making process.
Although these two models of organized crime differ in number of ways, they are also similar in yet a number of ways. To begin with, these two models seem to be popular in most governments and legitimate enterprises. The two models seem popular among criminals since they are can easily pass for legitimate organizations.
The two models of organized crime which are the major ones have become popular in many countries due to their structured nature. It remains to be seen the measures that government of various countries will take to dismantle these organizations.
Some of the activities that groups of organized crime engage in include, drug trafficking, prostitution, gambling, making supplies of services and goods that are illegal among other illegal activities (Pearon & Hobbs, 2013). There are many definitions that have been given for organized crime. The most important components however are that it should be a group of two people or more whose main agenda is to engage in illegal activities. They are highly organized and structured, almost to the level of a high ranking business organization. The activities of these groups are highly concealed and they often have genuine businesses which they use as a cover up for their illegal activities.
More often these groups use intimidation and threats and sometimes violence. These groups are also said to have a large force or influence behind them (Varese, 2015). They are either supported by a powerful faction of politicians or the media. These groups are therefore very powerfu...