Social Institution Research Paper: Organized Crime

Organized Crime
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Abstract
Organized crime is not a new concept as it is as old as civilization in the society. It is a parallel system that criminals form to compete with the legal systems in place. There is an otherwise natural tendency for some of the criminals in the society to negate from what is considered formal. The Alien Conspiracy Theory and the Rational Choice Theory are some of the best theories that best explain the existence of organized crime.
Organized Crime
Organized crime is largely centralized and as the name suggests, there is a great deal of organization; such that, there are quite a number of facets that make up a major or even local criminal organization. They tend to be local, national and in most of the cases international (FBI.gov, 2017). As such they can be defined as self-perpetuating associations that are composed of individuals who operate as part of a group or in wholly through illegal means and in most of the cases it is irrespective of the geography in question (u-s-history.com, 2017). There are three main aspects that are associated with organized crime; obtaining power, gaining monetary mileage and influence in the society (Beare, & Naylor, 1999). There is not a single structure in these groups as they vary relative to the level of agreements that they have and the efficiency that they can achieve (Helfgott, 2008). There are different cells, clans and networks which makes the structures quite dynamic. Organized crime tends to be insular and they will always protect their activities through violence, complex communication strategies, international commerce and corruption. Relative to the fact that there are different individuals all working towards a certain goal, there is an element that is associated with social institution.
Organized crime has an element of social institution relative to a number of elements. One of the aspects that has to be considered is that there is a conglomerate of individuals that form the organization. There are different persons that come to the organization all of whom are working towards a certain goal. This is a common aspect of social institution, where more than one person come together and are united by a common goal (Beare, & Naylor, 1999). The social network, is formed of different people from their different ethnic groups, social class, educational background and academic background. They all come together and form a unit that is geared toward attaining wealth, power and influence through illegal means.
There is also the element of the chain of command that associated with organized crime. The different cells, networks and clans have a chain of command that has to be observed at all times. This is to mean that there are rules as to who is answerable to the other and the flow of the orders has a certain organization that is in most of the case very strict (FBI.gov, 2017). The decision-making process is organized in a such a way that there are those at the top of the hierarchy who call the shots and the rest of the subsequent ranks have to oblige to the same. There is a strategic flow of information before it reaches the top bosses of the criminal organization (Beare, & Naylor, 1999). Much like a...