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Essay on Social Organized Crime Perspective

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Social Organized Crime Perspective
In some communities organized crime is as much of a social institution as other legitimate functions. Often, the impact of organized crime can be hidden and not readily apparent to community members. In other cases the community may come to accept the organized criminal group for the benefits they provide. Understanding how organized crime meshes into the social fabric of a community is important to understanding how to fight against it. Just as important to understanding the social implications is understanding theories as to why individuals become involved in criminal activities and how criminal organizations function.
Social Institution as it Relates to Organized Crime
The first thing that must …show more content…

Organized crime group’s further entrench themselves into the community by establishing legitimate business interests. These legitimate enterprises provide the organized crime group an opportunity to mask their true operations and offer covert means to launder money or hide illegal activities from detection. The criminal group can become imbedded within the community and provide further opportunities. Organized criminal groups can generate additional business for legitimate community institutions, jobs, income, and services. This can become so valuable to a community that the citizens actually accept the criminal organization and look the other way. A major reason organized crime is so successful within communities are the corrupt ties these groups form with political and social leaders often as a result of bribery or other favors. Organized criminal organizations become part of the social fabric of a community. Many individuals who consume illegal services provided by these groups do not view themselves as criminals, yet they directly support the group’s criminal activities (Lyman & Potter, 2007). Understanding how organized crime becomes part of a community’s social structure is valuable, but an examination of theories of organized crime is important to provide a deeper understanding.
Applicable Theories
There are two parts to understanding the reasons for the emergence of organized crime. First it is important to understand the structure and

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