Abadinsky and Cresseys Definitions of Organized Crime - Essay Example

Abadinsky and Cressey's Definitions of Organized Crime Introduction Crime is considered any behavior that violates or leads to violation of criminal law. A behavior is considered a crime if it has been outlawed by the authority. Unlike other forms of crime, organized crime is quite complicated both in the way it operates and in its implications. The issue of what defines an organized crime has been under discussion for a long time. However, there are many arguments on the correct definition of organized crime. Nevertheless, there are certain features that characterize organized crime, which are used in investigating if a crime is organized. Organized crime involves an act of violation of law that had been pre-arranged. The planned criminal activity is for the purposes of making profit, and it entails use of threat, violence, and intimidation. Additionally, a lot of corruption evolves as the involved persons attempt to escape from arrest and prosecution. Cressey and Abadinsky have researched a lot on organized crime. However, their definition and understanding of organized crime differs. Cressey argues that organized crime makes available illicit goods as well as services to the society. He thus asserts that organized crime is part of the legitimate society though it provides illegitimate goods or services. Abadinsky claims that organized crimes are meant to provide goods and services required by the society. His description of organized crime emphasizes on the attributes that make a crime to be considered as an organized one. This essay focuses on Cressey’s and Abadinsky definitions of organized crime. Additionally, the essay will compare the two definitions. Howard Abadinsky defines organized crime as a non-ideological enterprise that encompasses individuals with close social ties, is planned on hierarchical foundation, with not less than three ranks and is aimed at acquiring power profits in addition to power. The enterprise attains the above by engaging in illegal as well as legal activities. The persons in the different ranks have different roles to play, which are assigned depending on one’s skills. Abadinsky asserts that the group does not have to share kinship ties to engage in organized crime. Abadinsky adds that, the members strive to make the enterprise part of their goals and are willing to use violence or corruption to attain their goals. Abadinsky argues that organized crime has no political goals and the membership is limited (Abadinsky 1-6). On the other hand, Donald Cressey defines an organized crime as a crime that occupies a position in a social system and is planned to capitalize on profits through providing products and services that are legally forbidden but demanded by members of the society. Cressey argues that the main attributes that characterize organized crime include set up agreements, rules, and regulations that the members of the group perpetuating the crime must follow. As opposed to Abadinsky who asserts that some of the activities performed by organized crime groups are legal, Cressey argues that most of the activities performed by organized crime groups have antilegal attitude and do not comply with the code of conduct. Cressey posits that the enforcer, corruptor, as well as the corrupted persons in an organized crime are important in coordination of organized crime (Cressey and Finckenauer 70-73). Abadinsky categorized organized crime into two. He named the two categories as bureaucratic or corporate and the patrimonial or patron. Additionally, Abadinsky came up with certain attributes that define either of the two types of organized crime. The attributes include lack or ideological motive, occurs over an extended period, entails use of tactics or strategies, which have been planned over a long period. Another attribute is that organized crime is directed by rules in addition to code of ethics shared by the perpetrators. An additional attribute of organized crime is that it is aimed at creating monopoly on certain goods and services. Abadinsky also believes that for an organized crime to occur there must be an organized hierarchy, the crime must be profitable with activities such as money laundering being extensive (Abadinsky 3-7). Cressey argues that most organized crimes are conducted by formal organizations. Since the organizations must avoid being detected, they thus come up with ways of ensuring that all the parties involved maintain secrecy. According to Cressey, organized crimes rely on the office other than individuals to retain their power. This makes them remain strong even after the leaders of the organization dies, retires, or is detained. Additionally, Cressey posits that organizations involved in the organized crime always attempt to neutralize the justice system. This is mainly by corrupting or bribing the officials to prevent prosecution. Cressey claims that corruption is one of the main factors that helps keep organizations committing organized crime stable (Cressey and Finckenauer 310-316). Both Cressey and Abadinsky believe that organized crimes provide goods as well as services required or demanded by the public. Additionally, they both agree that organized crime involves corruption and entails a lot of secrecy. Abadinsky and Cressey also agree that organized crime entails use of legal business or organizations to perpetrate illegal activities, which makes it hard for the legal officers to detect the criminal activities (Cressey and Finckenauer 70-75; (Abadinsky 11-17). However, Abadinsky insists that organized crime must be international while Cressey contends that organized crime could be perpetrated at a national level. According to Cressey, organized crimes can be done by formal organization or even by large street gangs. Additionally, Cressey attributes most organized crimes to organized crime families. He argues that organized crime families are capable of retaining their secrecy due to family ties, which makes the level of organization, and planning more sophisticated. This enables them commit very elaborate criminal operations without being prosecuted (Abadinsky 4-6, 8-11; Cressey and Finckenauer 308-311). Another aspect that Abadinsky and Cressey’s understanding of organized crime seem to differ is on the legality of the activities performed by the organized crime group. Abadinsky argues that the group performs both illegal and legal activities to provide the society with certain products that they demand. Cressey contends that most of the activities are of illegal nature and aim at providing illegal products though they may be on demand by members of the society. Though Cressey and Abadinsky agree that there is a hierarchy in organization of organized crime groups, Cressey argues that roles are given randomly while Abadinsky argues that the roles are allocated depending on an individual’s skills. Cressey claims that the most crucial and almost permanent positions are those of the corruptor, corruptee, and the enforcer. However, Abadinsky argues that almost all the positions are permanent for efficacy (Cressey and Finckenauer 311-313; Abadinsky; 14-20). Abadinsky definition is one I find more appropriate. This is because it clearly point out at the attributes that define an organized crime. Cresseys definition is quite confusing particularly when it asserts that an organized crime involves any type of crime performed by even an individual in an organized group. Abadinsky, argues that the perpetrators of organized crime use corruption to avoid prosecution which understandable. Cressey’s argument that bribery is a continuous process from the start of the planning is quite contentious since most organized crime groups turn to bribery hen their criminal activities start being revealed (Cressey and Finckenauer 304-307 Abadinsky 2-6). Conclusively, the correct definition of organized crime is yet to be established irrespective of there being numerous definitions. Abadinsky definition, which I find more appealing, uses the attributes of organized crime to define it while Cressey uses the manner of organization or the organized crime groups. Cressey claims that a corruptor, corruptee, and enforcer must exist in an organized crime. Works Cited Abadinsky, Howard. Organized Crime, 9th Ed. New York: Cengage Learning, 2009. Print. Cressey, Donald and James Finckenauer. Theft of the Nation: The Structure and Operations of Organized Crime in America. New York: Transaction Publishers, 2008. Print. Read More