CRIM 412 MT Condensesd

Three ways to understand organized crime

Illegal activities; groups or networks of offenders; and methods used to organize crimes.

Organized crime (OC)

Ongoing, organized, profit-oriented criminal activity involving multiple offenders.

Organized criminal association (OCA)

A group or network that maintains relationships to carry out serious profit-oriented crimes.

Criminal Code definition of a criminal organization

Three or more people whose main purposes include committing or facilitating serious offences for material benefit; excludes a group randomly formed for one immediate offence.

Canadian definition discussed in class

Two or more people secretly and continuously conspiring to commit illegal activities for direct or indirect gain.

Organization of criminals vs. organization of crimes

The first focuses on offender relationships; the second focuses on how criminal activities are organized and carried out.

Organized crime as a social construct

Vander Beken, von Lampe and Carrapico emphasize how policy, interpretation and labelling influence definitions of organized crime.

Most universal characteristics of organized crime

Multiple offenders, systematic and purposeful relationships, and profit-oriented criminal activity.

Three pillars of Schneider's typology

Organizational attributes (1–9), commercial attributes (10–15), and cultural/behavioural attributes (16–22).

Organizational attributes of organized crime

Multiple offenders, relationships, division of labour, risk management, communications, exclusive membership, recruitment, continuity and geographic reach.

Associational vs. entrepreneurial relationships

Associational ties involve family, friendship or shared identity; entrepreneurial ties are based on skills, resources and business opportunities.

Division of labour in criminal organizations

In hierarchies duties often depend on rank; in networks they often depend on skills, expertise or resources.

Risk management and insulation

Leaders reduce exposure by delegating dangerous activities to lower-ranking offenders or associates.

Hierarchy vs. network risk management

Hierarchies shield leaders through lower ranks; networks use separate cells and limited connections to reduce exposure.

Specialized criminal communications

Coded messages, encryption, intermediaries and restricted contact protect information from law enforcement.

Exclusive membership and recruitment

Some OCAs require sponsorship, family ties, trust, initiation or apprenticeship before accepting members.

Continuity and self-perpetuation

A criminal organization survives individual arrests, deaths, leadership changes and particular criminal ventures.

Multi-jurisdictional organized crime

Criminal activities, markets or relationships extend across cities, provinces or national borders.

Commercial attributes of organized crime

Profit-oriented serious crimes, consensual and predatory markets, multiple enterprises, monopoly ambitions and tactical support.

Consensual vs. predatory crimes

Consensual crimes involve willing customers, such as illegal drug sales; predatory crimes harm unwilling victims, such as extortion or fraud.

Monopolistic ambitions and tactical support

OCAs may seek control of markets or territory; violence, corruption and laundering support their profit-making activities.

Behavioural traits and distinguishing OC from terrorism

OCAs may be rational, sophisticated and disciplined, with criminal norms and rules; profit is normally the goal, unlike terrorism's political objectives.

Etiology of organized crime

The study of why organized crime originates, develops and persists.

Alien conspiracy theory

Organized crime in North America is explained as secret criminal societies imported from foreign cultures.

Criticisms of alien conspiracy theory

It exaggerates foreign influence, lacks evidence of one nationwide conspiracy, and overlooks home-grown organized crime.

Merton's strain theory

Society encourages wealth and success, but blocked legitimate opportunities can pressure people toward crime.

Merton's innovation

People accept society's goals of success but use illegal means to achieve them.

Ethnic succession theory

Marginalized immigrant groups may enter organized crime when legitimate opportunities are blocked; later groups can replace them as mobility improves.

Strain vs. ethnic succession

Strain explains pressure from blocked opportunities; ethnic succession explains changing immigrant-group participation across generations.

Radical and critical theories

Capitalism, inequality and pressure for profits can promote exploitation and blur the boundary between legitimate and criminal business.

Sutherland's differential association theory

Criminal behaviour is learned through interaction, communication and exposure to people who support lawbreaking.

Differential association: four dimensions

Frequency, duration, priority and intensity influence how strongly criminal associations affect an individual.

Social disorganization theory

Neighbourhood instability, weak community relationships and limited social controls increase exposure to criminal behaviour.

Subculture theory

Criminal groups develop their own identities, values, rules and expectations that may oppose mainstream society.

Differential association vs. social disorganization

Differential association explains learning through people; social disorganization explains neighbourhood conditions that encourage those associations.

Economic theories of organized crime

Illegal markets operate through demand, supply, prices, competition and efforts to maximize profit.

State policies and illegal markets

Prohibition, high taxes and restrictive regulations can create profitable underground markets.

Gambetta's private protection theory

Mafia-style organizations sell protection and dispute enforcement where government authority or legal protection is weak.

Administrative criminology

Explains criminal events through opportunities, offender-target convergence and rational assessment of risks and rewards.

Bureaucratic or hierarchical model

A formal chain of command with centralized leadership, ranked positions, specialized duties and structured authority.

Kinship model

Criminal organization grows from family, marriage, tradition and personal relationships rather than formal design.

Patron-client model

A central patron provides protection, contacts and opportunities; dependent clients provide tribute, loyalty or services.

Network model

Independent criminal entrepreneurs cooperate through flexible partnerships based on complementary skills and resources, without permanent authority over one another.

Five UNODC organizational structures

Standard rigid hierarchy, regional hierarchy, clustered hierarchy, core group and criminal network; distinguish them by centralization and autonomy.

Paoli's seven Mafia characteristics

Longevity, size, complex structure, cultural apparatus, multifunctionality, political governance and popular legitimacy or power-sharing.

Sicilian Mafia origins and private protection

The traditional account describes mafiosi becoming informal authorities offering protection, mediation and control of resources.

Mafioso as broker; partito and padrone

A mafioso manages a partito of personal contacts and acts as padrone or patron, gaining influence through services and brokerage.

Omertà and vendetta

Omertà is the Mafia code of secrecy and silence; vendetta is retaliation or a blood feud.

Decina, famiglia and crimine

Decina is a small Mafia crew; famiglia is a Cosa Nostra territorial family; crimine is an 'Ndrangheta coordinating body.

Cosa Nostra vs. 'Ndrangheta

Cosa Nostra has territorial Mafia families and more centralized coordination; 'Ndrangheta emphasizes blood-related clans and relatively autonomous units.

Prohibition's effect on Italian organized crime

Illegal liquor profits expanded criminal networks, sophistication and capital, encouraging movement toward profitable illegal markets.

Imported vs. home-grown Mafia theories

Italian traditions influenced North American organized crime, but local economic and social opportunities also shaped its development.

The Black Hand

An early label applied to Italian extortion activities, not one unified criminal organization.

Canadian Mafia as a US branch plant

Canadian crews historically maintained ties to US Mafia families, including Montreal to New York and Hamilton to Buffalo.

Hamilton and the Siderno Group

Hamilton Mafia figures had Buffalo connections; Toronto 'Ndrangheta clans retained links to Siderno, Calabria.

Cotroni, Violi and Rizzuto

Cotroni led Montreal's established Mafia; Violi represented Calabrian leadership; the Sicilian Rizzuto faction eventually took control.

Violi-Rizzuto conflict

A struggle over Montreal Mafia power involving Sicilian-Calabrian rivalry, external influence and violence.

Montreal Mafia hierarchy

Boss, underboss, lieutenants or captains, crews, soldiers or prospects, and associates.

Made members vs. associates

Made members have formal Mafia membership; associates may perform major criminal or financial roles without being inducted.

Montreal Mafia risk management

Secrecy, loyalty, delegation, fall guys, corruption and laundering helped protect higher-ranking members.

Montreal Mafia commercial activities

Drug trafficking, gambling, extortion, bookmaking, loan-sharking, union racketeering, fraud and money laundering.

Morselli's argument about Sammy Gravano

Gravano's rise was driven by network position, sponsorship and brokerage more than simply by committing violence.

Sponsorship and hierarchical constraint

A newcomer depends on a well-connected sponsor who provides access, support and valuable criminal relationships.

Structural holes and brokerage

A broker connects otherwise disconnected groups, gaining access to different resources, information and opportunities.

High vs. low network constraint

High constraint means redundant, interconnected contacts; low constraint means connections across different groups and greater brokerage opportunities.

Gravano's career: position and violence

Higher status expanded access to strategic violence, business opportunities and insulation; violence alone did not explain his promotion.

Two main settings of Indigenous organized crime

Central Canada features border smuggling and contraband tobacco; Prairie provinces feature urban street gangs.

South American cartels and Vietnamese organized crime

Cartels coordinate international cocaine supply; Vietnamese criminal enterprises described by Schneider include protection rackets and organized cannabis operations.

Why Akwesasne became a smuggling location

Cross-border geography, local knowledge, multiple jurisdictions and cigarette tax differences created profitable opportunities.

Akwesasne: historical grievances and sovereignty

Some participants connected tobacco trade to economic exclusion, government injustice and claims of Indigenous self-government.

Mohawk Warrior Society distinction

Schneider discusses allegations against certain members or leaders; the entire society should not automatically be labelled a criminal organization.

Tobacco manufacturers and the contraband trade

Some cigarettes exported to the US were smuggled back into Canada; illegal manufacturing later became a major source.

Prairie Indigenous street gangs

Examples include Indian Posse and Manitoba Warriors; members may engage in drugs, robbery and other crimes while linking to larger OCAs.

Street gangs vs. traditional Mafia-style OCAs

Street gangs are often younger, more fluid and publicly violent; traditional Mafia-style groups commonly have greater continuity and market control.

Colonial model and historical trauma

Colonialism, dispossession, residential schools and family separation created lasting inequalities and intergenerational harm.

Macro factors influencing gang involvement

Poverty, structural inequality, inadequate housing, unequal education and limited social services.

Meso and micro factors influencing gang involvement

Meso includes neighbourhood disinvestment and distrust; micro includes family disruption, trauma, peers and the need for belonging.

Four theories applied to Indigenous gang involvement

Strain: blocked opportunities; colonial model: dispossession; historical trauma: intergenerational harm; critical race theory: institutional racism.

Why gangs recruit vulnerable youth

Gangs exploit pre-existing poverty, exclusion, trauma and unmet needs by offering money, identity, protection or belonging.

Comack et al.: gangs as businesses

Street gangs organize drug supply, distribution, workers, customers and profits in ways resembling commercial enterprises.

Comack: exploitation of young members

Younger members conduct risky frontline drug sales while leaders collect most profits; younger sellers may receive little compensation.

Prison as the gang's 'head office'

Incarceration can strengthen gang networks by providing recruitment, contacts, skills, status and opportunities to coordinate crime.

Prison markets and gang expansion

Contraband generates profits in prisons, while prison connections and transfers can help gangs expand into other communities.

Comack: violence as a business tool

Violence and threats enforce debts, protect products, maintain reputation and deter competitors.

BC gangs vs. traditional street gangs

BC groups are often multi-ethnic, mobile, entrepreneurial and recruited across social classes, with fluid business alliances.

BC organized crime and international connections

Pacific ports, transport routes and global trafficking networks connect BC organizations to overseas criminal markets.

Gang evolution vs. OCA subcontracting

Evolution means a gang develops into a sophisticated OCA; subcontracting means an established OCA uses smaller gangs for criminal tasks.

CFSEU-BC and the intelligence cycle

CFSEU-BC targets serious organized crime and gangs; analysts collect, organize, analyze and communicate information about threats.

Tactical vs. strategic intelligence

Tactical analysis focuses on immediate individuals or operations; strategic analysis examines wider networks, trends and long-term threats.

OSINT and HUMINT

OSINT uses publicly available information; HUMINT gathers information from human sources, including informants.