1. Chapter 2:
Defining & Conceptualizing Organized Crime

2. Chapter Outline Definitions of OC
Challenges & Controversies in Defining & Conceptualizing OC
Competing Conceptualizations of OC
Differentiating OC from Other Criminal Conspiracies
The Harms Stemming from OC
Conclusion

3. Learning Outcomes
After reading this chapter, you should have an understanding of:
The various definitions & conceptualizations of OC that have emerged over the years & their historical context
The challenges & controversies inherent in trying to define & conceptualize OC, including why many argue that OC is a “social construct”
The similarities & differences between OC & other forms of “organizational” crime
How definitions & conceptualizations distinguish Canadian OC
The nature & scope of harms to Canadian society attributed to OC & how they are amplified compared to “disorganized crimes”

4. Defining Organized Crime
The term “organized crime” has been used to differentiate a specific manner of crimes & criminality (criminal behaviour)
The term is used to describe:
illegal activities
groups that carry out these illegal offences
how illegal activities are carried out
Image Source: By User:BenBurrnnett (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 ( via Wikimedia Commons

5. Defining Organized Crime
Definitions from American Sources

6. Defining Organized Crime
Chicago City Council Committee (1915)
“While this criminal group is not by any means completely organized it has many of the characteristics of a system. It has its own language it has its own laws; its own history; its traditional customs; its own method & techniques; its highly specialized machinery for attacks upon persons & property; its own highly specialized mode of defense. These professionals have interurban, interstate, & sometimes international connections.”

7. Defining Organized Crime
Oyster Bay Conference on Organized Crime (1965)
“…The product of self-perpetuating criminal conspiracy to wring exorbitant profits from our society by any means--fair or foul, legal & illegal. Despite personnel changes, the conspiratorial entity continues. … It survives on fear & corruption. By one or another means, it obtains a high degree of immunity from the law. It is totalitarian in its organization; a way of life, it imposes rigid discipline on its underlings who do the dirty work while the top men of organized crime are generally insulated from the criminal act & the consequent danger of prosecution."

8. Defining Organized Crime
President’s Commission on Organized Crime (1967)
“Organized crime is a society that seeks to operate outside the control of the American people & their governments. It involves thousands of criminals, working within structures as complex as those of any large corporation, subject to laws more rigidly enforced than those of legitimate governments. Its actions are not impulsive but rather the result of intricate conspiracies, carried on over many years & aimed at gaining control over whole fields of activity in order to amass huge profits.”

9. Defining Organized Crime
Donald Cressey (1969)
“An organized crime is any crime committed by a person occupying an established division of labour, a position designed for the commission of crime, providing that such division of labour also includes at least one position for a corrupter, one position for a corruptee, & one position for an enforcer.”

10. Defining Organized Crime
U.S. Department of Justice (2008)
Transnational organized crime can be defined as “…self-perpetuating associations of individuals who operate internationally for the purpose of obtaining power, influence, monetary and/or commercial gains, wholly or in part by illegal means, while protecting their activities through a pattern of corruption and/or violence.”
Image Source: Public Domain,

11. Defining Organized Crime
Vincent Teresa ( )
former member of Boston’s Patriarca mafia family:
"Organized crime ... it is just a bunch of people getting together to take all the money they can from all the suckers they can."
Image Source:

12. Defining Organized Crime
Definitions from Canadian Sources

13. Defining Organized Crime
Criminal Intelligence Service Canada
“…two or more persons conspiring together on a continuing & secretive basis to participate in illegal activities either directly or indirectly for gain.”
Image Source:

14. Defining Organized Crime
Quebec Police Commission (1975)
". . . this new class of the underworld is a group of individuals continuously & secretly conspiring together on a permanent basis with a view to profiting from several types of crimes."

15. Defining Organized Crime
S. 4671(1) Criminal Code of Canada
A criminal organization is “a group, however organized, that
(a) is composed of three or more persons in or outside Canada; and
(b) has as one of its main purposes or main activities the facilitation or commission of one or more serious offences that, if committed, would likely result in the direct or indirect receipt of a material benefit, including a financial benefit, by the group or by any of the persons who constitute the group.
It does not include a group of persons that forms randomly for the immediate commission of a single offence.”

16. Challenges & Controversies in Defining & Conceptualizing OC
OC is a complex phenomenon that it is averse to a concise definitions
Little agreement exists regarding what constitutes “organized”
Definitions, description & police cases, reveal a mix of offenders ranging from sophisticated “specialists” to “opportunists” — all operating in the same field (Beare, 2003a: xxii).

17. Challenges & Controversies in Defining & Conceptualizing OC
There has been an “enlargement of the concept, which seems to be continuously enriched with new types of activities & organizational structures. The danger associated with expanding concepts lies in the possibility of over-stretching them to a point where they risk losing their meaning & coherence” (Carrapiço, 2012: 25).

18. Challenges & Controversies in Defining & Conceptualizing OC
The Social Construction of Organized Crime
“More than most other types of crime, organized crime is a social construct that strongly reflects policy choices and beliefs.”
- Vander Beken (2012: 83)
OC “is a construct, an attempt to make sense of a complex social reality.” - von Lampe (2016: 12)
OC is “not as the result of a simple observation of an independent reality but as a labelling process amounting to a political and/or moral act.” - Carrapiço (2012: 26)

19. Competing Conceptualizations of OC
The organization of criminals or the organization of crimes
Highly structured criminal organizations or loosely organized criminal networks
A limited number of large organizations that monopolizes criminal markets & territories or many smaller groups & individuals competing in disorganized illegal markets
A system of governance or a system of criminal activities

20. Differentiating OC From Other Criminal Conspiracies
Organized vs. “disorganized” crime
Organization of offenders
OC involves multiple offenders
“unorganized crimes” committed by individuals acting alone or in pairs or small groups
Organization of crimes
OC not defined by illegal activities, for many of these crimes can be carried out by individuals working alone.
OC is characterized by how illegal activities are carried out (e.g., greater sophistication)

21. Distinguishing Organized Crime
Organized Crime vs. Youth Gangs
Should youth gangs should be included under the category of organized crime?
Yes: youth gangs embody fundamental tenets of OC:
two or more people are involved
a structure to the relationship among members
continuing enterprise engaging in (profit-oriented) criminal activities
increased cooperation between gangs & organized crime groups
some gangs have morphed into criminal organizations
No: youth gangs have numerous distinguishable traits
gangs are confined to young people
all members may not be engaged in criminal acts
gangs are confined to (inner-city) areas, such as a neighbourhood
criminal activities are not always profit-oriented in nature

22. Distinguishing Organized Crime
Organized Crime vs. Corporate Crime
Should corporate crime be considered organized crime?
Yes: corporate crime embodies fundamental tenets of OC:
Multiple individuals involved
a structure to the relationship among the offenders
continuing enterprise engaging in (profit-oriented) criminal activities
commit similar crimes: fraud, theft, corruption, money laundering, tax evasion, smuggling, drug trafficking (by pharmaceutical companies)
many victims have been harmed or died from the actions of corporations
No: corporate crime is fundamentally different from OC
most corporations are not founded to commit criminal offences
crimes by corporations are a deviation from otherwise legitimate business
many in the corporation are not involved in criminal acts

23. Distinguishing Organized Crime
Organized Crime vs. State Crime
Should state crimes be considered organized crime?
Yes: state crime embodies fundamental tenets of OC:
multiple offenders are involved
a structure to the relationship among the offenders
continuing enterprise engaging in various criminal activities, some profitable
commit similar crimes: fraud, theft, corruption, tax evasion, smuggling, etc.
many victims are harmed or have died from state crimes
state crime & OC have merged in the form of the “mafia state” (e.g., Russia under Putin, North Korea)
No: state crime is fundamentally different from OC
states & governments are not founded to commit criminal offences
many state crimes not about money but power (i.e., electoral fraud, persecution of opposition parties & dissidents)
many in state agencies are not involved in criminal acts

24. Distinguishing Organized Crime
Organized Crime vs. Terrorism
Should terrorism be considered organized crime?
Yes: terrorism & extremist groups embody fundamental tenets of OC:
multiple offenders are involved
a structure to the relationship among the offenders
continuing enterprise engaging in various (profit-oriented) criminal activities
use of violence & intimidation (many victims have died from acts of terrorism)
some terrorist groups have evolved into profit-oriented criminal groups
some cooperation & coordination between terrorist & OC groups
No: terrorism & extremist groups are fundamentally different from OC
The two have different objectives: OC exists to make money, terrorist groups exist to effect political & social change
Revenue-generating criminal activities of terrorist groups are a means to an end, not an end in itself

25. Harms to society are increased when crimes & offenders are organized
Harms Stemming from OC
Corruption of public officials
Exploitation of women & children
Costs incurred by companies, government, & private citizens due to thefts & fraud
Billions of dollars in evaded income taxes
Injuries & deaths resulting from the sale of dangerous counterfeit & contraband goods, arms trafficking, innocent bystanders caught in the crossfire of gangland conflicts
The toll illegal drugs alone takes on society is immense
Billions of dollars spent every year by governments, companies, & individuals to combat OC & to deal with its aftermath
Harms to society are increased when
crimes & offenders are organized

26. Conclusion
Difficult to define, conceptualize, & distinguish OC due to:
the multifaceted & complex nature of this phenomenon,
how definitions are socially & political constructed (i.e. influenced by the perspectives, biases, & position of the individual or agency behind the definition).
Image Source: RCMP (personal communication)

27. Conclusion
There has been limited attempts to define & conceptualize OC in Canada (compared to the US)
This stems in part from the reluctance of public & law enforcement officials to admit there was OC in Canada
Government agencies & media in Canada equated OC with
ethnic immigrant minority groups (Italian & Chinese in particular)
hierarchically structured mafia-style criminal organizations
Unlike the U.S., there was a resistance to over-estimating the scope of OC in Canada (i.e., as a nation-wide conspiracy)
Recent law enforcement & legislative definitions are so broad they are conceptually meaningless