, PLEASE USE THIS DOCUMENT AS A GUIDE ONLY
1. Provide an in-depth exposition of the characteristics and categories of organised crime.
Characteristics and Categories of Organised Crime: An In-Depth Exposition
Introduction
Organised crime represents one of the most significant challenges to contemporary societies,
transcending national boundaries and infiltrating legitimate economic and political structures. As a
criminological phenomenon, organised crime is characterised by its systematic nature, profit-driven
objectives, and capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. This exposition examines the defining
characteristics and categories of organised crime, drawing extensively from the CMY3702 Study
Guide to provide a comprehensive analysis of this complex subject.
Defining Organised Crime
The concept of organised crime has proven notoriously difficult to define with precision. According
to the CMY3702 Study Guide, organised crime is defined as "any crime for gain that uses deception
as its principal modus operandi".¹ This definition, proposed by Wells, emphasises the fraudulent and
deceptive nature of organised criminal activities. However, the Study Guide acknowledges that
"definitions of organised crime abound, but are for the most part nebulous",² reflecting the scholarly
consensus that a universally accepted definition remains elusive.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has tended to rely on the Interpol definition, which
describes organised crime as "any group of criminals that have a corporate structure, whose primary
objective is to obtain money and power through illegal activities, often surviving on fear and
corruption".³ However, this definition has been problematic in the South African context because it
assumes a corporate structure that is not always present in local criminal organisations.
Glick defines organised crime as "a continuing, structured collectivity of persons who use criminality,
violence, and a willingness to corrupt to gain and maintain power and profit".⁴ Similarly, Reid
defines it as "the highly structured association of people who bind together to make large profits
through illegal and legal means, utilising graft and corruption in the criminal justice arena to protect
their activities from criminal prosecution".⁵
For the South African context, a more appropriate definition has been developed: "those serious
criminal offences committed by a criminal organisation which is based on a structured association of
more than two persons acting in concert over a prolonged period of time in pursuit of both their
criminal objectives and profits".⁶ This definition accommodates the fluid nature of how crime
syndicates are structured in South Africa, where they "frequently associate with loose, shifting
coalitions of groups and individuals that rely on networks and that constantly enter into new
associations, partnerships or alliances, depending on the different criminal objectives they pursue".⁷
¹ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 35.
² CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 35.
³ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 36.
⁴ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 35.
⁵ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 35.
⁶ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 36.
⁷ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 36.
1. Provide an in-depth exposition of the characteristics and categories of organised crime.
Characteristics and Categories of Organised Crime: An In-Depth Exposition
Introduction
Organised crime represents one of the most significant challenges to contemporary societies,
transcending national boundaries and infiltrating legitimate economic and political structures. As a
criminological phenomenon, organised crime is characterised by its systematic nature, profit-driven
objectives, and capacity to adapt to changing circumstances. This exposition examines the defining
characteristics and categories of organised crime, drawing extensively from the CMY3702 Study
Guide to provide a comprehensive analysis of this complex subject.
Defining Organised Crime
The concept of organised crime has proven notoriously difficult to define with precision. According
to the CMY3702 Study Guide, organised crime is defined as "any crime for gain that uses deception
as its principal modus operandi".¹ This definition, proposed by Wells, emphasises the fraudulent and
deceptive nature of organised criminal activities. However, the Study Guide acknowledges that
"definitions of organised crime abound, but are for the most part nebulous",² reflecting the scholarly
consensus that a universally accepted definition remains elusive.
The South African Police Service (SAPS) has tended to rely on the Interpol definition, which
describes organised crime as "any group of criminals that have a corporate structure, whose primary
objective is to obtain money and power through illegal activities, often surviving on fear and
corruption".³ However, this definition has been problematic in the South African context because it
assumes a corporate structure that is not always present in local criminal organisations.
Glick defines organised crime as "a continuing, structured collectivity of persons who use criminality,
violence, and a willingness to corrupt to gain and maintain power and profit".⁴ Similarly, Reid
defines it as "the highly structured association of people who bind together to make large profits
through illegal and legal means, utilising graft and corruption in the criminal justice arena to protect
their activities from criminal prosecution".⁵
For the South African context, a more appropriate definition has been developed: "those serious
criminal offences committed by a criminal organisation which is based on a structured association of
more than two persons acting in concert over a prolonged period of time in pursuit of both their
criminal objectives and profits".⁶ This definition accommodates the fluid nature of how crime
syndicates are structured in South Africa, where they "frequently associate with loose, shifting
coalitions of groups and individuals that rely on networks and that constantly enter into new
associations, partnerships or alliances, depending on the different criminal objectives they pursue".⁷
¹ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 35.
² CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 35.
³ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 36.
⁴ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 35.
⁵ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 35.
⁶ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 36.
⁷ CMY3702 Study Guide, p. 36.
