TERRORISM, ORGANISED AND CORPORATE CRIME
Academic year 2022/23
Introduction
Background
Organisations are becoming more and more important in our societies (Study)
o They are starting to replace individuals in terms of their roles in societies
o They are also becoming more and more target of regulations, including, but not
limited to criminalization
Some organisations are entirely criminalized – Mafia/Terrorist
organisations.
Organisations’ crimes and harmful activities are increasingly considered a threat
o It is assumed that such crimes have a much higher magnitude.
o Italian Mafia, Terrorist Islamic Organisations organized crime (OC),
terrorism (T)
o Legal organisations (corporations) also commit crimes corporate crime (CC) –
those are however, more controversial – whether they are criminal at the end.
o Important to look at how criminal and legal organisations are structured, as
well as what their real harms and threats are.
Multi-faceted control
o Criminal law
o Other branches of law
o Public-private regulation
Important questions of whether policies are appropriate and effective?
o In OC and T such policies can be very restrictive, giving unprecedented power
to certain government institutions (e.g. freezing of assets after 9/11)
o Important to consider whether there is a balance and whether the policies are
justifiable from a principled perspective.
o How serious is the threat and how appropriate and effective are the
policies?
Contents and aims of the course
Critical study of CC, OC and T
Singling out the harm of the crimes
Control and Prevention policies
Ultimate Goal: to provide students with the tools necessary to tentatively assess
‘real’ threat posed by each crime type and appropriateness and effectiveness of
policies.
Questions to be discussed (with regards to each crime):
o Academic and Policy debates
o Kind of studies carried out
o Theories
o Contemporary patterns
o Type of harm entailed
o Main content of control policies (as well as how and why they have evolved)
5
Academic year 2022/23
Introduction
Background
Organisations are becoming more and more important in our societies (Study)
o They are starting to replace individuals in terms of their roles in societies
o They are also becoming more and more target of regulations, including, but not
limited to criminalization
Some organisations are entirely criminalized – Mafia/Terrorist
organisations.
Organisations’ crimes and harmful activities are increasingly considered a threat
o It is assumed that such crimes have a much higher magnitude.
o Italian Mafia, Terrorist Islamic Organisations organized crime (OC),
terrorism (T)
o Legal organisations (corporations) also commit crimes corporate crime (CC) –
those are however, more controversial – whether they are criminal at the end.
o Important to look at how criminal and legal organisations are structured, as
well as what their real harms and threats are.
Multi-faceted control
o Criminal law
o Other branches of law
o Public-private regulation
Important questions of whether policies are appropriate and effective?
o In OC and T such policies can be very restrictive, giving unprecedented power
to certain government institutions (e.g. freezing of assets after 9/11)
o Important to consider whether there is a balance and whether the policies are
justifiable from a principled perspective.
o How serious is the threat and how appropriate and effective are the
policies?
Contents and aims of the course
Critical study of CC, OC and T
Singling out the harm of the crimes
Control and Prevention policies
Ultimate Goal: to provide students with the tools necessary to tentatively assess
‘real’ threat posed by each crime type and appropriateness and effectiveness of
policies.
Questions to be discussed (with regards to each crime):
o Academic and Policy debates
o Kind of studies carried out
o Theories
o Contemporary patterns
o Type of harm entailed
o Main content of control policies (as well as how and why they have evolved)
5
