LLCU 213 TEST #1 STUDY GUIDE
Social Organized Crime in Canada - Answers - - The greatest problem in understanding
organized crime is not with the word crime but with the word organized
- Internal cohesion and external relations
- Bonding and bridging social capital
- Social capital is about the value of social networks, bonding similar people and
bridging between diverse people, with norms of reciprocity
- Violence is the backbone, power is the lifeblood of the mafia and criminal
organizations
- Conventional crime is different from organized crime
Canada is the best country for organized crime because - Answers - - Least risk for
persecution
- Only problem is the weather
Jesse James vs. Luciano - Answers - - James Gang ended with Jesse's death in 1882
- Luciano's organization is still active
- While the crime portfolio of Jesse James was limited, criminal organizations are
involving in a variety of crimes and on a large scale
Extinction vs. Perpetuity - Answers - - Perpetuity: a variable that can distinguish a
organized from conventional crime
- Lasts forever
-If a boss passes away, the organization does not die, he is replaced
Reputation - Answers - - Criminals who are part of recognizable (by other criminals)
organization are in a position to negotiate transactions
- Those without an organizational affiliation would find it difficult if not impossible to
accomplish
- They benefit from the value of a bad reputation
- They carry a more reliable form of justice where the legal system places onerous
burdens on plaintiffs
- They use bonding rituals
- Focused on being "born again" into a new group
- Create a sense of bonding
Name - Answers - - A name is everything
- Without a name, a gang would just be perceived as a group of hooligans
Vito Rizzuto - Answers - The Jack of All Trades
Joe Di Maulo - Answers - The Peacemaker
,Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo - Answers - - known as Judge Judy in Chicago
- Resolved many problems were few words
Myths - Answers - - Robin hood: mythic hero that stole from the rich to give to the poor
- Gives past to criminals to make them look good
Rituals - Answers - - Typically over 100 year old
- Cutting hands to pledge themselves
Organized crime - Answers - - Organized crime is a continuing criminal enterprise that
rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in a great public demand
- Have the ability to corrupt
- Provide for public demand
- Its continuing existence is maintained through the use of course, monopoly control,
and/or the corruption of public officials
- Have restricted members
- You do not just choose to join, they select you
Three main characteristics of organized crime - Answers - 1. A continuing group or
organization that participates in illicit activity in any society by the use of force,
intimidation or threats
2. The structuring of a group or organization whose purpose is to provide illicit services
for which there is a strong public demand through the use of secrecy on the part of
associates
3. The assurance of protection and immunity necessary for its operation through
political corruption or avoidance of prosecution
Organized crime vs. Consensual Crime - Answers - Consensual crime: gambling,
lending, sex, narcotics, stolen property
- No inherent violence
- Economic harm
Organized crime: coercive use of legal business for purposes of exploitation
- Threat, violence, extortion, economic harm
- Highly organized
- Hierarchy
- Restricted membership
- Immunity through corruption and enforcement
Other characteristics of organized crime - Answers - - Rules: governed rules and
regulations
-Monopolistic: hegemony over a territory
-Strives for hegemony over a particular geographic area of industry
- Do not want competition
- Violence: willingness to use illegal violence
- Readily available and routinely accepted resource
- Perpetuation: perpetuates itself
, - Ongoing criminal conspiracy designed to persist through time (beyond the life of the
current membership)
- No political goals: the goals of an organized crime group are money and power
- An organized crime group is not motivated by social doctorine, political beliefs or
ideological concerns
- Goal is money and power
- Political involvement may be used to protection or immunity for illegal activity
- Hierarchical: vertical power structure, not just a leader and followers
- Has at least three permanent ranks (not just a leader and followers) each with
authorities over the level beneath
- The authority is inherent in the position
- Vertical power structure
- Membership: limited or exclusive membership
- Typically involves having basic qualifications (ex. ethnic, kinship, background)
- Those who meet basic qualifications usually require a sponsor
- Parallel culture: constitute a parallel culture
- Mix between subculture and parallel culture
Bill C-95 - Answers - - Organized Crime officially appeared in the Criminal Code of
Canada Bill C-95 which states that a criminal organization is:
1. Composed of 3 or more persons in or outside of Canada
2. Has one of its main purposes or activities the facilitation or commission of one or
more serious offenses
United Nations definition of organized crime - Answers - - One that has at least 3
members taking some action in concert for the purpose of committing a serious crime
- Group must have some internal organization or structure
H20 Analogy - Answers - - Hydrogen = violence (anyone can use violence)
- Backbone of mafia groups
- Without the violence you cannot have power
- Oxygen = power (relation to power and the upper-world)
- Lifeblood of mafia groups
Criminological Theory - Answers - - Help us understand the working of the criminal
justice system and the actors in the system
- Can guide policy making
- Can be evaluated on a number of criteria (scope, parsimony, testability, practical
usefulness and empirical validity)
Deterrence and Rational Choice - Answers - - Classical criminology was designed to
provide rational, logical and philosophical alternative to what was an abusive and
arbitrary system of justice
- Classical school theories operate from a perspective of choice
- Individuals have the ability to make a rational choice to either follow the law or to
violate it
Social Organized Crime in Canada - Answers - - The greatest problem in understanding
organized crime is not with the word crime but with the word organized
- Internal cohesion and external relations
- Bonding and bridging social capital
- Social capital is about the value of social networks, bonding similar people and
bridging between diverse people, with norms of reciprocity
- Violence is the backbone, power is the lifeblood of the mafia and criminal
organizations
- Conventional crime is different from organized crime
Canada is the best country for organized crime because - Answers - - Least risk for
persecution
- Only problem is the weather
Jesse James vs. Luciano - Answers - - James Gang ended with Jesse's death in 1882
- Luciano's organization is still active
- While the crime portfolio of Jesse James was limited, criminal organizations are
involving in a variety of crimes and on a large scale
Extinction vs. Perpetuity - Answers - - Perpetuity: a variable that can distinguish a
organized from conventional crime
- Lasts forever
-If a boss passes away, the organization does not die, he is replaced
Reputation - Answers - - Criminals who are part of recognizable (by other criminals)
organization are in a position to negotiate transactions
- Those without an organizational affiliation would find it difficult if not impossible to
accomplish
- They benefit from the value of a bad reputation
- They carry a more reliable form of justice where the legal system places onerous
burdens on plaintiffs
- They use bonding rituals
- Focused on being "born again" into a new group
- Create a sense of bonding
Name - Answers - - A name is everything
- Without a name, a gang would just be perceived as a group of hooligans
Vito Rizzuto - Answers - The Jack of All Trades
Joe Di Maulo - Answers - The Peacemaker
,Joseph "The Clown" Lombardo - Answers - - known as Judge Judy in Chicago
- Resolved many problems were few words
Myths - Answers - - Robin hood: mythic hero that stole from the rich to give to the poor
- Gives past to criminals to make them look good
Rituals - Answers - - Typically over 100 year old
- Cutting hands to pledge themselves
Organized crime - Answers - - Organized crime is a continuing criminal enterprise that
rationally works to profit from illicit activities that are often in a great public demand
- Have the ability to corrupt
- Provide for public demand
- Its continuing existence is maintained through the use of course, monopoly control,
and/or the corruption of public officials
- Have restricted members
- You do not just choose to join, they select you
Three main characteristics of organized crime - Answers - 1. A continuing group or
organization that participates in illicit activity in any society by the use of force,
intimidation or threats
2. The structuring of a group or organization whose purpose is to provide illicit services
for which there is a strong public demand through the use of secrecy on the part of
associates
3. The assurance of protection and immunity necessary for its operation through
political corruption or avoidance of prosecution
Organized crime vs. Consensual Crime - Answers - Consensual crime: gambling,
lending, sex, narcotics, stolen property
- No inherent violence
- Economic harm
Organized crime: coercive use of legal business for purposes of exploitation
- Threat, violence, extortion, economic harm
- Highly organized
- Hierarchy
- Restricted membership
- Immunity through corruption and enforcement
Other characteristics of organized crime - Answers - - Rules: governed rules and
regulations
-Monopolistic: hegemony over a territory
-Strives for hegemony over a particular geographic area of industry
- Do not want competition
- Violence: willingness to use illegal violence
- Readily available and routinely accepted resource
- Perpetuation: perpetuates itself
, - Ongoing criminal conspiracy designed to persist through time (beyond the life of the
current membership)
- No political goals: the goals of an organized crime group are money and power
- An organized crime group is not motivated by social doctorine, political beliefs or
ideological concerns
- Goal is money and power
- Political involvement may be used to protection or immunity for illegal activity
- Hierarchical: vertical power structure, not just a leader and followers
- Has at least three permanent ranks (not just a leader and followers) each with
authorities over the level beneath
- The authority is inherent in the position
- Vertical power structure
- Membership: limited or exclusive membership
- Typically involves having basic qualifications (ex. ethnic, kinship, background)
- Those who meet basic qualifications usually require a sponsor
- Parallel culture: constitute a parallel culture
- Mix between subculture and parallel culture
Bill C-95 - Answers - - Organized Crime officially appeared in the Criminal Code of
Canada Bill C-95 which states that a criminal organization is:
1. Composed of 3 or more persons in or outside of Canada
2. Has one of its main purposes or activities the facilitation or commission of one or
more serious offenses
United Nations definition of organized crime - Answers - - One that has at least 3
members taking some action in concert for the purpose of committing a serious crime
- Group must have some internal organization or structure
H20 Analogy - Answers - - Hydrogen = violence (anyone can use violence)
- Backbone of mafia groups
- Without the violence you cannot have power
- Oxygen = power (relation to power and the upper-world)
- Lifeblood of mafia groups
Criminological Theory - Answers - - Help us understand the working of the criminal
justice system and the actors in the system
- Can guide policy making
- Can be evaluated on a number of criteria (scope, parsimony, testability, practical
usefulness and empirical validity)
Deterrence and Rational Choice - Answers - - Classical criminology was designed to
provide rational, logical and philosophical alternative to what was an abusive and
arbitrary system of justice
- Classical school theories operate from a perspective of choice
- Individuals have the ability to make a rational choice to either follow the law or to
violate it
