Good Essay About Organized Crime

Organized crime is something between conventional crime and terrorism. It has similarities with the both as well as differences from the both.
Perpetuity is the first feature which differentiates organized crime from the conventional one. While the activity of conventional criminals stops with these criminals’ arrest or death, the activity of organized criminal groups usually continues even if one of the members disappears from the scene. Besides, organized crime has more possibilities to diversify their activities. While conventional criminals specialize in one type of crime, criminal organizations can be engaged in different types because their members have more power and support of other members and bosses. They also differ in the goals they pursue: conventional criminals seek financial gain only whereas organized criminals want power along with high profits.
Organized criminal groups are also often compared to terrorist groups and a number of similarities are found as a result of this comparison. Among these similarities, there are tactics they use, activities aimed at financial gain, etc. However, there is one distinct difference, though. Terrorist groups have a very powerful ideological background; they seek influence rather than profits. Profits for terrorists are only a means of gaining more power and influence. Organized criminals, however, focus more on money, power being a means of getting new sources of income. The other difference between organized groups and terrorist groups is that the former tends to be more domestic while the latter – more transnational. In addition, organized criminals try to act secretly and avoid publicity. Terrorist, on the contrary, do their best to maximize the coverage of their activities in press, TV, or/and Internet. Through this publicity terrorists try to spread their ideology, get the world to know about them, and their goals.
Though in many respects organized crime and terrorist groups are different, there are more and more occasions when their activities intersect. These are the occasions when they have common interests. For example, it may be the case when they both want to gain profit through illegal machinations. For organized criminals, this is a usual thing while for terrorist groups this can be the way to raise funds for their ideological propaganda. The other instance can be the occasions when the organizations seek their own benefits in helping the other side. For example, terrorists need materiel and organized criminals can sell them what they need. The other occasion may be the case when organized criminal organizations provide terrorists, of course for money, with false passports or other documents. The era of globalization and the collapse of the Soviet Union have made the connections between terrorists and organized criminal groups even more close. In some instances, it is hard to distinguish if the group is a criminal or terrorist one because their interests, methods and activities seem common. Specialists, however, underline that even despite close cooperation these organizations do not overlap structurally.
As far as the structure is concerned, it is said that organized crimes can represent one of the following models – either a bureaucratic/corporate model or a patron-client network. Both have certain peculiarities worth mentioning. The former model is as follows: it has a central command that controls and operates the criminal group through controllers who, in their turn, oversee the work of several cells with about ten members each of whom works independently. This structure is also described as compartmentalization. Members of one sell do not usually know members of the other one. They communicate with the central command only through their controller. Besides, this structure is characterized by communication through correspondence, which is rather unsafe. On the contrary, the patron-client networks try to avoid written correspondence as well as telephone communication for the reasons of safety. The patron-client network is made up of several connected points or junctures. These are chains and the junctions of these chains are joined one by one. Contacts are everything. Every individual is important for the connection in the chain. When one junction is lost, it is replaced with a new one. That is why it is said that the patron-client network is more safe and reliable than the bureaucratic/corporate model which is highly centralized.
Thus, it is clear that organized crime is a phenomenon which differs from similar ones, such as terrorist groups or conventional criminals. Organized crimes have their distinct characteristics, structural varieties, and goals which have nothing to do with politics but rather focus on money and power.