American Mafia vs. ISIS
Organized crime can be termed as the conducting of a systematic unlawful activity with the intention of getting profits on an interstate, city-wide and even on an international scale. Criminal organizations such as the American Mafia keep their illegal operations secret and the members who make up these criminal organizations confer by word of mouth. Terrorist groups such as ISIS can be termed as organizations whose sole purpose is to enforce a certain agenda through the use of violence by conducting activities that are criminal and impose fear.
There are various similarities between the American Mafia and ISIS. One of the main similarity is that the leader of the two groups has absolute authority. Their authority is greatly feared. The second similarity is that the two groups assassinate its enemies. The third similarity is that each of the members of the group must be in a position whereby they are willing to die while defending the group leader. According to Abadinsky (2013), associations with other members of different groups are not trusted, and if one is found, then death is the ultimate end. The final similarity is that the two groups use violence to impact fear.
The major differences between the American Mafia and ISIS are that the motivations to join the groups is different. According to Stern and Berger (2015), the major motivation of the terrorist groups is to foster a certain political alignment while the American Mafia are in the group for financial gain. Although ISIS has a vast amount of wealth, its intention is to create an Islamic state.
The future trends of the American Mafia is to continue with their territory in terms of areas that they control for further financial gain while ISIS future trend is to create an Islamic state that is ruled solely through Sharia Law.
References
Stern, J., & Berger, J. M. (2015). ISIS: The state of terror.
Abadinsky, H. (2013). Organized crime. Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth/Cengage Learning.
