Abstract
The instances of organized crime are constantly on the rise. While various theories exist to explain the incidence of organized crime the rational choice theory and the conflict theory best explain the occurrence of organized criminal behavior. It must also be noted that the quality of a social institution defined its ability and adeptness at dealing with instances of organized crime. In some societies, the social institution further propagates inequalities that lay the foundation for the growth of organized crime. This is best explained by the conflict theory that states that the nature of a social institution is such that it fosters inequality.
According to Roland Verwiebe a social institutions are a pattern of “relationship and behavioral” patterns that are linked together intrinsically, so much so that together they define the texture and pattern of the entire society. Verweibe lists out the areas in which this social institution regulates the behaviour of an individual. Family, culture, education, economy and law and order (which is important for the current purpose) are all concepts that are infinitely influenced by social institutions.
Social institutioms are organic in the sense that they grow and evolve simultaneouly with the growing and changing needs of the society. Infact the contemporaneous society is inconceivable without the basic fabric of a social instituion. A social instituion binds the various functionalities of a society together. It is what gives the society its organic nature. While the existence of social institutions in present-day society is unquestionable, what determines the quality of a society is the quality and the effeciveness of the prevalant social institution.
This brings us to the nexus between a social instituion and organized crime. There are a number of similarities between social institutions and organized crime. For instance the basis of both is a definitve structure, order and procedure with respect to the manner in which they function. Another similarity is that they both require a large number to function. A social institution is efficient only if it has the presence and co-operation of most if not all the people. Similarly, an organized crime syndicate requires a large number of people to execute a pre-planned crime. In order to understand this nexus it is important to first briefly describe what organized crime means. According to Blacks Law dictionary, the distinguishing feature of organized crime is the fact that it is planned and systematic. It is never improptu as it involves many people acting with the common intention of extracting huge amountbof money by illegal means. The people involved, draw up a plan and execute the crime in accordance with that plan. See : (Blacks Law Dictionary, 2)
One characteristic feature of this form of crime is that it involves a large number of perpetrators and a lerge amount of money that is illicitly extracted. The organised nature of the crime is what makes it difficult to br brought under control. Moreover the sheer number of people involved in the crime makes it nearly impossible for the police administrators to apprehend them all.
Social institutions can be linked to organized crime at various points of the societal spectrum. Verweibe states that according to he conflict theory the nature of social institutions is such that it fosters inequality. It makes the powerful more powerful by placing leadership in their hands. The weak continue to be discriminated against. As such, the very nature of a social institution forms a breeding ground for organized to develop. The deprived sections of the society will concur with the basic objective of drawing benefits from the powerful.
Apart from this nature of social institution, the nature and quality of the law and justice administration sysytem of the social institution also has a bearing on organized crime. The fabric of the Government and the ability of the police department to deal with organized crime goes a long way in determining whether organized crime will flourish or perish in the society. Another important factor with respect to social institutions and organized crime is whether organized crime elicits support of the people or not. In some societies the anti-government people are in such large numbers that organized crimes usually find support of majority of the population.
In order to fully understand the nature of organized crime, recourse can be taken to some empirical and speculative theories of organized crime/ criminal behaviour.
According to Lyman and Potter (2007) the three most important theories of organized crime are: the alien conspiracy theory, the rational choice theory and the deterrence theory.
The alien conspiracy theory, based in the US, puts the blame on ‘outsiders’ for the rising instances of organized crime. According to this theory the inception of otganized crime was during the 1860’s in Sicily. At the cos of over-emphasis this theory relies on ethnicity as the basis for explaining organized crime. This theory has its fair share of critics who state that organized crime had begun to develop in the US way before Sicily, i.e., way before the 1860’s. Moreover the critics state that this theory is given undue importance by the federal agencies to cover up their own inability to curb organized crime. (Encyclopedia of Crime and Justice)
The rational choice theory has its inception in the 18th century. This theory is based on the concept of ‘free will’. According to this theory every person s endowed with the ability to reason and come to a decision with respect to any situation. The nature of humans is such that they are bound ti make decisions that are more reasonable or rational insofar as they are concerned. No person would voluntarily inflict harm on themselves. Then the question arises as to why a person would be involved in a crime despite knowing that there is a threat of punishment. According to Richard Tewksbury (2014) this is where the rational choice theory provides the answer by stating that a person is more likely to choose an option that is more convenient to him. For instance, if a person is debt-ridden he/she would rather choose to join a crime syndicate and extract money from people as he/she would go to jail either way. Rationality dictates a person to take a chance rather than do nothing. What is rational at a point need not be legally correct. This theory intersects with the conflict theory stated in the preceding paragraph.
The deterrence theory states that a person can be deterred from committing a crime by imposing harsh punishment on his predecessors. The fear of punishment impedes people from committing a crime. (Grennan, Sean, and Marjie T. Britz)
The rational choice theory clearly contradicts this theory and rightly so.
The rational choice theory and the conflict theory best explain organized criminal behaviour as opposed to the alien conspiracy theory.
The alien conspiracy theory is rather presumptious. It is unnecessarily simplified to the extent that it relies on the ethnicity and origin of a person as the cause for the incidence of organized criminal behavior.
As empirical evidence suggests organized crime was prevelant in the United States even before it was prevelant in Sicily. Moreover, the alien conspiracy theory is US centric. It tries to explain the occurrence of organized crime world over by taking US as an example. Organized crime can occur for a variety of reasons that are not necessarily connected to the ethnicity or origin.
The rational choice thory on the other hand is best applied to organized crime as it explains why a group of people would concur to commit a crime to extract huge sums of money, even though there are chances of being caught.
References.
Roland Verwiebe. Social Institutions. Social Institutions in Encyclopedia of Quality of Life Research. Retrieved from
https://www.soz.univie.ac.at/fileadmin/user_upload/inst_soziologie/Personen/Institutsmitglieder/Verwiebe/Social_Institutions_in_Encyclopedia_of_Quality_of_Life_Research.pdf
The Law Dictionary, Blacks Law Dictionary, (2). Retrieved from http://thelawdictionary.org/organized-crime/
Lyman, M.D., & Potter, G.W., (2007). Organized Crime. (4th ed). Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Retrieved from http://wps.pearsoncustom.com/wps/media/objects/6904/7070214/CRJ455_Ch02.pdf
Encyclopedia of crime and Justice (2002). The Gale Group. Retrieved from http://www.encyclopedia.com/topic/organized_crime.aspx
Tewksbury Richard (2014). Organized Crime Theories. Encycopedia of Theoretical Criminology. John Wiley & Sons.
Grennan, Sean, and Marjie T. Britz (2005). Organized crime: A worldwide perspective. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson Prentice Hall.
