"ORGANIZED CRIME" AND "ORGANIZED CRIME":

INDETERMINATE PROBLEMS OF DEFINITION 1

Frank E. Hagan

Despite decades of effort, the search for a universal definition of organized crime
has eluded both academics, criminal justice agencies, as well as international bod-
ies. More than two decades ago, a content analysis of such definitional efforts by
this writer (Hagan, 1983) noted that, while many writers, including those of text-
books, failed to supply explicit definitions of organized crime, some consensus
was apparent. These earlier findings are explored and compared with updated con-
tent analyses of American criminology and criminal justice textbooks and orga-
nized crime textbooks. Also discussed are definitions offered by criminal justice
agencies and those by international organizations. A distinction is made between
"Organized Crime" groups and "organized crime," activities by groups that are
organized.

Organized Crime: A Problematic Definition

The concept o f "organized crime" continues to share with other social science
and criminal justice concepts the problem o f attempting to attach specific scien-
tific meaning to terms that have widely varying popular public definition. German
criminologist Klaus von Lampe has compiled and put on the Internet a useful col-
lection of"definitions of organized crime" that proves this point (www.organized-
crime.de/OCDEFl.htm). Concepts such as "culture," "personality, .... social class,"
"gangs," and "profession" serve as general examples. This writer did a content
analysis of various definitions o f the concept o f profession (Hagan, 1983) and
found that the majority o f academic authors could be classified as representing the
"classic professionalism legacy," the key dimensions of which were esoteric, use-
ful knowledge and ethical commitment to service that results in autonomy.
Specifically, in criminology-and criminal justice we find similar problems in
defining concepts such as "political crime," "professional crime," and "white-col-
lar crime." In this writer's book, entitled Political Crime: Ideology and Criminality
(1997), "political crime" was defined as "crime committed for ideological pur-
poses" such as due to a commitment to a particular cause. This definition does not
meet public or media conception. As an example, the author received many re-

127
128 Trends in Organized CrimeNol. 9, No. 4, Summer 2006

quests from the media for comment during the Clinton impeachment since, in their
minds, the writer had written a book on "crimes by politicians."
Similarly, "professional crime" as originally formulated by Edwin H. Sutherland
in The Professional Thief(1937) was viewed as being characterized by crime as a
sole livelihood, involving careful planning, reliance on technical skills, a shared
sense of belonging, rules, codes of behavior, and specialized language. Profes-
sional crime is different from occupational or corporate crime in that the sole pur-
pose of business is the performance of criminal activity. Others prefer terms such
as "skilled" or "able" criminal or even contrepreneurial criminal (Friedrichs, 1996:
10) with which to refer to the professional criminal. Some object to even using the
term "professional" to describe criminals who do not fit the concept of "profes-
sion" as previously described.
Finally, defining "white-collar crime" continues to be an arena of academic dis-
pute. In 1996, this writer participated in a three-day academic workshop of invited
white-collar crime scholars sponsored by the National White Collar Crime Center
entitled, "Definitional Dilemma: Can and Should There Be a Universal Definition
of White-Collar Crime?" (Helmkamp, Ball, and Townsend, 1996). The group was
assigned the task of seeing if they could agree on a definition of white-collar crime.
Imagine trying to gain consensus from a group of academics. While, half in jest, a
definition was agreed upon by some of the attendees over lunch literally by revis-
ing a definition passed around on a napkin, many continued to debate any agree-
ment on a definition. Since Sutherland's (1939) introduction of the concept,
disagreement continues regarding a definition. Perhaps it should be called
avocational crime, corporate crime, economic crime, elite crime, elite deviance,
occupational crime, organizational crime, professional crime, upperworld crime,
or white collar deviance (Simon and Hagan, 1999)? The point is that the concept of
"organized crime" is not alone in harboring an indeterminate quagmire of defini-
tional debate and, furthermore, it does not appear that a true universal definitional
consensus is forthcoming.

Content Analysis of Definitions of Organized Crime

Figure 1a presents the author's original content analysis of selected writers' defi-
nitions of organized crime (Hagan, 1983). Also presented is a more recent update
The results of this analysis with number of authors in parentheses is presented
along with updates by Jay Albanese (2004:4) and James Finckenauer (2005:65) in
Figure lb.
Analyses by Hagan and Albanese found that the most frequently identified traits
were that organized crime:

9 Represented a continuing, organized hierarchy

9 Profited from illegal activities
9 Used violence and threats
9 Represented corruption and immunity
"Organized Crime" and "organized crime" 129

Figure la
A Content Analysis of Dimensions of Selected Writers' Definitions
of Organized Crime ~

Di .... ion ~-~ ~"~

Non-ldeological x x
Organized Hierarchy x x
X X X X X x x x x x
Continuing
Violence
(Force or Threat x x X X X X x x x x
of Force)
Restricted Membership x X x
Rational Profit through
X X X X x x x x x
Illegal A c t i v i t i e s x x
Public Demand x X X X x x
Corruption (Immunity) x X X X X X X x x x x
Monopoly X X X x x
Specialization X X
Code of Secrecy
Extensive Planning

aMany writers, including those of textbooks, fail to supply explicit definitions of organized crime.
Figure l b
Definitions of Organized Crime by N u m b e r of Authors
(# of authors)
Hagan Albanese Finckenauer

Continuing/Hierarchy 13 16 Structure/Organized
Hierarchy

Profit/Illegal Activities 11 13 Continuity/Illegal

Enterprise

Violence/Threats 10 12 Violence/Threats

Corruption/Immunity 10 11 Corruption

Public D e m a n d 6 7

Monopoly 5 4

Restricted Membership 3 4 Restricted Membership

Non-ideological 2 4 Non-ideological

Code of Secrecy 2 3

Extensive Planning 2 2

Specialization 2 3

Penetration of Legal
Business
130 Trends in Organized Crime/Vol. 9, No. 4, Summer 2006

Figure 2
Content Analysis of "Organized Crime" Definitions by
Authors of Organized Crime Textbooks
Grennan Albanese, Albanese Lyman Abadinsky Kenney and
Traits and Britz Das,Verma and Potter Finckenauer

Recognizable X
Monopolistic X X X X X
Self-perpetuating X X X X X
Hierarchical X X X X
Violence/Threats X X X X X X
Corruption of Officials X X X X X
Vice/Illegal Activities X X X X
Criminal Enterprise X
Ritual X
Rules/Secrecy X X
Organizational Tithing X
Infiltrate Legit. Bus. X
Planned Activities X
Profit X X
Adapt to Supply/Demand X
Nonideological X
Exclusive Membership X
Division of Labor X

Finckenauer's analysis, although not a content analysis, also identified these

items along with others
Figures 2, 3, and 4 update these analyses with more recent definitions offered in
organized crime, criminology and criminal justice books respectively.
Figure 2 features a content analysis of organized crime definitions by authors of
recent organized crime textbooks. While some definitions consisted of merely list-
ing characteristics without specifying which were more critical in the definition,
some consensus was discovered. The number indicated in the figure refers to the
number of books mentioning the trait.

Violence~Threats 6
Monopolistic 5
Corruption of Officials 5
Hierarchical 4
Vice/Illegal Activities 4
Rules/Secrecy 2
Profit 2

Other items were only mentioned once, although it appears that many writers
might assume these characteristics as well without specifying them.
Figure 3 provides a content analysis of authors of recent criminology texts. Two
books provided no definition, and this writer excluded his own text from this analysis
(Hagan, 2002).
"Organized Crime" and "organized crime" 131

Figure 3
Content Analysis of "Organized Crime" Definitions in Criminology Texts*

Traits

Highly Organized X X X X
Secret/Bureaucracy X
Illegal Activities X X X X X X X
Organizational. Continuity X X X
Hierarchy/Division of Labor X X
Restricted Membership X
Violence X X X X X X
Specialists X
Infiltrate Legitimate Business X
Conspiracy X
Corruption/Immunity X X X
Monopoly X X X
Codes of Conduct X
Specific Criminal Activity X
Discipline X
Nonideological X

# of pages on
Organized Crime Definitions 24 30 3 10 9 5 16 5 16

"This analysis excludes the author's text (Hagan, 2002) and Barkan (2006), who had 5 pages and no
definition, and Adler, Mueller and Laufer (2004), who had 8 pages and no defnition.

Elements of these definitions of organized crime in criminology texts included:

Illegal Activities 7
Violence 6
Highly Organized 4
Organizational Continuity 3
Corruption/Immunity 3
Monopoly 3
Hierarchy/Division of Labor 2

The number of text pages devoted to organized crime varied from 3 to 30, re-
132 Trends in Organized Crime/Vol. 9, No. 4, S u m m e r 2006

Figure 4
Content Analysis of "Organized Crime" Definitions in Criminal Justice Textbooks*

0
Traits
< ~ ~ ~ ~= r~ ~ t-
X X
Conspiracy
X X X X X X X X X
Illegal Enterprise
Crime by X X X X X X
Organization
Rules x
Hierarchy/Div. of x x x
Labor
Violence/Threats x x x x
Corruption x x
Monopoly x

# of pages on Org.
Crime Definitions 8 5 1 2 i 5 4 2 3

*No definition was offered by Adler, Mueller and Laufer (2000), who had 1 page of coverage, nor by
Reid (1999), who had no pages of coverage.

flecting some variation in the importance attached to covering organized crime in

an introductory criminology course.
A content analysis o f definitions o f organized crime b y authors o f introductory
criminal justice texts is presented in Figure 4.
Two texts did not offer a definition. The most identified items in the definitions
were:

Illegal Enterprise 9 (all)

Crime by Organizations 6
Violence/Threats 4
Hierarchy/Division o f L a b o r 3
Corruption 2
Conspiracy 2
Since introductory criminal justice textbooks are primarily c o n c e r n e d with ex-
plaining the justice system rather than crime, it is not surprising that fewer pages
were devoted to the subject than in criminology texts. Coverage ranged from 0 to 8.
Figure 5 combines these analyses.
"Organized Crime" and "organized crime" 133

Figure 5
Summary of Content Analyses of Textbook Definitions of Organized Crime
(# of authors)
Organized Crime Texts Criminology Texts Criminal Justice Texts

Violence/Threats 6 Violence 6 Violence/Threats 4

Monopolistic 5 Monopoly 3

Self perpetuating 5 Highly Crime by Orgs. 6

Organized 4

Corruption 5 Corruption/ Corruption 2

Immunity 3

Hierarchy 4 Hierarchy 2 Hierarchy 3

Vice/Illegal Acts 4 Illegal Activities 7 Illegal Enterprise 9

Rules/Secrecy 2 Orgl. Continuity 3 Conspiracy 2

What all of these definitions seem to have in common is an attempt to describe

"organized crime" as organized criminal groups and their characteristics. Examin-
ing the most frequently identified items (in bold) it appears that all three groups of
texts agree on the most important traits of organized groups. Organized crime re-
fers to "continuing organized groups that monopolize illegal enterprises through
violence and threats and enjoy immunity of operation through corruption.
A recent article by James Finckenauer (2005) does an excellent job oftransversing
the definitional morass of organized crime. He states: "This 'thing.' This phenom-
enon known as organized crime cannot be defined by crimes alone. Any definition
must address and account for the elusive modifying term organized" (ibid. 64).
The U.S. Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968 (Public Law 90-
351) serves as an illustration when it defined organized crime as:
the unlawful activities of members of a highly organized, disciplined associa-
tion engaged in supplying illegal goods and services, including but not limited to
gambling, prostitution, loan sharking, narcotics, labor racketeering, and other un-
lawful activities of members of organizations.
This defines organized crime as a list of crimes. As Finckenauer (2005: 75)
indicates, "a simple listing of crimes does not tell us much about organized crime."
Certain crimes may be very complex and highly organized, but not committed by
"organized crime." He gives the example of a large insurance fraud ring that did
not use violence, did not monopolize markets or corrupt officials, and whose mem-
bers were in legitimate professions. Chin's (1998) study of human smuggling was
134 Trends in Organized Crime/Vol. 9, No. 4, Summer 2006

of crime that was organized, but not "Organized Crime." International trafficking
in stolen vehicles is also highly organized, but not "organized crime" (Finckenauer,
2005: 77). Finckenauer (2005:81-82) concludes his exploration o f problems in
defining organized crime with the following statement:
What is essential to the definition of organized crime is the ability to use, and
the reputation for the use o f violence or the threat of violence to facilitate criminal
activities, and in certain instances to gain or maintain monopoly control o f particu-
lar criminal markets. Also essential is that organized crime employs corruption o f
public officials to assure immunity for its operations, and/or to protect its criminal
enterprises from competition. It is these that are the defining characteristics o f
organized crime and that best answer the question of just what organized crime is.

"Organized Crime" and "organized crime"

This writer proposes that "Organized Crime" be used to refer to crime organi-
zations, while "organized crime" will refer to activities, crimes that often require
a degree o f organization on the part of those committing them. Not all "organized
crime" is committed by "Organized Crime" groups. Also, the committing of "or-
ganized crime" does not make a group an "Organized Crime" group. While "orga-
nized crime" refers to crimes that are organized, "Organized Crime" refers to
Organized Crime groups (see Figure 6).
In the 1983 analysis of"Organized Crime" (groups) this author emphasized the
following:

9 Organized Crime is a term that may be used to refer generically to "group crime,"
that is, crime committed by more than one person. In this usage the term has been
used to refer to politically motivated groups (such as terrorist groups), predatory
groups (such as criminal gangs), and in-group oriented gangs (such as motorcycle
gangs). Some definitions by criminal justice agencies use such broad definitions in
order to have organized crime statutes cover as broad a range of activity as possible.
9 The concept of"Organized Crime" is an ordinal, "ideal type" concept ranging on a
continuum from "non-Organized Crime" to "Organized Crime." Groups exhibit
various degrees of "Organized Crime."
9 "Organized Crime" as syndicate crime (Albini, 1971) specifically refers to groups
that exhibit a number of the characteristics identified in our content analyses, namely,
violence, illicit services and corruption

Figure 6
The Two Meanings of 6~Organized Crime, 99

o r g a n i z e d c r i m e = activities

O r g a n i z e d C r i m e = groups
"Organized Crime" and "organized crime" 135

Figure 7
The Organized Crime Continuum

Primary Characteristics

(non OrganizedCrime) (Organized Crime)

Non-Ideological,ContinuingCriml. Org.

Violence/Threats of Violence

Illicit Services/CriminalEnterprises

Immunity, Corruption, Intimidation

Secondary Characteristics

Structured Hierarchy

Rules/Codesof Secrecy

Initiation/Exclusive Membership

There is room in the house of Criminology for a variety of definitions. This

writer would like to suggest some organizing themes that might accommodate (make
room in the house) for the academic need for definitional rigor and the operational
needs of legal jurisdictions and criminal justice agencies.
Figure 7 suggests a revised "Organized Crime Continuum" that features two
tiers: one for primary characteristics and one for secondary characteristics of groups
that we might label "Organized Crime." The further these groups are to the right
side of these continua, the better an example they are of"Organized Crime" groups.
Figure 8 provides some possible examples of "Organized Crime" groups using
this continuum. This might suggest these levels of "Organized Crime" groups:
level one (full-fledged groups such as the Cosa Nostra), level two (semi-Organized
Crime groups that lack full development of some characteristics), and level three
(street gangs and others that are lower level in exhibiting full development).
Over three decades ago, Ralph Salerno and John Tompkins (1969) presented a
schema that depicts organized crime (activities.). They envisioned "organized crime"
as moving along a continuum from strategic and tactical crimes such as arson,
136 Trends in Organized Crime/Vol. 9, No. 4, Summer 2006

Figure 8
Examples Using the Organized Crime Continuum

Organized Crime

Level 3 Level 2 Level 1

Crips M S 13 C o s a Nostra
Bloods Hell' s A n g e l s Triads
M e d e l l i n Cartel Yakuza

assault, blackmail and bribery, to illegal businesses and activities such as cigarette
smuggling, counterfeiting, frauds, and narcotics. The next stage involves legiti-
mate businesses such as auto sales, bakeries, demolition, and trucking to finally
big business and perhaps big government such as banking, entertainment, labor
and securities. Updating this, one might add activities often described as
"transnational organized crime." Their model suggests a variety of"organized crime"
activities that may involve Organized Crime groups. Strategic and tactical crimes
are primarily violent and predatory while, as one moves across this continuum, the
activities become more sophisticated and more likely to involve more established
"Organized Crime" groups. The crimes themselves may be committed by a variety
of groups that are organized ("organized crime"). Organized Crime groups are
better and "badder" at committing these crimes on a more successful, persistent
and often protected basis.
While as Finckenauer (2005) has correctly indicated we cannot describe "Orga-
nized Crime" on the basis o f specific activities, the number and sophistication o f
such activities in our schema requires more sophisticated "Organized Crime" groups
for their implementation.
This distinction between "Organized Crime" as groups and "organized crime"
as activities may partially resolve our lexicographical quagmire. It enables the rec-
onciliation of discussions/arguments regarding what groups or activities involve
Organized Crime (organized crime) and hopefully opens windows (in the house of
Criminology) for new views of the ever changing nature o f organized crime.
Notes
1. Thispaper was presented at the Academyof Criminal Justice Sciences, Baltimore, Maryland,
March 2006.
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