AN ONTOLOGY OF ORGANIZED CRIME: A Meta-Analytical Framework and Enforcement Implications

The author, Stephen Schneider, undertakes a holistic analysis of the numerous definitions, descriptions, and concepts that represent the criminological construct referred to as “organized crime.” He provides a critical analysis of those researchers who have trafficked in ethnic and racial monikers that dominates much of the earlier research on “organized crime,” specifically singling out the late sociologist, Donald Cressey. Recognizing the difficulty in applying “scientific methods” to the study of “organized crime,” Schneider acknowledges its fluid and ever-changing nature makes it susceptible to the ideological and the “less than objective” lenses of the researchers who choose to make this an academic endeavor. He leaves us with an escalating paradigm for those tasked with containing the pernicious effects of organized crime. A paradigm, unfortunately, which is dependent upon the political will, skilled resources, and integrity of those who are often corrupted by the criminal syndicates who comprise “organized crime.”