Organized Crime ─ From the Mob to Transnational Organized Crime

Organized Crime provides readers with a clear understanding of organized crime, including its definition and causes, how it is categorized under the law, models to explain its persistence, and the criminal justice response to organized crime, including investigation, prosecution, defense, and sentencing.

This book offers a comprehensive survey, including an extensive history of the Mafia in the United States; a legal analysis of the offenses that underlie organized crimes; specific attention to modern manifestations of organized crime activity, such as human smuggling, Internet crimes, and other transnational criminal operations; and the application of ethics to the study of organized crime.

• A new section has been added on threat assessment in organized crime.
• Chapters are enhanced by updated photos, tables, charts, and critical thinking exercises that help students apply concepts to actual organized crime cases.
• Every chapter includes two student-friendly special features: Organized Crime Biography and Organized Crime at the Movies.
• A glossary gives students a quick reference for looking up important definitions of organized crime-related terms, and a Timeline of Organized Crime in the United States highlights important events in the history of organized crime.

Jay S. Albanese is Professor in the Wilder School of Government & Public Affairs at Virginia Commonwealth University. He served as Chief of the International Center at the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), the research arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, from 2002 to 2006. He is author of many articles, and author/editor of 16 books. Albanese is the recipient of the Elske Smith Distinguished Lecturer Award from Virginia Commonwealth University, the Teaching Excellence Award from Niagara University, and the G.O.W. Mueller Award for Outstanding Contributions to Comparative/International Criminal Justice from the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences, International Section. He has served as Executive Director of the International Association for the Study of Organized Crime and is a past president and fellow of the Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences. He currently serves on the Executive Board of the American Society of Criminology.