Addressing Organized Crime by Stopping Social Disorganization

The Problem of Organized Crime

Organized crime has been a persistent problem in many societies, and it can be challenging to completely eradicate it. Despite various efforts by law enforcement agencies, government, and society, organized crime groups continue to operate and exert influence in many areas of life. Their criminal activities can have significant negative impacts on individuals, businesses, and communities, including violence, corruption, and economic losses. However, to argue that the best the criminal justice system can hope to do is to ameliorate the effects of organized crime is to take a somewhat hopes stance on the problems undermining civil society, law, and order. To understand why this is a problem, it is helpful to understand how organized crime comes to dominate.

There are numerous theories for why this happens. For instance, social disorganization theory is a criminological theory that suggests that organized crime may be more prevalent in areas where there is a breakdown of social institutions and norms, such as poverty, unemployment, and high crime rates (Kubrin & Mioduszewski, 2019). The theory argues that these conditions create a sense of social disorganization that makes it easier for criminal activities, including organized crime, to operate without detection. In the absence of organization and authority, law and order, organized crime can emerge to take control in a society—often by addressing some need in the community that goes unanswered by lawful authorities. An example would be the rise of organized crime in the 1920s in the USA, when alcohol was prohibited and bootleggers emerged to provide society with the contraband it craved.

According to social disorganization theory, there are several factors that contribute to social disorganization, including poverty, unemployment, ethnic heterogeneity, residential mobility, and family disruption (Kubrin & Mioduszewski, 2019). These factors can lead to a breakdown of social bonds and a lack of informal social control, which can make it easier for criminal activities to flourish. For example, when people are struggling to meet their basic needs or are constantly moving in and out of neighborhoods, they may not have the time or resources to establish strong social networks and relationships with their neighbors, making it easier for criminals to operate without detection.

Social disorganization theory has been applied to the study of organized crime in several ways. For example, researchers have found that organized crime groups are more likely to operate in neighborhoods that experience high levels of social disorganization. This is because these neighborhoods are often characterized by high levels of poverty, low levels of education, and a lack of social cohesion, which can make it easier for criminals to operate and recruit new members (Kubrin & Ousey, 2023).

Social disorganization theory also suggests that the response to organized crime should focus on addressing the underlying social conditions that create social disorganization. This could include measures to reduce poverty and unemployment, improve educational opportunities, and strengthen social networks and relationships within communities. By addressing these underlying social conditions, it may be possible to reduce the prevalence of organized crime and other criminal activities in affected neighborhoods.

While it may be difficult to completely eliminate organized crime, it is still important to continue efforts to prevent and combat it with the goal being to eliminate it. The criminal justice system and standing crime commissions have an essential role to play in this process. By investigating, prosecuting, and punishing criminal activities, they can help deter organized crime and reduce its harmful effects on society. Additionally, education, community outreach, and other preventative measures can also help address the root causes of organized crime and reduce its influence.

But the criminal justice system also needs to be able to address the root causes of crime. That is where theory can come into play. For example, addressing social disorganization could help to reduce the risk or likelihood of the spread of organized crime. Or, one could operate from the standpoint of cultural deviance theory, which states that organized crime arises from subcultures that develop their own norms and values that differ from those of mainstream society. If these subcultures may provide a supportive environment for organized crime groups to operate and thrive, the criminal justice system should act to address them.

To some extent, the criminal justice system already does this. Using cultural deviance theory as a starting point once more, there have been efforts by some to address subcultures in a given locale in order to cut off the root that supports organized crime (Singh & Azman, 2020). According to cultural deviance theory, subcultures develop in response to social and economic marginalization (Oleson, 2019). These subcultures may develop their own norms and values, which may include a tolerance for criminal activities. In some cases, these subcultures may also provide support and resources for criminal activities, such as through the provision of safe houses, financing, or other forms of assistance.

Likewise, Mohammad et al. (2020) showed how routine activity theory can be used as a means of combatting organized crime with the basic idea being that by changing the routine activities of the targeted population, lifestyle changes can take root that direct people away from organized crime to a life and culture of law and order.

However, as Burt (2020) points out, there is no one-size-fits-all theory of crime. From Hirschi’s social control theory to social bond theory and many others, the perspectives one might take on organized crime are myriad. The important point, all the same, is that the criminal justice system apply these perspectives with a view to addressing the underlying problems that make organized crime possible in the first place. If these underlying problems are not addressed, it is like a healthcare provider treating a patient by applying a band-aid. The actual cause of illness or disease is not addressed and therefore the patient is never healed. For people to say that the best the criminal justice system can hope to achieve is to lessen the effects of organized crime is to be no different from a doctor who says to a patient, “Sorry, your mental health is not something I can help you with but I can give you this padded room and this straight-jacket so that the effects of your poor mental health are not so bad for you!” Such a doctor would be seen as a failure—and so too should a criminal justice system that fails to address root causes of organized crime.

One way that researchers have considered pursuing in recent years is restorative justice, which works to satisfy victims of crime and reduce recidivism rates so that offenders are brought back into the folds of a functioning society (Voreen et al., 2022). This is but one possible path forward, but the likely course of action that the criminal justice system should pursue to be successful against organized crime is a course that includes multiple action plans. It is not going to be a one-front fight but rather a multi-front effort that includes stakeholders from various fields and levels working together with the criminal justice system (D’Souza & L’Hoiry, 2021).