Deviance and Organized Crime

Deviance is a violation of social norms, behavioral codes or prescriptions, which guide people into actions and self-presentations conforming to social acceptability. There are many forms of deviance. Among the many forms of deviance, organized crime stands out in many aspects of society. Organized crime has been around for many years in America and for centuries in Europe. It is distinguished by its durability over time, expansive interests, hierarchical structure, buildup of profit, investment of profit, access to political protection, and the use of violence as an end to particular means. Organized crime is able to thrive throughout the world by supplying, or appearing to supply, services that the lawful economy is unable to provide. Organized crime perpetuates many social problems. Organized crime leads to corrupt government members and law officials. Organized crime finds ways to obtain money disregarding who the money is taken from and at what cost to that person or persons. Organized crime is ruthless, taking out anything that comes between it and its goal disregarding things such as the value and quality of life an individual can lead. Numerous efforts have been made by law enforcement to control and suppress organized crime with little success. Organized crime has even become something semi accepted by society through television shows and motion pictures, which tend to glorify the deviant lifestyle an organized crime member lives. Organized crime is a model example of what deviance is and how it affects society.

The first aspect of organized crime that exemplifies deviance is the necessity of a completely opposite lifestyle. As children we are taught to conform to societal norms by holding down a nine to five job, being nice to others, and being honest. Living a life of organized crime requires a complete breakdown of these basic facets of conformity and thus results in a completely opposite lifestyle. Much of the work done by these criminals needs to be done in secrecy under a shroud of darkness. When you’re up all night hijacking trucks for their cargo or stealing cars it is impossible to hold down a normal day-to-day job.

Dishonesty becomes a way of life as members of organized crime syndicates often appear to hold regular jobs or to run fake businesses, or fronts, so that they can justify their income when tax season rolls around. They must lie to their family and friends consistently to avoid suspicion. This pattern of dishonesty in the home inevitably leads to a breakdown of the traditional family system. The traditional role of the patriarch of the family is just not being fulfilled when the husband is not with the family at night. This pattern of behavior inevitably leads to infidelity and a total collapse in the family system.

These behaviors leave a very negative impression on the children of these families. With these men as role models, old-fashioned views of working hard and leading an honest life are completely devalued. These children usually have a difficult time adjusting to more socially acceptable ways of life. With such poor role modeling going on at home this is easy to understand.

All of these points illustrate how organized crime violates social norms and the impact on families directly involved, but in the study of organized crime the impact is not only felt on that level but on a much broader societal level as well.

The economic impact of organized crime is staggering. “… a look at the economic impact alone gives a glimpse of the importance of this issue. The Center for Strategic and International Studies, Global Organized Crime Project, Financial Crimes Task Force estimates global organized crime reaps profits of close to $1 trillion per year.” (F.B.I. website) That is one trillion dollars around the globe that are going untaxed. On top of lost tax revenue, these governments are spending additional money to police and investigate crime rings. This all adds up to time, resources and money not directed towards vital public works further bringing down society as a whole. Abstract as this point may be, it is still an example of organized crime’s negative impact on our society.

One of the more obvious ways that organized crime can affect us negatively is the use and perpetuation of violence. It is an inherent element in the world of organized crime. When you owe money to a legitimate company and you don’t pay, they send you notices and reminders with due dates and eventually it could go to collections. Organized crime sees violence as a way to avoid all of this. If you owe them money and you don’t pay, when they catch you they will beat you up or worse, make an example out of you and kill you. Basically violence is used as a means to an end for these people. The main problem of this is collateral damage, or the innocent bystanders that get hurt as a