Challenging the Russian Mafia Mystique

摘要

Three assumptions helped shape the basis of this research into Russian crime. The first is that a criminal organization can be usefully examined both in terms of its structure and the activities in which it engages; second, that a criminal organization is not synonymous with organized crime; and third, that the nature and extent of harm caused is an essential dimension for characterizing a criminal organization. Organized crime is typically defined by three characteristics: criminal monopoly, violence, and corruption. Although other forms of criminal organization may involve one or two of these activities, true organized crime is unique because all three are essential, each one reinforcing the other two.