Deck 20: Organised Crime

Question 1

People trafficking and migrant smuggling are the same activities.

Answer 1

False

Question 2

Why was the European Police Office or 'Europol' established?

Answer 2

The platform for the launch of Europol was the Trevi group, formed in 1976. Originally established as a European intergovernmental forum to tackle terrorism, its remit was eventually expanded 'to look … at the mechanics of police co-operation in the European Community across the whole range of crime, the use of liaison officers and the creation of a common information system' (Hebenton and Thomas, 1995: 71)

Question 3

What has been the response to various forms of transnational criminal activity?

Answer 3

Predictably, the growing visibility of various forms of transnational criminal activity has been paralleled by a set of changes in the organisational response to crime. A series of international conventions has been established in recent years in the field of organised crime.

Question 4

What is the drugs market 'pyramid model'?

Question 5

Why have organised crime groups never developed in Britain as they have in America?

A)because of a more conservative social and political system
B)because of effective and efficient police
C)because the supply and consumption of alcohol, the opiates, gambling and prostitution remain legal, but partly regulated

Question 6

How did Chambliss' (1978) findings run contrary to the dominant grain of thinking about organised crime?

A)He said it was not really a major problem
B)He concluded that organised crime was not controlled by some form of national syndicate who exercised a feudal-like control over their underlings across the nation
C)his research did not support the idea that there was some 'godfather' or even a group of private citizens running these rackets

Question 7

Why did the Mafia flourish in the south of Italy in the nineteenth century?

A)due to drug trafficking
B)family ties were predominant
C)the state was relatively weak

Question 8

What were the two assumptions of traditional understandings of American organised crime?

A)that it involved an 'alien other' (the modern stereotype being Italian immigrants, particularly from Sicily)
B)that it had been imported from Britain
C)that the organisations involved were characterised by a formal, hierarchical structure.

Question 9

How did the fall of Communism lead to heightened concerns about Transnational Organised Crime (TOC)?

A)Communist spies were now exposed
B)It opened up borders
C)Europe became more affluent

Question 10

What is the 'alien succession thesis'?

A)The idea that immigrants are usually more successful than indigenous populations
B)As particular ethnic groups become gradually assimilated to the mainstream, they are replaced in organised crime by other, more recent arrivals
C)The thesis that some ethnic populations have better business sense than others

Question 11

Why did Cressey (1972) argue that organised crime in America was dominated by the Mafia?

A)because they were immigrants
B)because they seemed to be highly organised with nationwide influence
C)because the police were corrupt

Question 12

How can distinctions be made between organised crime and corporate or white collar crime?

A)There is no distinction
B)Organised crime is involved in lower levels of criminal activity
C)Organised crime does not normally have legitimate businesses at their heart

Question 13

Why is organised crime difficult to define?

A)because it is cross-national
B)because the forms of activity it covers are diverse
C)because it must fulfil at least 11 identified criteria

Question 14

Interpol was never intended as an operational police force.

Question 15

Drug traffickers are said to earn gross profit margins of 300%

Question 16

The 'war on drugs' is unlikely ever to be won.

Question 17

Drug dealing is a dangerous activity and dealers regard violence is an essential, intrinsic part of the work.

Question 18

According to recent research (Matrix 2007) drug dealers do not regard their activities as particularly risky.

Question 19

How has Europol's remit been extended since 9/11?