Such a social phenomenon as organized crime has always been a subject of thorough sociological and criminological analysis. The United States has always been notorious for such organizations. Even now, at the beginning of the twenty-first century, this problem remains extremely acute. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance to discuss this phenomenon from different standpoints. It is necessary to discuss the organizational dynamics of street gangs, in other words, we have to show how organized crime is changing in terms of size and structure.
As regards the bodies of literature that are relevant to this topic, it is possible for us to divide them into three categories. In this case, the major criterion is the approach that the researchers take.
For example, if we take the organizational or structural approach to this phenomenon, we may mention such books as “Contemporary Gangs” by Deborah Weisel, “The American Street Gang” written by Malcolm Klein. Moreover, such a book as “Handbook of Organized Crime in the United States” by Robert Kelly may prove to be very useful because it represents a clear and concise classification of gangs according to their structure.
The problem of organized crime can also be discussed within the frame of cultural approach; for example, such scholars as Gelder Ken, in his book “Subcultures: Cultural Histories and Social Practice,” attached significance to this phenomenon. In addition to that, we may speak of the book written” Beyond Subculture” by Huq, Rupa. However, the most relevant book dedicated to this aspect of organized crime is Douglas Clay’s “Gangs and America’s Schools.”
The analysis of such social phenomenon as street gangs will not be complete if we disregard the socio-psychological approach. For instance, such books as “Environmental Criminology” by Peter Brantingham or “Integrative Criminology” by Gregg Barak can be a good theoretical basis for further research. However, if we discuss this problem within the context of the United States, we should mention such books as “Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective” by Marvin Crohn and Bernard Lander’s research work “Towards an Understanding of Juvenile Delinquency.”
Thus we may see that then there is a wide variety of books dedicated to this topic. However, our task is to single out the essential works. For example, the landmark research studying organized crime is “Contemporary Gangs: An Organizational Analysis,” written by Deborah Weisel. This book covers a great number of aspects concerning this topic. First, it analyzes various approaches to the very concept of “gang”—for instance, life circles of such an organization, structural changes within the organization. Moreover, the author classifies the gangs according to different criteria. Additionally, Deborah Weisel analyzes the present-day situation in the United States and outlines the prospects of further development. Another peculiar feature of this book is that it explains the reasons for some gang’s longevity and describes the ways in which they transform with time passing. The author stresses the idea that organized crime, especially street gangs, cannot be conquered unless the government finds a complex approach to this problem. To be more exact, Deborah Weisel says that this issue should be dealt with on social, religious, and educational levels (Weisel, 134).
Another prominent scientific work devoted to the problem of organized crime is the book by Malcolm Klein. It is called “The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control” The author presents the historical background of this social phenomenon and the genesis of street gangs with time passing. He contrasts the image of the present-day gang with that one, which existed at the beginning of the twentieth century. Besides, Malcolm Klein analyzes the methods, which police employ in order to cope with this problem. However, this is not the major focus of this book. The researcher compares and contrasts American street gangs with those ones of other countries, according to such criteria as a structural organization, dynamics, and the reason for their longevity. In addition to that, the scholar explores the means the officials in different countries use to suppress organized crime (Klein, 146).
As regards the interactions of street gangs and community-based organizations, it is quite possible to mention the works of Douglas Clay, especially his works exploring the relationships between street gangs and educational institutions. He argues that such ties between organized crime and school have significantly strengthened over the recent decade. In his belief, gangs have become an inseparable part of popular culture, especially in the inner cities. Douglas Clay believes that educators can play a very important role in suppressing organized crime under the indispensable condition that they manage the change the attitude of their students towards organized crime (Clay, 50).
As far as the psychological approach to organized crime is concerned, many experts in this field single out the book, written by a prominent American psychologist and criminologist Marvin Crohn, “Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective” The author attracts our attention to the behavioral aspect of this problem. He presents a psychological description of gang members. According to the researcher, members of such organizations experience some illusion of power and control. It seems to them that grouped together; they can be stronger. In the author’s view, such kind of behavior can be ascribed to some problems that these teenagers may experience at home. As for the issue, the researcher identifies the so-called risk groups, in other words, teenagers, who are more likely to join a street gang (Crohn, 232).
Another scientific work dedicated to the problem of juvenile delinquency is the study “Towards an Understanding of Juvenile Delinquency” conducted by Bernard Lander. The author gives the so-called factor analysis of juvenile delinquency. In his opinion, juvenile delinquency and racial problems are closely interconnected; perhaps we should look for the underlying cause of the increasing delinquency rate in the ethnic problems (Lander, 66).
These books can be considered the most significant for several reasons. First, they provide a profound theoretical approach to the problem of or organized crime like for example, Deborah Weisel’s “Contemporary Gangs” or Malcolm Klein’s “The American Street Gang.”
Secondly, these research works can be recommended because they contain adequate data as to the present-day situation and discuss the problem of street gangs within the context of contemporary American society.
Nevertheless, the major criterion is that these books can give a three-dimensional view of organized crime, because this discuss these issues from various standpoints: structural, cultural, sociological, and psychological.
Bibliography
Bernard Lander. (1996) Towards an Understanding of Juvenile Delinquency. Columbia University Press.
Deborah Lamm Weisel. (2002) Contemporary Gangs: An Organizational Analysis. LFB Scholarly Publishing.
Douglas A. Clay. Gangs and America’s Schools. Phi Delta Kappan, pp 44- 56, 1992.
Malcolm W. Klein. (2003) The American Street Gang: Its Nature, Prevalence, and Control. Oxford University Press.
Marvin Crohn. Thornberry. (2002) Gangs and Delinquency in Developmental Perspective. Cambridge University Press.