Social Effects Of Organized Crime

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When Americans hear the names Al Capone, Pablo Escobar and even Tony Soprano voluminous thoughts come to mind, one recollection being the organized crime that all of them were involved in. Popular culture has ingrained the image of the mafia or the mob when we think of organized crime. In order to understand how organized crime came to grow so productive, one must understand what exactly organized crime is. It is hard to tell where or when organized crime in the United States began, but there is a clear timeframe that organized crime began to spread and multiply. Before there were speakeasies and bootleggers, there was the 18th amendment that outlawed the sell and consumption of Alcohol. It was a simple notion of supply and demand. Many Americans …show more content…

It works within structures as multifaceted as those of any large corporation and consists of thousands of criminals (Demleitner 671). That description can be scary to picture, the fact that thousands of criminals working in conjunction with the intent of national level crime activity. Organized crime is much more than what the public pictures it as. It can be as simple as two or three individuals selling drugs at a street corner. The organized crime that is in question that caused and continues to cause the nationwide influx on crime is the larger of the …show more content…

The passing of the 18th amendment did not diminish the desire Americans had for liquor. Crime organizations provided a simple supply and demand issue. According to Hales & Kazmers “This great demand for and simultaneous illegalization of alcohol opened up a new illegal market for the gangster to develop and monopolize.” (6) Organizations began illegally importing, selling, producing and distributing alcohol as a revenue source. Bootlegging became the new business and organized crime became the Chief Executive Officer. Bootlegging was not only an opportunity to amass large profits, but according to Demleitner “a way to gain respectability, status and power”. (701) The relationship between politics and organized crime had

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