The new EP Library Catalogue allows you to search the EP collection for:
- Journals, books and articles in paper or electronic format
- EPRS and Policy Department publications
Abstract: In the pandemic context generated by the epidemiological situation we face, crime has increased worldwide, criminals adapting to the environmental changes in which they operate. Thus, online criminal activities have become more widespread, especially in the area of fraud, and concrete and structured action is needed at EU level to combat all forms of organized crime. Modern technology is an essential tool in terms of serious and organized crime, facilitating systematic cooperation between criminals, in achieving the common goal, respectively the achievement of profit. Thus, it becomes much easier to access illegal tools and goods, the economic crisis generated by the pandemic giving a safe lever in this regard. The European Union is working to establish the tools and measures to be developed in the period 2020-2025, to ensure security in the physical and digital environment.
Abstract: This is an introduction to the articles submitted to the special issue of Trends in Organized Crime on ‘Crime and Networks’. The aim of this special issue is to advance our relational understanding of organised crime, gangs and crime more generally by presenting six works exploring a diverse set of questions related to organised crime, street gangs, outlaw motorcycle gangs, money laundering and groups operating in cyberspace.
Abstract: We study a model that establishes a novel theoretical rationale for the empirically well-documented relation between inequality and corruption. According to our model, inequality can nurture corruption by empowering organized crime because collusion between local police forces and criminal organizations is more likely in societies characterized by high inequality or weak security forces. Law enforcement and organized crime have a strong incentive to collude due to efficiency gains from specialization. However, their agreement breaks down when the mobsters can no longer credibly commit to joint rent maximization and thus start to compete with law enforcement for citizens’ wealth (...).
Abstract: Several remedies can be adopted in the fight against organized crime and mafias. One of the most effective is the confiscation of their assets. After confiscation, assets can be used to provide services to citizens, frequently thanks to the support of non-profit organizations. With a focus on Italy, this study investigates the transparency of the confiscation process and the factors that explain why local governments provide (or do not provide) information on confiscated assets. Points for practitioners To facilitate dialogue with citizens, it is essential to consider the perspective of data users, so as to avoid focusing on the data provider. Such a dialogue can aid the adequate reuse of assets confiscated from the mafia and other criminal organizations, contributing to the ‘social’ fight against them. This article contributes to the debate on both transparency and studies on mafia organizations, providing a new insight through the consideration of how external pressures can drive public-sector entities to be more transparent.
Abstract: Counter-serious and organised crime (SOC) strategies often include an awareness-raising element. Such messaging aims to build support for counter-SOC efforts, and intolerance for organised criminal activity. However, a growing body of research suggests that raising awareness to ‘social bads’ like SOC may risk backfiring by encouraging pessimistic attitudes about whether they can be controlled and could even nudge people to agree with populist narratives which argue that political outsiders represent the only hope for tackling systemic problems. A nationally representative survey experiment in Albania was conducted to test, for the first time, the impact of messages about SOC (...).
Abstract: An analysis of most definitions of organized crime point to the fact that its main goal is the acquisition of financial profit. That is why one of the basic measures that most affects organized crime is confiscation of illegally acquired property. The purpose of that confiscation, through different historical epochs, was to punish the perpetrator of a criminal act, to compensate the injured party, or to prevent and deter others from committing criminal acts. The goal of this paper is to review scientific literature and analyze the content of various legal acts and documents, with the application of the comparative method, and to point out the specifics of the institute of confiscation of property acquired through criminal activities as one of the measures in the fight against organized crime (...).
Abstract: In this article, we aim to further our understanding of the social embeddedness of organized crime by exploring the (possible) ways the social environment adds to the shielding of organized crime or criminal activities by organized crime groups. We argue that the metaphor of ‘walls of silence’ provides a fruitful way to examine the shielding of organized crime. Based on a theoretical and empirical exploration of 30 cases from the fifth data sweep of Dutch Organized Crime Monitor, we illustrate how organized crime offenders in the Netherlands depend on the silence and secrecy of co-offenders, victims, bystanders, and others who are aware of their (criminal) activities. Furthermore, we present a framework of the shielding of organized crime activities to provide insight into how offenders not only make use of the social environment to shield their activities, but also how the social environment can (purposely) act as walls of silence and secrecy.
Abstract: Organized crime tightens its corrupting influence on politics through violent intimidation. Anti-crime measures that increase the cost of corruption but not of the exercise of violence might, on the one hand, lead mafia-style organizations to retaliate by resorting to violence in lieu of bribery. On the other hand, this kind of anti-crime measure might also induce criminal clans to go inactive, owing to the lower expected payoff from the “business” of influencing politics, which would reduce violence (...).
Abstract: Yarin Eski and Anna Sergi recently published an article in Trends in Organized Crime called ‘Ethnic profiling of organised crime? A tendency of mafia‑cation in the Netherlands’ Eski and Sergi (Trends Organ Crime, 1?20 2023). In their theoretical contribution, the authors claim that the policing of organised crime in the Netherlands amounts to ethnic profiling of minorities. However, the question of whether Dutch organised crime policies focus on ethnic minorities is in fact an empirical one. While Eski and Sergi claim the existence of an ‘ethnicised’ focus, the use of the phrase ‘theoretical’ is a rather ineffective attempt to cover up methodological weaknesses and a lack of empirical substantiation. Court records, records of the Public Prosecution Service, parliamentary documents, and academic research into organised crime provide not a shred of evidence of mafia-cation.
Abstract: The conflict in Ukraine has already changed the picture of the regional security and some changes may be permanent. The shifting power structures created by the war and the il-licit market opportunities will continue to increase criminal activity. This article assesses the impact of the conflict in Ukraine and its implications for organized crime and security-related issues for neighbouring countries, with a focus on Romania. These include organized crime and illicit trafficking (including trafficking in persons, drugs, arms, illicit tobacco, and other goods), cybercrimes and fraud. The paper uses a multidisciplinary approach, which in-cludes both intelligence analysis and operational actions, with a bene-fit role in the prevention, detection and tackling of serious and organized crime affecting the European Union and its citizens (...).
Abstract: The contemporary cyber threat landscape presents a complex tapestry of challenges, featuring diverse actors ranging from non-state entities like organized crime syndicates and terrorist organizations to state-sponsored operatives affiliated with nations such as China, Russia, and Iran. Motivations driving these actors span from financial gain to ideological pursuits and geopolitical objectives, resulting in a wide range of cyber operations aimed at individuals, businesses, and governments worldwide. These high-profile incidents underscore the disruptive potential, and strategic implications need of a comprehensive Shipping Industry's Cyber Counterintelligence approach, to safeguard critical assets and operations in an increasingly digitized environment.
Abstract: Organized crime groups around the world profit from numerous criminal ventures-drug trafficking, human trafficking, extortion-but their proceeds are useless without being laundered. While money laundering is usually seen as a cost of committing crime, the growing convenience and lack of regulation of online remote gambling and sports betting has become a cost-effective money laundering method for criminal organizations. The lack of regulations also allows these groups to get away with match-fixing, not only making money laundering easier but also turning it into a profitable venture (...).
Abstract: The international community has played an essential role in creating and building an international system as a global response to combat people trafficking. This development has taken place through international instruments to fight organized crime and based on a rationale of State security. States underpin the international system, and the majority are more concerned with prosecuting crime than protecting victims’ rights. Progress is being made, but this system does not guarantee the rights of all victims in a fully effective manner. The theoretical framework for the analysis presented in this paper is the critical theory of human rights; Spain is used as a case study. Spain is considered to have regulations that offer guarantees; however, rights are only effectively guaranteed in formal terms (...).
Abstract: Different public-private partnerships may exhibit various characteristics, yet we understand little about the impact of imbalanced power dynamics among partners on the success or failure of partnerships. This study focuses on the private actor, an incumbent bank coerced into a collaborative governance configuration aimed at addressing the wicked problem of fighting financial crime. We investigate the response strategies of organizational members to examine the impact of when hybridity is enforced, meaning that organizations are driven by a multiplicity of values and objectives (...).
Abstract: The concept of organised cybercrime has been the subject of much debate over the last decade. Many researchers who have applied scholarly definitions of organised crime to cybercriminal groups have concluded that such groups are not "organised criminal groups" and do not engage in "organised crime". This paper adopts a different perspective to argue that certain cyber-criminal groups involved in ransomware can and should be considered organised crime if a more contemporary and flexible framework for conceptualising organised crime is adopted (...).
Abstract: Illicit data markets have emerged on Telegram, a popular online instant messaging application, bringing together thousands of users worldwide in an unregulated exchange of sensitive data. These markets operate through vendors who offer enormous quantities of such data, from personally identifiable information to financial data, while potential customers bid for these valuable assets. This study describes how Telegram data markets operate and discusses what interventions could be used to disrupt them. Using crime script analysis, we observed 16 Telegram meeting places encompassing public and private channels and groups. We obtained information about how the different meeting places function, what are their inside rules, and what tactics are employed by users to advertise and trade data. Based on the crime script, we suggest four feasible situational crime prevention measures to help disrupt these markets. These include taking down the marketplaces, reporting them, spamming and flooding techniques, and using warning banners.
Abstract: This paper presents an attempt at establishing an association between crime levels and prison populations across European countries. We observe that the situation in Central and Eastern European countries differs distinctly from the rest of Europe. Building on this, we offer justification that is methodologically based on correlations and regressions of country incarceration rates on crime rates, with reference to governance indicators. Our cross-sectional analysis uses data on crime and prisoner rates by offence from Eurostat and SPACE for the year 2018. The paper’s empirical analysis is preceded by a discussion of the challenges faced when attempting to compare crime between countries in Europe. A review of research focused on relationships between incarceration and crime follows, with the emphasis on the deterrence effect and the prison paradox. Typically, this stream of research uses microdata covering a single country or limited to a smaller geographic area. International comparisons are rare, and are usually based on time series and trend analyses.
If you are unable to access the article you need, please contact us and we will get it for you as soon as possible.
| Data Protection Notice | Cookie Policy & Inventory |
 |
 |
 |
Journals on all devices |
Books, articles, EPRS publications & more |
Newspapers on all devices |