Type: Exploratory
Pages: 3 | Words: 699
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Social institution is an organization or group that has a specific task or goal and performs it by convincing people in the community to take part and help in achieving this aim. Social institutions form the social environment in which an individual grows up and lives, and they are related to organized crime in many ways. Organized crime is also a product of the environment. In general, it is regarded as a form of group behavior which takes advantage of unlawful opportunities, both on a single or continuous basis.

In accordance with Warren, a criminal organization progresses in places where some persons desire what criminal organizations are offering. Thus, the organization is allowed to create, allocate, and use the product successfully; it is connected with the community where it operates. Criminal organization emphasizes on the social structure of community, its social control over members, and the participation degree of every member. The judiciary and government have a significant impact on determining if a certain organized crime group prospers.

Theories to Crime and Illegal Behavior

Among the most applicable empirical and speculative theories to crime and illegal behavior, there are social control, alien, anomie, and differential association theories.

The social control theory argues that a person who is connected with the community and has good relationships with family is less prone to the illegitimate doings than others. If an individual is able to establish a positive contact with members of his/her community and take part in the public programs like the fight against crime, religious-spiritual, elderly or youth, he or she is expected to refrain from criminal activity or leastwise think through the crime’s consequences before doing it.

The alien theory clarifies the occurrence of criminal gangs. It claims that those who were involved in the organized crime of Italy and Sicily created such well-known criminal organizations as Costra Nostra or the Sicilian Mafia. Later, these persons migrated to the United States in order to avoid baring and arrest by law enforcement officers in their state. They also wanted to benefit from a variety of opportunities that existed in the U.S. both officially and unlawfully. Such groups established, developed, and managed many criminal organizations which implemented serious and minor crimes. Experts suppose them to be the main reason for the criminalization of culture.

The anomie or so-called strain theory considers that people who are involved in illegal activities want to get materialistic values. Most people living in the United States have never experienced the luxury of owning an expensive business, house, car, or other property. The majority has low wages and labor-intensive jobs. On the other hand, they should provide and maintain their families by legal means. That is why the wish to have valuable items and ensure a better life for children (for example, good schools, after-school activities, holidays, and more expensive clothes and toys) can make adults carry out illegitimate business in order to gain an additional income.

The theory of differential association assumes that the environment and social group explain the criminal behavior of individuals as well as their membership in a criminal organization. A person who communicates with individuals or sub-groups who are involved in criminal activities is at a high risk to follow their rules. The juvenile who is engaged in unlawful activity or demonstrates delinquent behavior because of peer pressure can be a striking illustration. Such teenagers tend to be expelled from school, experiment with alcohol and drugs, and join street gangs. This results in the path of addiction, crime career, and a long criminal history.

To sum up, the discussed speculative and empirical theories may help law enforcement professionals, scholars, and society understand the elements of wrongful conduct and criminal organizations. Every concept is maintained by the strong arguments of statistics and research that can be widely embraced by law enforcement agencies. All of them portray the common features of criminal behavior and show what places are predisposed to the expansion of criminal activities and organizations. As a result, it seems that organized crime applies to social institutions. Furthermore, organized crime is viewed as a social institution which works towards the same goal. It also has relations, responsibilities, leaders, and supporters. In addition, antisocial citizens form the favorable environment for committing numerous criminal offenses.

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