Social Organized Crime Perspective Paper
Social Organized Crime Perspective Paper Many could argue that organized crime takes place in our society because of the circumstances in which our society has chosen to exist. It could have been started because of rules, regulations, and laws that we have placed upon ourselves that not every person agrees with. It could be a problem because several of the people within our society choose to live differently because they feel they can. Whatever the logic behind the choice organized crime does exist in our society and has for quite some time. In this paper will take a look at the perspective of social organized crime.
We will discuss and explain the term social institution and how it applies to organized crime. We will discuss empirical and speculative theories that are most applicable to our perspective as they apply to organized crime and overall criminal behavior. An institution is meant to be a significant place of learning or stature. A social institution could be looked upon as a representation of our society in an organized manner. In order for a society to be considered a social institution we could argue that there needs to be several things that exist within that society.
That society would need to have both written rules and laws set in place as well as unwritten codes and morals that exist for the people who live in that society to abide by. Those who live in that society would need to be aware of these and accepting of them in order for the social institution to be a success. If we consider our society as the social institution that it has become we need to recognize how that institution has become staple that has helped to spawn the organized crime that also exists within it.
We have outlined what it is that makes our society a social institution and why it is such but in order for that idea to be applied to organized crime we would need to look at our social institution and the people that exist within it from the other side of the spectrum. Organized crime within our social institution would exist because a small amount of the people who living within our society would willingly choose not to agree to abide by the rules, regulations, morals, and laws both written and unwritten. Organized crime exists because and could be applied to our social institution as the antithesis of our ocial institution. When we consider theories that are most applicable to the idea of a social institution and how they may apply to organized crime or criminal behavior in generally it is important to consider at least two of theories. The Rational Choice Theory and the Theory of Differential Association are two theories that attempt to allow us to gain insight as to how a social institution can not only be responsible for creating organized crime but also allude to criminal behaviors and allow us to see how individuals can come to a decision to choose to live their life in this fashion.
The Rational Choice Theory is one that is popular and it believes that a person committing the crime has weighed the outcomes and benefits and the consequences to this crime. It believes that the decision to choose to commit the crime far outweighs the consequences that come with it. This has relevance in a social institution because it demonstrates how an individual can choose to not go along with what is expected out of them from society and has made a decision to go against that and face the consequences. Criminal behavior is learned.
By studying the Theory of Differential Association we can see once a person has been subjected to criminal behavior and has learned to behave in such a manner that their behavior will grow and develop into something much more. This theory attempts to give insight as to how a person can choose to live a life of crime and or choose to become affiliated with an organized crime group and live a life of crime as a profession and a career. In conclusion we are a society that has formed and developed into a social institution. We have rules that are both written and unwritten.
Those rules may not be for everyone and those who refuse to agree to live by them often choose to live a life of crime. Once they learn a life of crime they may choose to make a career out of their efforts and become more intelligent as criminals. When this happens they learn to behave more and more like criminals until their life becomes that surrounded by and involved with organized crime. We as a society refute this and by refuting it we encourage it. Internet Reference, http://wps. pearsoncustom. com/wps/media/objects/6904/7070214/CRJ455_Ch02. pdf, retrieved on October 23, 2011.
