Patterns of criminal organisation Flashcards
overview
As we saw with Winlow’s study of bouncers in Sunderland, globalisation & de-industrialisation have created new criminal opportunities & patterns at a local level. Hobbs & Dunningham also found that the way crime is organised is linked to the economic changes brought by globalisation. They argue that changes associated with globalisation have led to changes in patterns of crime
– e.g. the shift from the old rigidly hierarchical gang structure (as with the Kray brothers in the East End of London) to loose networks of flexible, opportunistic, entrepreneurial criminals with regular changes in leadership as people fight to get to the top.
glocal organisations
These new forms of organisation sometimes have international links, especially with the drugs trade, but crime is still rooted in its local context. E.g. individuals still need local contacts & networks to find opportunities & to sell their drugs. Hobbs & Dunningham therefore conclude that crime works as a ‘glocal’ system. It is still locally based, but with global connections. This means that the form it takes will vary from place to place, according to local conditions, even if it is influenced by global factors such as the availability of drugs from abroad. Examples of ‘glocal’ trade are:
▪ the illegal drugs trade, worth £300-£400 billion annually. Local prices & the availability of drugs in any city in the UK depend on how efficiently global drug trade gangs can move drugs around the world while avoiding detection
▪ sex trafficking for prostitution
▪ smuggling legal (often stolen) goods such as alcohol, tobacco & cars
▪ counterfeiting designer goods & labels
However, it is not clear that the patterns that Hobbs & Dunningham suggest are new, nor that the older structures as found with the Krays have disappeared. It may be that the two have always co-existed. Equally, their conclusions may not be generalisable to other criminal activities elsewhere.
