Revisiting the concept of organized crime through the disciplinary lens of economic criminology

Abstract

The lack of understanding of the boundaries of economic criminology and the little agreement on the kind of offenses or deviant acts that fall in its substantive focus have invited an evaluation of the characteristics that criminals and/or crimes have to own in order to qualify as “economic crime.” This paper aims to revisit the growing disciplinary landscape of economic criminology with a view to outlining the role of organized crime in it. The analysis aims to refine and compare the concepts of “economic crime” and “organized crime,” deliberate on the central features of both, and speculate on the floating frontiers of economic criminology. It is argued that organized crime is part and parcel of the growing field of economic criminology and deserves a niche within it.

Keywords

• Organized crime
• Economic crime
• White-collar crime
• Financial or other material benefit
• Criminal conspiracy
• United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime