Mafia and Organized Crime: A Beginner's Guide

Beginner's Guide (Oneworld Publications)

by James O. Finckenauer

Ruthless, cruel, and irresistibly the Mafia has always appealed to the darker side of the imagination. But just what is the Mafia, how does it operate, and what can be done to combat it? James Finckenauer debunks the romantic notions and mystique surrounding the Mafia to reveal the harsh realities of global organized crime in countries spanning from Japan to Russia to Colombia. Demonstrating that organizations like the Mafia are multi-faceted and far more complex than imagined, he argues that organized crime destabilises society on a global scale, perpetuating untold economic, physical, psychological, and societal damage through its control of criminal markets, violence and corruption. Providing vital insight into a hidden world, A Beginner’s Guide is ideal reading for anyone intrigued by, or concerned about, this widely misunderstood phenomenon. James Finckenauer has written extensively on organized crime. He is a Distinguished Professor at the School of Criminal Justice, Rutgers University, and former Director of the National Institute of Justice, Washington DC.

Genres: Crime, Nonfiction

232 pages, Paperback

First published July 25, 2007

Reviews

[Kit · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent basic handbook of tools for examining organised crime. 3.5.
Almost the first half of the book is concerned with definitions of, popular conceptions of and who is involved with organised crime.
Then there is a whistle-stop tour of types, locations and handling of organised crime as of time of writing, 2012. He focuses in a bit on human trafficking.
A little further reading guide is given at the end.

[Chris Jacko · Rating 2 out of 5]

While informative, this read like a textbook.

[Ethan Everson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very informative, one of my favourite of the beginners guides. You can learn a lot of what is not shown in media and what is transformed from life to media in this book alone.

[Zala · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good and solid beginners' guide, as it says in the title. It's informative and doesn't go into too much detail that could confuse a non-expert. It has much more information on the cosa nostra than any other crime syndicate but that is to be expected. I definitely recommend it for any crime enthusiast.