Organized crime

Organized crime is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. Some criminal organizations, such as terrorist groups, are politically motivated. Sometimes criminal organizations force people to do business with them, such as when a gang extorts money from shopkeepers for “protection”. Gangs may become disciplined enough to be considered organized. A criminal organization or gang can also be referred to as a mafia, mob, ring, or syndicate; the network, subculture and community of criminals may be referred to as the underworld. European sociologists (e.g. Diego Gambetta) define the mafia as an organized crime group that specializes in the supply of extra-legal protection and quasi-law enforcement. Gambetta’s classic work on the Sicilian Mafia generates an economic study of the mafia, which influences studies of the Russian Mafia, the Chinese Mafia, Hong Kong Triads and the Japanese Yakuza.