ABSTRACT
In the long history of organised crime research, crime science is an emerging approach. Traditionally, organised crime (OC) has been interpreted variously as: the result of an alien conspiracy of outsiders threatening democratic societies, having a specific organisational form, or a legal enterprise. Situational crime prevention (SCP) generally seeks to alter the ‘near’ or immediate causes of crime by modifying the decisions that precede its commission. From an analytical perspective, SCP has been applied mainly to conventional high-volumes crimes. However, over the years this approach has been constantly under refinement and its scope increasingly extended. Associational structures and systemic conditions of OC are generally not explicitly considered by SCP. However, some of the principles of SCP can help us to identify and interpret attitudes of OC groups and the characteristics of their concentrations of power. The chapter provides an overview of the current and potential use of SCP approaches in dealing with OC.
