ABSTRACT
Academic discourse on organized crime is varied. The concept has excited many attempts to understand it, define it and ponder the issues the concept poses for academic researchers (see, for instance, Levi 2002; Allum and Siebert 2003, von Lampe and Johansen 2004; Edwards and Levi 2008). There is both academic and popular media interest in types of crimes committed (Arsovska 2008; Starkey 2008) and in particular criminal groups or the characterization of organized crime in different nations and regions (Albanese 2004; Bagley 2004; Lintner 2004; Phillips 2008; von Lampe 2008). Just as political rhetoric links organized crime and terrorism so academics have examined this relationship (Björnehed 2004; Makarenko 2004; Picarelli 2006; Clarke and Lee 2008). Others have sought to analyze organized crime from the perspective of local communities rather than international relations (Hobbs 1998; Gilmour 2008). Those with organized crime careers have contributed to overall understanding, either directly or indirectly, through autobiographical and biographical studies (Barnes, Elias and Walsh 2000; Johnson 2005). So, too, have journalists (Glenny 2008).
