ABSTRACT
In recognition of the fact that criminal activities and the processes that sustain them are embedded in the transactions between individuals this volume examines the social and organisational aspects of crime. Such an examination is of particular benefit to police investigations. It strengthens the abilities of law enforcement agencies to incapacitate criminal networks and to weaken the social interactions between criminals. Understanding the nature of a criminal organisation also has value in providing guidance for how the investigative team should be organised.
Studies show that criminal networks, teams and groups and their associated social processes are not limited to tight, confined social clusters but are a mixture of different types of organisation running the full range from the anarchic to the strictly hierarchical. These social psychological processes influence criminal activity in three broad ways. First, they have a profound influence on the way in which the criminals’ self-identity is determined. Second, the form of the organisation of which they are a part shapes the roles and rules of criminal activity. Third, these organisational processes will define the ‘career’ paths through which criminals may move, in part at least.
For police investigators these findings imply that they do need to identify the criminal teams, networks, cliques and groups that offenders move within, as well as the likely consequences of isolating any individual from his criminal network. This leads to an investigative emphasis on the way criminal activity extends beyond the boundaries of the specific individuals involved in the immediate features of the offence itself. This in turn requires improvements in investigators own processes of networking and acting as teams.
