ABSTRACT
The study of Russian organized crime encompasses the challenge and the acknowledgement of all the facets of human behavior, of historical and social change, the many forms political and economic development can take, and the complexity of the psychology and creativity of the criminal mind that seeks the path to acquiring money and power. The Russian experience with organized crime is an experience with many lessons, - - economic, social and political - - from which the discipline of criminology and, indeed, nations and governments, can benefit and learn. For the Russian experience with organized crime is a lesson in reality. Absent here is the romance and mythology that has surrounded the image of organized crime in the United States as one originated by, controlled by and centrally organizedby the “Mafia” or“CosaNostra.” To expect that the American public will finally begin to read the scholarly works on the subject to show that a belief in “Mafia” and “Cosa Nostra” has only served to excite readers and visually stimulate movie audiences is too much to ask, for mythologies die with a great deal of difficulty. They die hard because they serve apurpose; they serve to excite, entertain and construct social reality. But, history has taught us that mythological constructs are mythology, not reality. And this is true of organized crime in America and the American public’s conception of i t The study of Russian organized crime should serve as a laboratory within which the basic features of organized crime reveal themselves. These features and characteristics are basic to its nature and, although historical and cultural factors exert their influence and create some differences in the countries in which it exists, the essence or basic characteristics of organized crime are inherent to its nature.
