ABSTRACT
The analysis of the behavior of ethnic criminals and their criminal organizations indicates that each ethnic group passes through six stages in its rise and fall from power. These stages present a reasonable interpretation of Irish, Jewish, and Italian crime; whether they will assist in explaining African American, Hispanic, Asian, and other ethnic minority organized crime in America remains to be seen but we would be foolish to discount the historical record in speculating about the future of ethnic crime. Relative "loners," they perform criminal acts against their fellow ethnics in a haphazard, opportunistic fashion. Ethnic groups dominant in organized crime are eventually replaced by lower-echelon ethnic competitors. Hispanic and Asian newcomers are encroaching on the Italian criminal realms. Italian criminals in turn are about to be displaced by the minority newcomers—African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, and other ethnic newcomers. Italian gangsters reign in the twilight of their criminal power.
