ABSTRACT
This chapter employs a network lens to examine some key enablers of organised criminal groups. First, the chapter focusses on recruitment and the processes by which individuals become involved in organised criminal groups, including the role that convergence settings play in such processes. We then examine the role of trust in facilitating the formation and evolution of organised criminal groups, the role that kinship and shared ethnicity can play in facilitating trust, and the role of corruption in facilitating the activities of organised criminal groups. Second, the chapter considers networks across boundaries, including legitimate and illegitimate, geographical and functional boundaries. The main objective is to demonstrate the value that network perspectives bring to appreciating a wide range of questions regarding the formation and functioning of organised criminal groups.
