• E4J University Module Series: Organized Crime

• Module 5: Conceptualizing and Measuring Organized Crime

• Introduction and learning outcomes

• Key issues

• How much organized crime is there?
• Alternative ways to measure organized crime
• Measuring product markets and flows
• Risk assessment
• Key concepts of risk assessment
• Risk assessment of organized criminal groups
• Risk assessment of product markets
• Risk assessment in practice
• Summary
• References

• Exercises

• Exercises and case studies
• Thinking critically through fiction

• Possible class structure

• Core reading

• Advanced reading

• Student assessment

• Review and assessment questions
• Quiz 5
• Research and independent study questions

• Additional teaching tools

 

Published in April 2018

Regional Perspectives: Pacific Islands Region - added in November 2019

Regional Perspective: Eastern and Southern Africa - added in April 2020

 

 

  This module is a resource for lecturers  

 

Summary

 

The measurement of organized crime is difficult due to the nature of the crimes committed and the measures that criminal enterprises take to conceal them. The problems with measurement were illustrated by the case of drug trafficking. An alternative method to measuring organized crime assesses illicit product markets and flows. This method has been applied to transnational organized crime both globally and regionally.

Organized criminal groups have become less important than the illicit markets they exploit. Successful intervention and prosecution strategies aimed at organized criminal groups do not stop the illicit activities on which they profited. Most product flows exploited by organized crime are international in nature with the source of supply and demand often in different countries or even different continents. This Module has described the role and utility of risk assessment in transnational organized crime. The importance of these assessments evaluating the local and regional organized crime situation helps in setting priorities and targeting enforcement and prevention efforts.