The objective of this thesis was to research and gain knowledge about people involved in organized crime in Sweden. By conducting interviews we were able to analyze what factors played a role in an individual's choice to become a member of a criminal gang, as well as to gain an overall picture of these people. The qualitative research was carried out in three different cities in Sweden. Three people, aged between 30 and 60, who are currently members of a gang, were interviewed. In these interviews they shared their life stories in terms of childhood, youth, gang involvement as well as their hopes for the future. The results were then further analyzed to explore any similarities and differences among the participating individuals. Furthermore, these results were then compared with previous research on the topic, as well as different theories. We were  able to conclude several common trends in the experiences of the interviewed people despite all of them being unique. Among other findings, we could see that theories regarding risk factors for criminal development were mostly coherent with that of the interviewees. Risk factors can be segregated into the individual level, family level, peer level, school level and community level. Research on risk factors were shown to match the interviewees' life stories quite well. Some of the common factors were that two of the people who were interviewed came from broken family relationships, all three described themselves as drawn to peer groups seeking excitement, and all three said that their time at school was characterized by violence. All the people interviewed are active members of a gang because it "suited their needs. They all noted, however, that a disadvantage of this lifestyle is that it comes with a lot of stress, especially the fight against the judiciary. It was clear to all three people that they find it difficult to obey the law and that it would be difficult to leave the criminal underworld completely. This means that chronic criminality, as well as other behavior, is the result of habits that are fundamentally difficult to break.

This study consists of a qualitative analysis on the subject of human trafficking in Canada. It is intended to explore the steps that have been taken to address the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementary Legislation to the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000c), also known as the Palermo Protocol, and examine Canada’s commitment to changing the international and domestic context in which human trafficking takes place. Through exploration of Canadian legislation, literature and prosecutions presented in Canadian courts between January 2005 and December 2011, this research aims to establish whether Canada has shown a commitment to ending and preventing the problem of human trafficking that is consistent with the Recommended Guidelines published by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (2002). A nominal coding scheme was used to show in basic terms the level of commitment Canada is showing toward combating the issue of human trafficking, both internationally and domestically. Results indicate that while Canada has met minimum standards by implementing anti-trafficking legislation in 2005 which is consistent with the Palermo Protocol, the country is falling short of commitments to combat human trafficking due to inadequate victim protection measures, lack of standardized data collection procedures and insufficient efforts to combat and prevent the root causes of trafficking.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 148-160). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. School of Criminal Justice, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on July 7, 2009) Includes bibliographical references (p. 168-187). Also issued in print.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)--University of Hong Kong, 1988. / Also available in print.

The organised crime industry on a whole generates an estimated gross criminal product of $800 billion USD annually generated from traditional crime industries like money laundering, cigarette and narcotics trafficking and prostitution. As a result of the new, globalised world, organised crime is diversifying its activities, penetrating legal sectors and further corrupting political systems. In general, it has been quick to adjust to the new economic opportunities and new technologies that this global village has to offer, and has been far more efficient in exploiting every available opportunity than its police and justice counterparts in preventing it from doing so. The face of international organised crime has changed to include new, sometimes smaller, often more dangerous actors, and has seen the traditional crime families metamorphose to keep up with the new environment. Diversification, penetration, legitimisation are the new guiding motto. The Sicilian Cosa Nostra has sought alternative ways to generate additional profits whilst reducing the risk factor. In order to branch-out, escape prosecution and yet remain within a pivotal and strategic position, the Cosa Nostra has chosen, amongst other havens, the French Riviera. Today, political and popular mobilisation and interest in combating organised crime is minimal, largely relegated to folklore status, crime annals, and the cinema industry. However, no judicial tool or innovation can have concrete and effective applications if the political will is not predominant and if concerted international co-operation is not enforced. The risk, should this trend continue, is that organised crime will become a dominant and decisive actor in State affairs, may continue to take over unstable micro-states and pervert the democratic process and the rule of law around the world. The threat is not so much to stand by and wait as crime develops further, but how long this lack of reaction can continue before it becomes irreversible.

Made available in DSpace on 2014-06-11T19:29:04Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 0 Previous issue date: 2007-12-07Bitstream added on 2014-06-13T20:59:03Z : No. of bitstreams: 1 santos_vf_me_assis.pdf: 663507 bytes, checksum: 86402c11b4a071a9b47705452a750f08 (MD5) / Esta pesquisa nasce da experiência de alguns anos de acompanhamento psicossocial a adolescentes que cometeram atos infracionais, cumprindo medida sócio-educativa de internação em uma das unidades da FEBEM, hoje chamada de Fundação CASA. Partindo da perplexidade diante do mundo entre grades e muralhas que o trabalho cotidiano desvela, este estudo vai tomando direção com a lapidação de sentimentos e com a incessante busca de sentido para as relações que o ‘outro’ mundo revela. A organização peculiar do grupo de internos, regida por códigos e regras trazidas das leis do ‘crime organizado’, cuja história e relações com a dinâmica dos adolescentes são traçadas, inclusive em suas peculiaridades institucionais, demanda o questionamento da ‘lei’ que nos fundamenta a viver em sociedade. Diante do trânsito constante entre vítimas e agressores, pacto edípico e pacto social aparecem com toda a contradição evidenciada nas histórias familiares e na cultura institucional criada por esses meninos – homens – vítimas – bandidos. A despeito das considerações do vivido durante esses anos de trabalho, especialmente em 2003, o material de análise é produzido por meio de entrevistas a três adolescentes, cuja investigação fora pautada nas relações do adolescente com sua família, com a lei social e com a lei do crime, fundamentada pela teoria e método psicanalíticos, via leitura do sentimento de pertença familiar exposto por cada um deles. Tendo como objetivo geral analisar a relação entre crime e violência com o sentido de lei introjetado pelo adolescente no decorrer de sua história, da qual faz sua leitura expondo o inconsciente familiar que fundamenta seu sentimento de pertença... / This research is based on the experience of some years of psychosocial accompaniment to adolescents that committed acts of infraction, accomplishing socio-educational measure of internment in the units of internment of former FEBEM, today called CASA Foundation. Considering the perplexity of the world’s view behind bars and walls that the daily work demonstrates, this study will be molded by the feelings and with the incessant sense pursuit of different kinds of relationships that the other world reveals. The peculiar organization of the interns' group, governed by codes and rules brought of the organized crime, whose history and relationship with the adolescents' dynamics are traced, besides in their institutional peculiarities, the questioning of the law that bases the living in society. Facing the constant transit between victims and aggressors, edipic pact and social pact appears controversial and evidenced in their family histories and in the institutional culture created by those boys - men - victims - thieves. In spite of the experience of those years of work, especially in 2003, the material was analyzed and produced through interviews at three adolescents that they were deprived of freedom, whose investigation was ruled in the adolescent's relationships with their family, with the social law and with the law of the crime, based by the theory and method psychoanalytic, through comprehension of the feeling of belongs exposed for the adolescents. Tends as general objective to analyze the relationship among crime and violence with the sense of law introjected for the adolescent in elapsing their familiar history, which makes their interpretation by exposing their family unconscious that bases their feeling of belonging, we analyzed the effect of the execution or breaking... (Complete abstract click electronic access below)

While the limited number of scholars in the field of EU intelligence cooperation tend to have a rather state-centric view and focus on the normative (trust) or the functional (efficieny) dimension of intelligence cooperation, this study contributes to the field by focusing solely on the institutional structure of Europol. The purpose of this study is to examine why the Europol established the European Counter Terrorism Centre and why it is not addressing the interconnectedness between terrorism and organized crime. In order to address these questions, the theoretical framework of historical institutionalism has been applied and the notion of path dependency plays a vital role.  The study rests on a qualitative single case study design and the disciplined configurative-model is used to fulfill the research objective. The researcher traces the process in a historically chronological order and uses pre-existing materials in order to uncover explanatory findings. The study concludes that the theoretical framework of historical institutionalism and the notion of path dependency can explain the research problem and the research questions. The findings prove that Europol is a highly reactive institution in terms of its counter-terrorism arrangements and that historical perceptions play a significant role and inevitable leads the institution onto a path dependent track.

The Prevention of Organised Crime Act brought major changes to the South African criminal law context. Through the Act, major confiscatory provisions were established. The Act does not only target convicted criminals, but also any person who is in possession of tainted property that was used in the commission of offences. Civil forfeiture is the most widely used procedure in forfeiture proceedings. In the dissertation the effectiveness of criminal and civil confiscation is outlined. The historical development of confiscation and forfeiture provisions in South African is discussed with reference to the common law, legislation and international instruments and how international developments have influenced local development. This treatise consist of an overview of the confiscation provisions in the Prevention of Organised Act 121 of 1998 as one of the measures the South African legislature put in place to deal with organised crime. Since the Prevention of Organised Crime Act was passed, the courts have given meaning to what is an instrumentality of an offence and the proceeds of unlawful activities as a measure to counter organised crime. This treatise refers to those cases given the definition of an instrumentality of an offence and the proceeds of unlawful activities. For the purpose of effectively dealing with organised crime, this treatise contains a discussion on the effectiveness of criminal and civil confiscation procedure. The justification for asset forfeiture is outlined.

This study consists of a qualitative analysis on the subject of human trafficking in Canada. It is intended to explore the steps that have been taken to address the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, Supplementary Legislation to the Convention Against Transnational Organized Crime (2000c), also known as the Palermo Protocol, and examine Canada’s commitment to changing the international and domestic context in which human trafficking takes place. Through exploration of Canadian legislation, literature and prosecutions presented in Canadian courts between January 2005 and December 2011, this research aims to establish whether Canada has shown a commitment to ending and preventing the problem of human trafficking that is consistent with the Recommended Guidelines published by the office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights (2002). A nominal coding scheme was used to show in basic terms the level of commitment Canada is showing toward combating the issue of human trafficking, both internationally and domestically. Results indicate that while Canada has met minimum standards by implementing anti-trafficking legislation in 2005 which is consistent with the Palermo Protocol, the country is falling short of commitments to combat human trafficking due to inadequate victim protection measures, lack of standardized data collection procedures and insufficient efforts to combat and prevent the root causes of trafficking.