Reviews : Organized Crime: Concepts and Control DENNY PACE AND JIMMIE STYLES Practice Hall; 1982; pp 286
| Published date | 01 December 1983 |
| Date | 01 December 1983 |
| DOI | 10.1177/026455058303000415 |
| Author | Andrew Willis |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
155
cribed
by
the
judiciary
as
a
place
of &dquo;rehabilita-
tion&dquo; ;
one
sheriff
even
saying
that
he
does
not
regard
Comton
Vale
as
a
prison
at
all
(presumably
because
the
heating
and
sanitation
are
better
than
those
in
men’s
establishments).
However
the
regune
in
the
short
term
wing,
mterestmgly
named
’Papa’,
serves
neither
to
improve
self-respect
nor
encourage
self-help.
The
women
are
divided
into
small
’family-units’
intended
to
encourage
them
to
develop
’self-respect
in
a
disciplined
settmg’ .
In
practise
this
arrangement
again
subjects
them
to
contradictory
pressures;
for
example,
there
is
an
emphasis
on
normal
sociable
behaviour,
but
m
a
situation
of
constant
surveillance
and
control
this
leaves
the
women
feeling
isolated
from
each
other
and
unable
to
maintam
any
feelings
of
individual
autonomy.
Later
chapters
on
the
alcoholic
and
mentally
disordered
women
m
prison
chronic
the
lack
of
facilities
which
would
offer
a
constructive
alter-
natme
to
imprisonment
and
also
outlines
the
process
whereby
the
individual
woman
is
defined
as
’lacking
in
motivation’,
’unrealistic’
and
’manipulative’
(familiar
phrases
to
us
all)
because
she has
failed
to
respond
to
totally
unsuitable
treatment and
has
attempted
to
present
her
own
view
of
reality
rather
than
adopt
that
of
&dquo; experts &dquo;.
In
conclusion
I
think
that
this
is
a
sound
piece
of
research.
It
says
little
that
is
new,
but
it
is
generally
well
expressed
and
its
method
of
using
excerpts
from
interviews
gives
a
certain
vividness
and
immediacy
to
the
experience
it
relates.
I
would
have
liked
to
see
the
last
part,
looking
at
the
implications
of
the
findings
for
penal
politics,
expanded.
Although
the
book
deals
with
Scottish
society
and
certain
references
are
made
to
the
dis-
advantages
of
their
generic
social
work
teams
to
that
of
the
separate
Probation
service
of
England
and
Wales,
nevertheless
the
essential
issues
transcend
the
individual
arrangements
of
social
work
within
the
criminal
justice
system.
LINDA
KELLY
Probation
Officer,
Liverpool
Organized
Crime:
Concepts
and
Control
DENNY
PACE
AND
JIMMIE
STYLES
Practice
Hall;
1982;
pp
286
Any
volume
on
organized
crime,
which
is
defined
as
participation
in
a
criminal
activity
on
the
part
of
two
or
more
persons,
usually
over
a
period
of time,
is
most
welcome.
It is
an
area
about
which
little
is
known,
although
private
suspicions
and
the
occasional
scandal
suggest
that
it
is
something
which
is
deeply
rooted
in
a
free
market
economy.
This
volume
attempts
both
to
describe
its
nature
and
extent
and
to
suggest
strategies
for
its
control.
The
chapters
which
review
the
range
of
organ-
ized
crnme
provide
useful
mtroductions
on
the
ways
m
which
criminal
syndicates
become
involved
in
gambhng,
prostitution,
drugs,
obscenity
and
pornography,
white
collar
crime
and
business
related
criminality.
In
common
with
most
other
texts
disproportionate
attention
is
paid
to
the
so-
called
victimless
crimes,
although
I
would
have
preferred
to
see
a
more
extensive
discussion
of
crnnes
related
to
commercial
activities,
especially
those
which
lie
on
the
border
between
’sharp’
business
practices
and
outright
illegality.
More
disappointing,
however,
is
the
lack
of
empirical
detail
with
respect
to
all
these
activities.
Indeed,
the
authors
do
not
simply
point
to
the
evidential
difficulties
m
documenting
complex
and
clandes-
tine
activities
of this
sort;
they
go
much
further
and
actually
disclaim
the
need
to
quantify
data.
Instead,
they
largely
rely
on
anecdotal
and
speculative
material.
This
is
a
major
flaw.
Both
sound
theor-
ising
and
sensible
social
control
are
premised
on
a
full
and
thorough
understanding
of the
nature
of
organized
crimes,
and
meticulous
attention
to
detail
is
a
necessary
step
towards
this
under-
standing.
On
the
control
side,
too,
I
have
reservations.
Not
surprisingly,
m
a
book
which
has
been
prepared
with
law
enforcement
officers in
mind,
the
authors
conclude
that
’punitive
enforcement’
or
what
we
would
call
increased
police
activity
is
the
most
sensible
way
to
combat
organized
crime.
This
is
remarkably
naive.
There
is
no
evidence
that
improve
criminal
intelligence
or
increased
police
resources
have
more
than
a
marginal
impact
on
crime
rates
in
other
areas,
and
it
is
most
unlikely
that
they
would
do
so
here.
What
is
interesting
is
the
authors’
repeated
insistence
that in
the
long
term
heightened
public
awareness
of the
extent
of these
types
of
crimes
and
their
harmful
effects
will
generate
public
demands
for
more
intensive
control
efforts.
In
short,
exposes
and
publicity
will
begin
to
strip
some
of the
powerful
protection
from
these
criminal
confederations
(which
are
often
buttressed
by
legitimate
business
’fronts’
and
significant
political
patronage),
so
as
to
create
such
a
groundswell
of informed
public
opinion
that
more
vigorous
law
enforcement
becomes
inevitable.
If
they
are
right
about
this,
and
I
am
inclined
to
think
that
they
are,
then
this
volume
itself usefully
contributes
to
the
very
control
strategy
it
also
recommends.
It
is
all
the
more
unfortunate,
then,
that
inattention
to
detail limits
its
impact.
One
consequence
of the
authors’
refusal
to
provide
hard
data
on
organized
crime
is
that
the
book
is
littered
with
wild
and
unsubstantial
assertions:
for
example,
that
lawyers
are
bent;
that
the
Mafia
is
the
most
powerful
criminal
syndicate;
that
there
are
no
bookies
who
do
not
owe
allegiance
to
organized
crime
confederations;
that
gambling
is
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