Organized Crime Virus Resilience Reasons: Can't Kill, Block

2024 Author: Seth Attwood | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 15:55

The underworld is trying to control many segments of social life: according to experts, part of the business, state-owned enterprises and banks in Russia are under the control of organized crime. Is society able to oppose something to this universal evil?

Origins and sustainability factors of organized crime

Organized crime is the most dangerous form of social evil. Sometimes it is compared to a cancerous tumor, meaning that it, like a fatal disease, leads to the degradation of the social organism, and the fact that society has not found effective measures to get rid of it.

The circumstances that make organized crime resistant to social pressure measures can be classified into two groups:

1. Factors of sustainability of organized crime arising from its internal nature.

2. Factors associated with the vices of the socio-political and cultural foundations of society.

The first group of factors illustrates why organized crime is extremely resilient and why it is so difficult to combat it. The second group reveals the origins of the acquisition by a criminal phenomenon of such a dangerous nature.

Stability factors of organized crime arising from its internal nature

Like a living organism, organized crime is very resilient and has many degrees of defense. It would be correct to define this phenomenon as the type of crime that is least vulnerable to social impact. Organized criminals are especially well protected from "head-on" confrontation with the state. In such a collision, she loses the least valuable fighters, whose ranks are quickly restored due to the invulnerability of the brain and organizational centers.

Despite the apparent discrepancy in the "weight categories" of the state machine and any social (including criminal) formation, criminal structures sometimes not only do not yield, but also turn out to be stronger.

The benefits of organized crime are defined as follows:

1) the criminal community is always active, for it the confrontation with law enforcement agencies is the number one problem. The priority of this activity for organized crime is undoubted, it is one of the main elements of its essence. The priority of the fight against crime for the state and society must be proved, argued, and often this does not lead to any results;

2) at the head of organized criminal structures are always energetic people, with a focus on uncompromising confrontation with everything that poses a threat. Thus, the adequacy of criminal functionaries to their positions in criminal groups is one of the conditions for the survival of these structures. And if a criminal clan has formed, survived the establishment in the criminal world and is actively developing, this means that the head of the community and his advisers are outstanding people. The leaders of the military structures have considerable experience and hefty management skills. The appearance of random people in these positions is almost impossible. The loss of them is sometimes difficult to replace, and foreign experience shows that the elimination of these figures leads to permanent disorganization of the mafia community. The ideal action movie is impudent, characterized by low sensitivity, ruthlessness, and lack of moral barriers. Selection and special training are carried out according to these criteria. Any protectionism when appointing to responsible positions in criminal structures is practically excluded, which cannot be said about state institutions;

3) in the fight against state structures, any means are acceptable for criminals (bribery, slander, intimidation, murder and other types of terror). The state, as a rule, is limited in the use of similar measures. This disparity in the means of confrontation is especially acute in the early stages of confrontation, when society is not yet ready to accept as an axiom a simple truth: no one managed to cope with the mafia in white gloves. It is thanks to this "sluggishness" and the imaginary nobility of those strata of society that experience the negative impact of this evil to a lesser extent, that organized crime is rapidly gaining momentum at the start and becomes a powerful adversary. Almost all states have gone through the following stages in influencing organized crime: denial of the very fact of the existence of criminal syndicates; then - an attempt to fight them with traditional means and the realization of the ineffectiveness of the old approaches; the next stage is the development of legal and organizational measures that can largely compensate for the advantages of the mafia associated with its cunning and cruelty. Our society is now at the second stage and will in no way dare to take the next step, which in many countries has been crowned with successes in the fight against organized crime;

4) criminal structures invest the optimal amount of material resources to ensure protection and opposition to the state. The principle of material support in this environment is a certain excess of the norm, so that success is guaranteed. Practice shows that the material support of state structures fighting crime is always below the norm (sometimes the deviation from the optimum is so great that it excludes any positive results);

5) the core of the strategy of organized crime is the search for maximum benefits with minimum risk. Confrontation on the part of the state is not always built on the basis of a negative principle: the implementation of a state policy that would reduce the profitability of criminal business to a minimum, and increase the risk to a maximum, could become an effective means of counteraction;

6) the intellectual and executive structures of organized crime are very dynamic, they are susceptible to everything new, beneficial to them, they are actively exploring new zones of criminal activity, new ways of criminal activity. Government structures tend to lag behind. Usually, their activities are of a secondary nature - responding to the actions of criminal groups. Even a well-functioning analytical service for predicting the dynamics of criminal activity in various spheres, combined with a flexible state policy that is sensitive to these forecasts, does not always allow one to get ahead of criminals, who sometimes find very unconventional approaches to extracting criminal excess profits. The initiative turns out to be the prerogative of the underworld;

7) it is many times more difficult to penetrate into the administrative structures of organized crime than into parliament, government bodies or law enforcement agencies. Accordingly, the possibilities of the underworld to negatively influence the development of anti-criminal strategy and tactics are very great;

8) the phenomenon of the unification of criminal groups into a criminal confederation has the following consequences:

- firstly, the possibilities of criminal groups to unite efforts are expanding, criminal groups have significant reserves in case of a critical situation. They exchange information, help establish contacts with corrupt officials, provide mutual assistance in the search and destruction of witnesses and violators of criminal discipline. At periodic meetings of the highest representatives of the criminals, the optimal strategy of criminal activity and counteraction to the state's destructive influence is jointly developed;

- secondly, in the regions into which the country is divided, a kind of criminogenic field is formed, which spreads from the criminal community, like from a powerful criminal magnet. The effectiveness of law enforcement agencies is significantly reduced. Even if the bodies of the Ministry of Internal Affairs or the FSB manage to destroy a completely criminal organization (which happens extremely rarely), the criminal confederation redistributes forces and secures the liberated field of criminal activity for another criminal group.

Factors associated with the flaws of the socio-political and cultural foundations of society

Negative social phenomena force society to improve itself: in order to get rid of them, it is necessary to improve the organization of public life. Even A. Quetelet in the middle of the 19th century. noticed: a change in the social system entails a change in crime. To get rid of organized crime, it is necessary to understand its origins - why it has arisen, what social factors make it sustainable and why it is not possible to eradicate it.

One of the global factors in the organization of crime is the discrepancy between the complex social nature of the criminal phenomenon and simplified approaches to influencing it - attempts to get rid of crime using various measures of struggle without serious changes in the cultural and political foundations of society. Let's draw a simple analogy: suppose the wind brought the seeds of a tree to the field, and trees grew there. Small shoots are easy to mow with the grass. But the root of each cut tree was preserved, and next year it will sprout again. They can be mowed again, but the base of the stem becomes denser every year, and one day it will break the scythe. The same thing happens in society. It produces crime through social inequality, injustice of the social order, maintenance of poverty, unemployment, poverty. Vices are sometimes not only not rejected, but also receive support, and some (such as prostitution, drug addiction, homosexuality) are gradually becoming the cultural norm of modern Western civilization. All this constantly produces crime, and attempts to get rid of it within the framework of the vicious political and cultural foundations of social organization only "condense" the criminal phenomenon. And one day it becomes obvious that the traditional "scythe" of law enforcement agencies is unable to cope with it.

The capitalist explosion caused mutations in the criminal phenomenon, as a result of which gangster groups such as the Chinese "Triads", the Japanese "Boriokudan" and the Neapolitan "Camora" turned into criminal monsters, practically invulnerable to the state's destructive influence. They managed to find a social niche, from which it turned out to be very difficult to oust them.

The evolution of the underworld took place in a tough struggle. In the course of this struggle, the weak were destroyed, and the strong became even more tenacious. As a result, the strong representatives of the criminal world managed to find such a form of social life, which nullified all the efforts of the law enforcement system to destroy them and neutralized various mechanisms of social control.

This process was one of the first to be described by E. Ferry: “There are two phenomena in the history of crime: on the one hand, civilization, as Tarde noted, destroys some types of crime, created by it, and creates new ones in their place; on the other hand, crime undergoes a double morphological evolution, which makes it a characteristic indicator of every historical period, for every social group … In Italy, we see how robbery in recent years has moved from the form of theft with the use of weapons and the collection of ransoms, to the form of a constant payment.

The ability to organize itself has shown that crime is not just scattered criminals who commit crimes independently of each other. Crime is not just a number of crimes (statistical aggregate). This is a social phenomenon that shows signs of a viable organism with an instinct for self-preservation (and not only at the level of individual criminals, but also at the level of the phenomenon as a whole).

The factors of criminal evolution are:

- development of criminal thought, criminal management, criminal organization;

- accumulation and reproduction of criminal experience, the formation of a criminal culture;

- the interconnection of criminals, criminal organizations, generations of criminals (mutual assistance and transfer of criminal experience from one criminal to another, from one criminal organization to another, from one generation to another).

Analysis of the phenomenon of the "immortality" of the mafia leads to a higher level problem - the invincibility of world evil. This global problem was unambiguously solved theoretically many centuries ago; the dark forces are ontologically subordinate to the light forces. Evil can never defeat good. And the experience of mankind from ancient times to the present day convincingly confirms this law. No matter what forms evil takes, no matter how strong it may be in certain historical periods, it will always face an inevitable collapse. Ultimately, the white idea always wins, the light forces are stronger (sometimes contrary to all logic). And we can be convinced of this with our own eyes: for thousands of years of struggle between good and evil, our world has not become twilight dark, although clouds have been gathering over it more than once. Organized crime is no exception - it is just one of the mutations of evil, for the destruction of which all healthy forces of society must unite.

Ridding society of organized crime on the basis of improving society is an ideal, its achievement is very problematic. A radical change in the foundations of social life is a problem, the solution of which is probable (we emphasize, only probable) in a rather distant future. It can rightfully be called the most important task of mankind.

And achieving even limited goals of a destructive effect on organized crime turns out to be an extremely difficult task.

The experience of the confrontation between the state and organized crime shows that the latter is insensitive to traditional measures of influence. In the process of criminal evolution, it has managed to develop immunity to traditional systems of crime prevention, investigation, administration of justice and execution of punishment. Bribery, threats, elimination of the intractable turned out to be those universal master keys with which you can open the door to solving any problem.

Crime Virus: Can't Kill, Block

In the past, an investigator of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Russia, a retired lieutenant colonel, he is actively involved in scientific and criminological research. In his last works, Roman Alexandrovich began to rely on the religious aspect. "The phenomenon of self-justification in religion and jurisprudence", "Envy as a motive for committing a crime" - this is the theme of some of his articles. In addition to research, he volunteers in crime prevention. So does humanity still have a chance that crimes will become a thing of the past? What is the nature of the criminal act? In what cases does a criminal stop being a carrier of the "virus" of crime? Our conversation is about law and sin.

You view crimes in the context of the Christian worldview. Did your own churching move you to this?

- No, I cannot call myself a church person. I was baptized as a child, I go to church on holidays - I feel the need for it. Sometimes I watch Orthodox programs - in general, I'm still on my way, so you can say.

You are engaged in crime prevention. And what can a professional lawyer really do to improve the situation in this area?

- One of the directions is to maintain correspondence with those who are in places of imprisonment. I explain to them their rights, responsibilities, various legal issues. This is in demand, and this allows you to include a certain educational element in such conversations. I try to show them that their future depends on them, that if they firmly decide for themselves not to break the law anymore, the world will meet them in many ways. I conduct the same conversations with convicts whose punishment is not related to imprisonment.

You are not paid for this, why do you need it?

- Then, to reduce the number of inhabitants of the underworld. We should at least try to do it.

Isn't this a fight against windmills?

- It is clear that the scattered efforts of such volunteers are a drop in the ocean, but nevertheless, delving into the problems of individual people, you grope for pain points and find an opportunity to induce them to fix something. Many convicts think that the whole society has turned away from them - once and for all. Therefore, they see the world around as something hostile, and this becomes the most important obstacle to starting to establish connections with him. There is a category of criminals who have had their own little world since childhood - there were the same parents belonging to the criminal environment, the environment. They have always lived like this and have never made a step out of this world, since they have no connections with the rest of society. And these are the most difficult cases in my work.

Are they a priori doomed to crime?

- For the most part, yes. Nobody gave them the correct understanding of good and evil. Nobody tried to pull their problems out, nobody tried to help solve them.

When a convicted person discovers that suddenly someone is listening to him, hears, helps, then a bridge is formed between the worlds, and I see the result: the person begins to change something in himself. He tries to socialize, is interested in his rights and opportunities and, what is very important, begins to thank for these opportunities and for this knowledge. When a person thanks, he already looks at the world differently, and this takes him out of his previous rut.

In your opinion, the modern judicial system is focused on correcting the offender or only he should be properly punished?

- Our Criminal Code is not a punitive sword. Its goal is to restore social justice, and in relation to the offender, the law is very flexible. Today, there are different options for mitigating punishment or replacing its form. For example, for crimes of small and medium gravity, the possibility of reconciliation with the victim and, accordingly, release from punishment is provided. Now a system of court fines has appeared - this is also an exemption from punishment, which is used to encourage positive post-crime behavior.

And this does not lead the accused in the end to a feeling of permissiveness, impunity and attempts to break the law in the future?

- As a rule, no. Facing the law, getting under investigation and trial is always a very serious test for a person, so no one wants to go through it again. This does not apply unless the hardened repeat offenders, for whom life in the zone is the norm. They have already adapted behind barbed wire and are committing crimes again only to return there, because they cannot live outside the zone. But this is still a small part of the total number of convicts.

Why in your research did you start to rely on the religious aspect, to resort to the works of the holy fathers? Perhaps psychological standards for assessing personality would be better suited here?

- These two directions do not contradict each other, but complement. I turn to spiritual literature to explore the topic of delinquency in a deeper way than is usually covered in jurisprudence. While still working as an investigator, I realized that the most difficult and most important thing in this work is communication with people. I often realized that I lacked knowledge in the field of psychology. Over time, of course, experience is gained, but I believe that a deeper theoretical base in psychological disciplines should be given in a law school. Over the years, I began to understand how crimes can be the same from the point of view of criminal law, but different from the point of view of psychology, and how important it is to take this into account. The simplest example: someone is driven to a crime by greed, someone is frivolity, and someone is hungry. Later, the understanding came that the concept of sin is even broader, and it goes far beyond the scope of jurisprudence and psychology. Only a certain part of sinful behavior falls under the prohibition of the law, although any sin is immoral and can potentially become the basis for a crime.

That is, with all the desire, the concept of sin and delinquency cannot be combined?

- Of course not. After all, if you go to a red light, is it not a sin? But this is an offense. And condemning one's neighbor, for example, is a sin, but does not fall under the definition of a criminal act. The law should not and cannot cover everything that is immoral - it should prohibit only the most dangerous, which has extreme forms. The mistake of many lawyers in an attempt to pull too much under its letter: if we correct the law - and society will correct itself, they believe. But in fact, other methods should work here.

Do you have any dissonance between the Christian “do not judge, lest you be judged” (Matthew 7: 1) and the legal profession in general?

- As long as there are diseases, doctors are needed, as long as there are crimes, law enforcement agencies are needed. You can't do without it. For criminals, the legal system is a medicine, and for law-abiding citizens it is a shield. People lack the correct mechanisms of mutual communication, and we often need a third one - someone who would judge us. But if humanity observed at least one commandment - love your neighbor as yourself, then all lawyers would be left without work.

Why are you interested in the phenomenon of self-justification in religion and jurisprudence?

- In my work as an investigator, I had to deal with people who repeatedly violated the law. When such a person is detained, the picture is typical: he always says: "I won't be like this anymore!" He is repentant, and very eloquent. Such a person has no conflict with his conscience, because he finds himself a thousand consolations and excuses. For example, “why am I stealing and not working? But because there is a crisis in the country and no normal work can be found. Those vacancies that are offered on the labor market are completely useless, how can you work for that kind of money? " And when he says, once again being caught, that now he will live differently, he does not condemn, but justifies himself before - this is what actually does not give him his promise to keep. True repentance implies an understanding of one's wrongness, a painful rejection of the previous way of life and an exit to another level of being, where a person is transformed. This will never happen as long as the person makes excuses. Now, if he turns off at least part of the self-justification mechanism, then he will certainly change. Psychologically speaking, self-justification is a false psychological defense that blocks repentance.

What, in your opinion, lies at the heart of the crime: human genetics, society, economic status in society?

- It's always a complex of factors. The reason for the crime may be one, but the conditions under which it becomes possible, usually must combine several. The reason is that which is internal, and the conditions are always external. The financial situation, social environment and so on are all external conditions. And a person's reaction to them is not predetermined. Two people who have lost their jobs in the same circumstances may behave differently: one will go to look for a job, and the other will go to steal.

And what distinguishes them from each other?

- The level of morality. The reason for the crime in this case is that the person considers it permissible for himself to commit theft.

How is this level of morality formed? Is it instilled by the society, by the parents? Or can a person, at the genetic level, be a highly moral person, be born that way?

- I believe that it is impossible to be born a highly moral person. Each person is born with a set of individual characteristics, not only external, but also internal, but in terms of the totality of these features, the possibilities of moral development are approximately equal for everyone. I believe that morality is instilled only by parents - up to five to seven years in general. And then, on the basis of this, a person learns to control his biological instincts, his abilities and characteristics. Some of us are more prone to affective reactions, someone is more patient, someone is more demonstrative, someone is more reserved - and all these character traits can develop both with a plus or minus sign. … For example, if a person with a demonstrative accentuation lives in a normal moral environment, then his peculiarity will be directed in a positive direction: he will develop as a politician, actor, public figure, and so on. If he finds himself in a negative environment, then in the presence of this quality he will be prone to demonstrative hooligan actions, vandalism. Or, for example, there is aggression in a person: if moral qualities are developed, then, by and large, there is nothing wrong with it. It will perfectly manifest itself in a person, say, when protecting other people from danger.

What kind of parents should be in order for a child to grow into a person incapable of crime?

- Parents should exclude any conflicts with a child and, of course, violence, so that their child does not have such a stereotype of resolving conflict situations. It is imperative to develop respect for another person, the property of another. All family members should have an internal attitude that benefits are not given just like that, but are always earned by some kind of effort. Parents must be religious people. But faith must necessarily be understood and absolutely accepted internally. In no case should it be only the observance of external rituals.

It is impossible to be a highly moral person without religious values?

- If we take the Soviet period, we will see many examples of non-religious, but highly moral people. But as you know, if there is no God, then everything is possible. Therefore, non-religious morality is something that has no foundation. Faith in God is the core of morality, without this core, the same things can be moral from the point of view of some people and immoral for others, which again leads to endless disunity and conflicts.

Let's imagine for a moment that individuals brought up by highly moral parents were taken to an uninhabited island, where excellent external conditions were created for their further development and life. Can't you get an ideal society?

- Will not work. Among them, sooner or later, criminals will surely appear. The distortion of human nature - sin - walks like a virus among people, and it will always be so until the apocalypse. This virus can be extinguished and controlled. Then we will come to some semblance of an ideal society, to some extent approach it. This requires a well-functioning law enforcement system, but not primarily. Much more depends on how this society will be able to accept Christian values and follow the reasonable laws of psychology.

1. Inshakov SM.. Criminology: Textbook. - M.: Jurisprudence, - 432 p.. 2000