56285 - Organized Crime and Trafficking in Central and South Eastern Europe

Course contents

While organised crime has existed for centuries, it is only recently that the international community has begun to take it seriously as a transnational ‘soft' (i.e. non-military) security issue. For example, the most frequently cited convention against transnational organised crime – that of the UN – dates only from 2000. Similarly, while drug and weapons trafficking has long been a concern of states and IOs (International Organisations), the focus on human trafficking essentially dates from the late-1990s. But human trafficking is now seen as the fastest growing form of trafficking and, along with cybercrime, the preferred form of criminal activity for an increasing number of criminal gangs and organisations. This course will explore both the phenomena of organised crime and human trafficking themselves, and the discourses surrounding them. While examples will be taken from many parts of the world, there will be a particular focus on Europe, especially Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) and South-Eastern Europe (SEE). The course will also focus more on trafficking for purposes of sexual exploitation than on other forms of human trafficking – though these other types will certainly be considered.     

 

Academic Aims of Course

 

The main aims of this course are to:

1. Critically examine the definitional debates on both organised crime and trafficking
2. Identify the main activities of contemporary (since WWII) organised crime – globally, but with a particular emphasis on both Europe and human trafficking
3. Examine the various methods used to measure the scale of organised crime activity and human trafficking
4. Elaborate and evaluate the main theories of the reasons for organised crime and its dynamism
5. Consider the relative merits and weaknesses of the abolitionist and regulationist positions on human trafficking
6. Study and assess the approaches of states, IOs, NGOs (non-government organisations) and other agencies to organised crime and trafficking

  

    Learning Outcomes

 

1. A sophisticated understanding of the debates on the meaning of organised crime and human trafficking
2. A deep knowledge of the main features of contemporary organised crime and human trafficking, particularly in Europe
3. An advanced understanding of the problems involved in measuring organised crime activity and the scale of human trafficking
4. A solid grasp of, and ability to critique, the main theories of the causes of organised crime and human trafficking
5. A balanced and nuanced approach to the heated debate on trafficking and prostitution
6. A sound knowledge of the principal methods used by states, IOs and other agencies to combat organised crime and human trafficking, and the ability to assess the advantages and disadvantages of each method.  

 

Basic bibliography

 

Abadinsky, H.                                              Organised Crime (2010 – 9th ed.)

Doezema, J. & Kempadoo, K. (eds.)       Global Sex Workers (1998)

Edwards, A. & Gill, P.                                  Transnational Organised Crime (2003)

Finckenauer, J.                                            Mafia and Organized Crime (2007)

Friesendorf, C. (ed.)                                    Strategies against Human Trafficking (2009) (free online)

Glenny, M.                                                     McMafia (2008)

Holmes, L. (ed.)                                          Trafficking and Human Rights (2010)

Lyman, M. and Potter, G. (eds.)               Organized Crime (2010 – 5th ed.)

Naím, M.                                                       Illicit (2005)

Shelley, L.                                                    Human Trafficking (2010)

Stoecker, S. and Shelley, L. (eds.)          Human Traffic and Transnational                                                                                  Crime (2005)

US Department of State                             Trafficking in Persons Report (annually since 2001)

Van Duyne, P. et al.                                    Threats and Phantoms of Organised Crime, Corruption and Terrorism (2004) (parts are free online)

Wright. A.                                                     Organised Crime (2006)

 

Useful journals

 

Crime, Law and Social Change

European Journal of Criminology

Global Crime

Trends in Organized Crime

 

Useful websites

 

AI   (Amnesty International) - http://www.amnesty.org/
CATW (Coalition against Trafficking in Women) - http://www.catwinternational.org/

Europol – Crime Reports Archive - https://www.europol.europa.eu/latest_publications/3

HRW (Human Rights Watch) - http://www.hrw.org/

ILO (International Labour Organization) - http://www.ilo.org/global/lang--en/index.htm

IOM (International Organization for Migration) - http://www.iom.int/jahia/jsp/index.jsp

Interpol - http://www.interpol.int/ 

TI (Transparency International) - http://www.transparency.org/

TraCCC (Terrorism, Transnational Crime and Terrorism Center) - http://policy-traccc.gmu.edu/ 

UNICRI (United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute) - http://www.unicri.it/ 

UNODC (United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime) - http://www.unodc.org/

    Seminars (starred items are considered particularly useful starting points)

 

1. Definitions – organised crime; human trafficking vs. people smuggling

 

We shall begin by considering the various definitions of organised crime that have been adopted or proposed by IOs, states, academics and others since the start of major debate in the 1960s. Are ‘the mafia' and ‘organised crime' synonyms?  We shall then examine the problems that arise if there is no agreed definition of organised crime – and the concepts of ‘disorganised crime' and transnational organised crime. Following this, we shall consider the conceptual and practical distinctions between people smuggling and human trafficking. 

 

Reading

Abadinsky, H.                                               Organised Crime (2010 – 9th ed.): 1-16

Finckenauer, J.                                            The Mafia and Organized Crime (2007): 1-29 (differences mafia and o.c.)

*Friesendorf, C. (ed.)                                   Strategies against Human Trafficking (2009): 137-65 (ch. by Buckland) (free online)

Edwards, A. & Gill, P. (eds.)                       Transnational Organised Crime (2003): 13-27 (ch. by Woodiwiss)

Reuter, P.                                                     Disorganized Crime (1983)

Salt, J.                                                            in International Migration, 38 (5), 2000: 31-56 (esp. 33-4)

*Wright. A.                                                    Organised Crime (2006): ch.1

  

 

2. The rise and current situation of organised crime, with a particular focus on Central and South Eastern Europe

 

The seminar will begin with a brief overview of the history of organised crime since the 19th century to the end of the 1980s, and will focus on some of the best-known crime organisations (inc. the Sicilian Mafia and the US Cosa Nostra, the Chinese/Hong Kong Triads, and the Japanese Yakuza). One of the focal points will be the reasons for the emergence of such organisations in the first place; factors to consider include the weak state and the notion of protection, and criminal mutation.  In the second part of the seminar, the focus will be on the situation since the end of the 1980s, with a particular focus on the rise of Russian, Albanian and Serbian organised crime.

 

Reading

Abadinsky, H.                                               Organised Crime (2010 – 9th ed.): 133-58 (connections Italian and Albanian o.c.)

Bezlov, T. & Tzenkov, E.                             Organized Crime in Bulgaria: Markets and Trends (2007)

Cejp, M.                                                         in Trends in Organized Crime, 12 (1), 2009: 30-58 (Czechia)

Cheloukine, S.                                             in Crime, Law and Social Change, 50 (4-5), 2008: 353-74 (Russia)

Edwards, A. & Gill, P. (eds.)                       Transnational Organised Crime (2003): 131-42 (ch. by Rawlinson on the Baltics)

Europol                                                          2005 EU Organised Crime Report (2005), free online

*Europol                                                        EU Organised Crime Threat Assessment 2011 (2011), free online 

Frisby, T.                                                        in Europe-Asia Studies, 50 (1), 1998: 27-49 (Russia)

Galeotti, M. (ed.)                                           Russian and Post-Soviet Organized Crime (2002)

Galeotti, M. (ed.)                                           Global Crime Today (2005): esp. 70-83 (ch. by Hignett on CEE)

Galeotti, M. (ed.)                                          Organized Crime in History (2009)

Gambetta, D.                                                           The Sicilian Mafia (1993)

Glenny, M.                                                   McMafia (2008), esp. Pt.1

Hess, H.                                                       Mafia and Mafiosi (1998)

(LLC Books)                                                  Crime in Serbia: Serbian Mafia (collection of very short articles) (2010)

(LLC Books)                                                  Organized Crime Groups in Serbia (collection of very short articles) (2010)

Lopušina, M.                                                 Srpska Mafija (2003) – Serbian readers – please let me know about the quality of this book!

Myrtaj, F.                                                        Aim Dossiers (France), online at http://www.aimpress.ch/dyn/dos/archive/data/2003/30725-dose-01-07.htm (on Albania)

Sergeyev, V.                                                 The Wild East (1997) (on Russia)

Serio, J.                                                          Investigating the Russian Mafia (2008)

Siegel, D., Bunt, H. & Zaitch, D. (eds.)     Global Organized Crime (2003) (lots on CEE and Russia, both o.c. and trafficking)

Sterling, C.                                                    Thieves' World (1994) – also published as Crime without Frontiers (1995)

*Varese, F.                                                   The Russian Mafia (2001)

Williams, P. (ed.)                                       Russian Organised Crime (1997)

 

3. The scale and nature of the problem; problems of measurement

 

How can organised crime activity be measured? We shall consider inter alia perceptual and experiential surveys, as well as the recent approaches developed in Germany and the Netherlands. Can the scale of human trafficking be accurately measured? What have been the principal source countries for trafficked persons since c. 1990?  Is human trafficking invariably associated with transnational organised crime?

 

Reading

Alvazzi del Frate, A.                                     in European Journal on Criminal Policy and Research, 10 (2-3), 2004: 137-61 (on International Crime Business Survey re. CEE)

Castle, A.                                                       in Trends in Organized Crime, 11 (2), 2008: 135-56 (measuring law enforcement outcomes)

Edwards, A. & Gill, P. (eds.)                       Transnational Organised Crime (2003): 65-77 (ch. by Burnham)

Savona, E. & Stefanizzi, S. (eds.)             Measuring Human Trafficking: Complexities and Pitfalls (2007)

*Serio, J.                                                        Investigating the Russian Mafia (2008): 71-94

Tyldum, G.                                                     in International Migration, 48 (5), 2010: 1-13 (general measurement problems and solutions)

Van Duyne, P. et al.                                    Threats and Phantoms of Organised Crime, Corruption and Terrorism (2004): 85-116 (ch. by von Lampe) (on measuring o.c.)

Vander Becken, T.                                       Measuring Organised Crime in Europe (2006)

*Verpoest, K. & Vander Becken, T.           The European Methodology for Reporting on Organised Crime (2005), free online

*Zoutendijk, A.                                              in Crime, Law and Social Change, 54/1 (2010): 63-86 (on measuring o.c.)     

 

4. Human trafficking

 

There appears to have been a substantial increase in the scale of both adult and child trafficking in recent years. What are the reasons for this? Are women and children trafficked only or mainly for the purposes of sexual exploitation? What other activities are trafficked women and children used for? What are men trafficked for? And why is CEE and SEE organised crime seen as one of the world's most active participants in human trafficking?

 

 

Reading

Cameron, S. & Newman, E. (eds.)          Trafficking in Humans (2008)

Erdelmann, A. et al. (eds.)                          Challenging Trafficking in Persons: Theoretical Debate and Practical Approaches (2005): 50-57 (ch. by Dottridge on child trafficking)

Finckenauer, J.                                            The Mafia and Organized Crime (2007): 141-70

Gaon, I. & Forbord, N.                                 For Sale – Women and Children: Trafficking and Forced Prostitution in Southeast Europe (2005) (esp. ch. 3)

Holmes, L. (ed.)                                          Trafficking and Human Rights (2010)

Kara, S.                                                          Sex Trafficking: Inside the Business of Modern Slavery (2009) (esp. chs. 4 on FSU and 5 on Albania and Balkans)

Leman, J. & Janssens, S.                          in European Journal of Criminology, 5 (4), 2008: 433-51(Albanian and post-Soviet trafficking into Belgium)

Renton, D.                                                     Child Trafficking in Albania: March 2001 (2001)

Rittossa, D.                                                    in European Journal of Crime, Criminal Law & Criminal Justice, 17 (2), 2009: 137-64 (child trafficking in Croatia)

Segrave, M., Milivojevic, S. & Pickering, S. Sex Trafficking (2009)

*Shelley, L.                                                    Human Trafficking (2010), esp. 174-200

Stoecker, S. & Shelley, L.                           HumanTrafficking and Transnational Crime (2005)

Ulusoy, M. (ed.)                                            Political Violence, Organized Crimes, Terrorism and Youth (2008): 104-32 (ch. by E. Tyuryukanova – Russia)

US Department of State                             Trafficking in Persons Report (annually since 2001)

 

                                                

5. Causes of organised crime 1 – psychological and cultural approaches

 

In the first of two seminars devoted to theories of organised crime, we shall examine approaches that focus on ‘rotten apples' (individuals) and cultural explanations. Regarding the former, we shall discuss various forms of labelling theory in criminology (also known as social or societal reaction theory) and elsewhere, from Emile Durkheim, Frank Tannenbaum and Edwin Lemert to Howard Becker and John Braithwaite. Is much criminal activity a result of childhood abuse and trauma, with subsequent substance abuse driving the ‘need' for individuals to engage in crime? In terms of the latter (cultural approaches) – why does organised crime appear to be much less of a problem in Poland than in Russia, for instance, or in Slovenia than in Serbia? Is the existence of diaspora groups in affluent societies a significant factor in transnational organised crime and human trafficking – and, if so, does this represent a cultural factor? Does historical legacy constitute a cultural factor; if so, how significant is this in contemporary CEE and SEE?

 

Reading

 

Becker, H.                                                    Outsiders (1963)

Braithwaite, J.                                               Crime, Shame and Reintegration (1989)

Durkheim. E.                                                           Suicide (1897)

Ferrell, J.                                                        in Annual Review of Sociology, 25 (1999): 395-418

Ferrell, J. & Sanders, C.                            Cultural Criminology (1995)

Foucault, M.                                                Discipline and Punish (1979)

Lemert, E.                                                    Social Pathology (1951)

Lilly, J., Cullen, F. & Ball, R.                      Criminological Theory (2011 – 5th ed.) (a standard but sophisticated introduction to theories of crime)

Maguire, M. (ed.)                                          The Oxford Handbook of Criminology (2007 – 4th ed.): 102-21 (ch. by Hayward and Young on culture)

*O'Brien, M.                                                   in British Journal of Criminology, 45 (5), 2005: 599-612 (critique of cultural approach)

Roslycky, L.                                                   in Trends in Organized Crime, 12 (1), 2009: 21-9 (culture and crime in Black Sea region)

Tannenbaum, F.                                        Crime and Community (1938)

Turner, J. & Kelly, L.                                    in British Journal of Criminology, 49 (2), 2009: 184-201 (trafficking and diasporas)

 

 

6. Causes of organised crime 2 – rational choice and opportunity-based approaches ‘vs.' neo-Marxist approaches

 

In the 2nd seminar on the causes of organised crime, we shall consider why there is not more organised crime if it is ‘rational' to engage in it?  We shall also consider the types of opportunity that appear to stimulate organised crime activity, including globalisation (and the pax mafiosa thesis), geopolitical factors (inc. geographic proximity), networks, opaque banking practices, and web-based technologies. Finally, we shall assess the persuasiveness of Schulte-Bockholt's neo-Marxist approach.

 

Reading

Cloward, R. & Ohlin, L.                              Delinquency and Opportunity (1960)

Cornish, D. & Clarke, R. (eds.)                 The Reasoning Criminal (1986)

*Felson, M. and Clarke, R.                         Opportunity Makes the Thief (1998) (free online at http://rds.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prgpdfs/fprs98.pdf)

Morselli, C.                                                    Contacts, Opportunities and Criminal Enterprise (2005) (network analysis)

Pentinnen, E.                                               Globalization, Prostitution and Sex Trafficking (2008) (esp. re. Russia and Baltics into Finland)

Roslycky, L.                                                   in Trends in Organized Crime, 12 (1), 2009: 21-9 (geopolitical factors in the Black Sea region)

Ruggiero, V.                                                  Organized and Corporate Crime in Europe (1996)

Salt, J.                                                            in International Migration, 38 (5), 2000: 31-56 (esp. 34-7)

*Schulte-Bockholt, A.                                  The Politics of Organized Crime and the Organized Crime of Politics (2006): 21-38 (neo-Marxist approach)

Sterling, C.                                                    Thieves' World (1994) – also published as Crime without Frontiers (1995)

Van Dijk, J.                                                    in British Journal of Criminology, 34 (2), 1994: 105-121 (rational choice)

Wheaton, E., Schauer, E. and Galli, T.    in International Migration, 48 (4), 2010: 114-41 (rational choice)

 

7. The Role of Police Corruption in Organised Crime and Trafficking

 

Although this course focuses on organised crime, while another offered at MIREES focuses on corruption, any attempt at a comprehensive analysis of organised crime and human trafficking must at least briefly consider the role of corrupt officers of the state in these phenomena. In this seminar, we shall concentrate on just one branch of the state machinery, the police (law enforcement officers). We shall examine the various ways in which the police both facilitate and participate in organised crime and trafficking, and how police corruption and collusion has now become one of the most serious potential soft security issues. As with most seminars on this course, there will be a particular focus on the situation in CEE and SEE.   

  Reading

Beck, A. & Chistyakova, Yu.                      in Policing and Society, 12 (2), 2002: 123-37 (police attitudes in Ukraine)

Beck, A. & Lee, R.                                        in Crime, Law and Social Change, 38 (4), 2002: 357-72 (police attitudes in Russia)

Bolkovac, K. with Lynn, C.                         The Whistleblower (2011) (police corruption and trafficking in BiH)

*Gerber, T. & Mendelson, S.                      in Law and Society Review, 42 (1), 2008: 1-43 (public experience of police corruption in Russia)

Kutnjak Ivković, S.                                       Fallen Blue Knights (2005)

Kutnjak Ivković, S. & O'Connor Shelley, T. in International Criminal Justice Review, 18 (1) 2008: 59-82 (police corruption in BiH and Czechia)

Maljević, A. et al.                                          Overtly About Police and Corruption (2006) (BiH)

Punch, M.                                                      Conduct Unbecoming (1985)

Punch, M.                                                    Police Corruption (2009)

Roebuck, J. & Barker, T. (1974)                 in R. Akers & E. Sagarin (eds.), Crime Prevention and Social Control (1974): 118-28 (the best-known typology of police corruption)

Sherman, L. (ed.)                                       Police Corruption (1974)

 

 

8. Human trafficking – the debate

 

In this seminar, we shall consider the heated debate between, on the one hand, those who argue that only the criminalisation of prostitution (either some or else all aspects) will reduce trafficking for sex work and, on the other hand, those who argue that prostitution will exist anyway, so that it is better to control it via the state and that it is a basic human right anyway to choose one's profession. Interestingly, both sides include many who call themselves feminists. For this seminar, the group will divide into two teams – each of which will argue for one side of the debate.

 

Reading

1. The abolitionist position

Eckberg, G.                                                   in Violence against Women, 10 (10), 2004: 1187-1218 (on Sweden)

*Farley, M. (ed.)                                            Prostitution, Trafficking and Traumatic Stress (2004): 315-22 (ch. by Raymond)

*Hughes, D.                                                  in Transitions, 5 (1), 1998: 96-9 (general against legalisation of prostitution)

Jeffreys, S.                                                   The Idea of Prostitution (1997)

Raymond, J.                                                 (on the Nordic model, 2010) – on CATW website at http://action.web.ca/home/catw/readingroom.shtml?x=130078&AA_EX_Session=3cccc1868a5c14720b34a075434bddcd

 

1. The regulationist (or rights or sex work) position

*Caldwell, G.                                                 Transitions, 5 (1), 1998: 96-9

Doezema, J.                                                  in Gender Issues, 18 (1), 2000: 23-50

Hanson, J.                                                   The Business of Sex (2007)

Holmes, L. (ed.)                                            Trafficking and Human Rights (2010): 37-55 (ch. by Milivojevic and Segrave)

Kempadoo, K. & Doezema, J. (eds.)        Global Sex Workers: Rights, Resistance and Redefinition (1998)

Kempadoo K. with Sanghera, J. & Pattanaik, B. (eds.)Trafficking and Prostitution Reconsidered: New Perspectives on Migration, Sex Work, and Human Rights (2005)

Sandy L.                                                        Asian and Pacific Migration Journal, 15 (4), 2006: 449-70 (with reference to Cambodia)

 

9. Responses of States and IOs

 

We shall in this seminar analyse the Palermo Protocols and the 3Ps approach (prevention; prosecution [also known as the legal or criminal law approach]; protection) to human trafficking; the Swedish (or Nordic) approach; the Italian approach (Article 18); and problems with the US aid-related approach. We shall also explore the concept of ‘quadruple victimisation'.

 

Reading

Athanassopoulou, E. (ed.)             Fighting Organized Crime in Southeast Europe (2005)        

De Stefano, A.                                  The War on Human Trafficking (2007) (on US)

Dottridge, M.                                      Action to Prevent Child Trafficking in South Eastern Europe (2006) (free online)

Edwards, A. & Gill, P. (eds.)           Transnational Organised Crime (2003): 143-56 (ch. by Bogusz & King on EU control of drug trafficking in CEE)

*Friesendorf, C. (ed.)                       Strategies against Human Trafficking (2009): esp. Pt.3 (free online)

Gaon, I. & Forbord, N.                     For Sale – Women and Children: Trafficking and Forced Prostitution in Southeast Europe (2005): 82-94

*Holmes, L. (ed.)                              Trafficking and Human Rights (2010): 181-92 (by Holmes – quadruple victimisation)

McCarthy, L.                                      in Demokratizatsiya, 18 (1), 2010: 5-27 (Russia's fight against trafficking)

Orttung, R. & Latta, A. (eds.)          Russia's Battle with Crime, Corruption and Terrorism (2008)

Scherrer, A.                                       G8 against Transnational Organized Crime (2009) (re. finance)

Stančov, K.                                        in International Migration, 48 (4), 2010: 186-200 (Slovakia's approach to Assisted Voluntary Return)

(Various)                                            Global Crime, 11 (2), 2009 (several articles on combating o.c. in CEE and SEE)

Williams, P. & Savona, E. (eds.)   The United Nations and Transnational Organized Crime (2006)    

Wright. A.                                         Organised Crime (2006): ch.9

 

10. The Role of Civil Society

 

All too often, people assume that the responsibility for combating organised crime – and human trafficking – lies with the national and international law enforcement agencies.  But closer analysis indicates that a holistic approach is required and will be more effective.  Such an approach means involving the media, NGOs – and ordinary citizens.

 

Reading 

Athanassopoulou, E. (ed.)             Fighting Organized Crime in Southeast Europe (2005): 109-115 (ch. by P. Ralchev)

Evans, A., Henry, L. & McIntosh Sundstrom, L.           Russian Civil Society (2005) (general on civil society, and on organised crime as uncivil society)

*Howard, M.                                      in Journal of Democracy, 13 (1), 2002: 157-69 (civil society)

Howard, M.                                        The Weakness of Civil Society in Post-Communist Europe (2003)

Lloyd, J.                                             in Global Crime, 10 (3), 2009: 272-5 (on journalism's role)

Oxman-Martinez, J., Marinescu, V. & Bohard, I.          in Women's Studies International Forum, 32 (4), 2009: 296-304 (cfs. media representation of violence against women and children in Canada & Romania)

Schneider, J. & Schneider, P.       in Critique of Anthropology, 21 (4), 2001: 427-46 (case-study of c.s. against o.c. in Palermo)

For this final seminar, you should also explore the websites of the Coalition against Trafficking in Women (http://www.catwinternational.org/) and La Strada International (http://lastradainternational.org/), two leading NGOs against human trafficking (the latter focuses on CEE).

 

 

Office hours

See the website of Leslie Templeman Holmes