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by Richard Allan
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With a growing concern voiced by law enforcement authorities, being excessively inflamed by media frenzy, claiming that home-grown terrorism is becoming a more dangerous, immediate threat to the safety of American interests, it may be time to stop the hyperbole that every act of violence is some form of “terrorism” symbolized by 9/11, and any violence with “some” connection with the United States is “domestic” terrorism. As Steve Emerson has written regarding media reporting: “Balance isn’t always the same as accuracy.” |
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Organized Crime in Israel: An Update (Part 2) |
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by Gad J. Bensinger
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[ Editor's Note: In part one of this article, Gad J. Bensinger discussed the history of organized crime in Israel and detailed recent law enforcement initiatives to combat the growing problem. In part two, he covers the structure of Israeli organized crime and its most influential "families," then concludes with an evaluation of the country's current "War on Organized Crime."]
The structure of organized crime
An official INP document from 2008 listed 61 organized criminal gangs that are active in Israel. Some of these groups operate independently, while others are national in scope and are hierarchically organized. The INP’s Lahav 433 has targeted at least five of the most violent and dangerous crime families. Another 11 organized crime gangs are being monitored and investigated within the country’s six police districts.
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Police Enforcing U.S. Immigration Laws: Making the Case for the Use and Expansion of Section 287 (g) |
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by Dean Alexander and Terry M. Mors
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The United States was founded on the principle of open immigration. The founding fathers were themselves immigrants. Yet, this mindset has been a source of economic, social, and political controversies throughout our history, particularly this decade. As of 2008, the Center for Immigration Studies estimates there are approximately 11.3 million illegal aliens in the United States (2009). Some data suggests that the number of illegal immigrants in the United States is closer to 20 million (Justich, 2009). Such estimates, coupled with the allegations of illegal alien exacerbation of the crime problem and the post-9/11 terrorism aspect of immigration, have served as major sources of concern for many Americans. |
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Organized Crime in Israel: An Update (Part 1) |
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by Gad J. Bensinger
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Organized crime in Israel? That was still a debatable question when this writer wrote his first article on the subject almost 30 years ago (Bensinger, 1982). Since that time, the Israel National Police (INP) has tried, albeit with only some recent measured success, to control the ever-growing menace of the mob in Israel.
This paper briefly traces the development of organized crime in Israel since the 1970s, delineates the current structure of the crime families, and focuses on the most recent development undertaken by the INP in its war on organized crime. The paper concludes with an analysis of a report, submitted by the State Comptroller to Israel's Parliament (Knesset) in May 2009. |
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Not Doing Anything Bad...Just Selling Cigarettes |
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by Georgios A. Antonopoulos and John Winterdyk (1)
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It has been fifty years since Gresham Sykes and David Matza (1957)2 developed their theory of neutralization to help explain juvenile delinquency. Their theory was based on the theory of Differential Association developed by Edwin Sutherland in the 1940s. Sykes and Matza developed a theoretical perspective, which challenged the dominant positivist theorizing, which draws attention to: a) criminal behaviour, b) pre-destined actions and rejection of free will and c) specific and fundamental differences between “criminals” and “non-criminals,” delinquents and non-delinquents.3 Nevertheless, Sykes and Matza argued that a significant amount of delinquency and criminality is based on the offenders’ justifications of their activities, through one or more of the five techniques of neutralization. These five techniques of offenders’ justification of their criminal activities are: 1) the denial of the victim, 2) the denial of injury, 3) the denial of responsibility, 4) the condemnation of the condemners, and 5) the appeal to a higher loyalty. While Sykes and Matza4 proposed these techniques based on research on male juvenile delinquents in the United States, the underlying assumptions for explaining deviant behavior is not limited to explaining juvenile delinquents, but other types of offenders also use the techniques to reduce the social control over themselves, to justify their activities, protect their image and themselves from self-blame, and neutralize their sense of guilt. The basic premise is that whether an individual will obey or disobey societal rules is dependent upon a person’s ability to rationalize as appropriate a particular transgression. Later, a number of additional techniques of neutralization were introduced by other studies: 1) the defense of necessity, 2) the metaphor of the ledger, 3) the denial of the necessity of the law, 4) the claim that “everybody else is doing it,” 5) the claim of the entitlement of the gains from crime5, and 6) culturalisation (the resort to cultural grounds to justify a decision and behaviour)6, etc. |
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