An Interdisciplinary Attack on Organized Crime

Abstract

Organized crime is a many-sided institution. The effort to cope with it requires the thinking of many disciplines and the co-ordination of many agencies. The first line of defense is the law-enforcement system. But, by itself, law enforcement cannot deal with the problem, either to control or to eradicate. The case for a new interdisciplinary and multidisciplinary attack on organized crime is implicit in three facts: first, the growth and present immensity of organ ized crime; second, its capacity for renewal and adaptation; third, the contributions to the understanding of organized crime by men of many callings who have not been or are not primarily law officers or criminologists. An unofficial institute or center on organized crime could co-ordinate knowledge, insight, and action; could serve in a tutorial capacity for future profes sionals in the field; could propose rounded approaches to the problem to deal with both symptoms and causes.