In this article, the author presents an evaluation of the contributions of Donald Cressey to the study of organized crime. Beginning with the early era of research into this area of study—the 1960's—the author discusses the methodological and other problems faced by Cressey and other researchers. Then he describes Cressey's model of organized crime structure and function, with the goal of examining the internal consistency of the model itself and evaluating the major issues and problems inherent in its heuristic utility for researchers and its usefulness for law enforcement.
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