How Organized Crimes Impact The Society Economically and Socially

Organized crime has over the years developed into a global problem with law enforcement agencies and nongovernmental organizations taking the initiative to stop activities carried out by these organized crime groups. Nongovernmental have also intervened in reducing the involvement of society into organized crime activities. Organized crime has a wide range of illegal activities which are not authorized by the governments and always operate under the radar; means that it is hard to notice criminal activities (McCarthy, 2011).

Organized crime groups are normally grouped and in many forms such as the mafia, biker gangs, drug syndicates, crime families, cartels. These forms engage in illegal activities such as credit/debit card fraud, money laundering, theft, illegal drug trade and trafficking, human trafficking and prostitution among others. Government agencies have come up definitions or organized crime and these definitions have differed and created a problem for legal agencies to prosecute organized crime groups (McCarthy, 2011).

In Canada, membership to an organized crime group is legally described by participation and the aiding in the group’s illegal activities. Other organizations such as the United Nations have joined in the organized crime war and the standard definition is characterized by coordination of three of more people who have a criminal intent of obtaining financial benefits or other benefits from a crime. The Canadian government and the law enforcement agencies have formulated reports on the rise of organized crime in the nation and the transnational organized crime activities and this has helped in the fight against organized crime in Canada. The focus of this paper is to explore the organized crime activities in Canada and its effects on the business activities and the economy at large (McCarthy, 2011).

Impacts of Organized Crimes

Organized crime groups in every society engage in criminal and illegal activities. The members of these groups operate on the impacts they have on society and the ways in which they employ in gaining control of the different aspects of society. Organized crime groups use tactics such as violence, instilling fear, intimidation and excessive methods such as murder in obtaining control of the country or area they are operating in. the activities of organized crime groups have negative impacts in the society ranging from the political, social and legal aspects of a country (McCarthy, 2011).

Economic Impact

Organized crime groups engage in illegal activities which impact the economy in negative ways. The operating and success of the legal business is limited and the collapse of legal businesses which contribute to the economy is threatened and possible collapse of the businesses. Illegal businesses operated by organized crime groups prohibit legal businesses from the market conditions of demand and supply and thus the entry of organized crime group in the market has contributed to the bankruptcy of legal businesses (McCarthy, 2011).

Besides the business circles, the financial sectors of an economy are threatened by organized crime. This is because organized crime leads to a monopoly in the economy and financial sectors. The methods used by the organized crime groups such as intimidation in gaining control. Gaining control in these sectors leads to unfair competition and thus negative effects on the economy and the financial sectors (McCarthy, 2011).

Due to the illegal nature of the organized crime group activities, these groups engage in business activities using massive amounts of cash. This money is illegal and thus these groups engage in business activities in the bid to integrate their illegal money into the legal banking systems. This plays a negative impact in the money and banking systems as it increases money laundering activities. Organized crime activities limit the growth of the economy and their involvement in the illegal wealth creation influences the financial and political systems (McCarthy, 2011).

Human Impact

Organized crime groups operate in society by instilling fear to the citizens. They acquire territories in which their illegal activities are based and carried out. They gain control by using violence and intimidation tactics. They maintain control in their territories and carry out activities such as drug trafficking, human trafficking and in small scale petty theft, credit/debit card fraud in order to finance their activities (McCarthy, 2011).

Organized crime activities disrupt order in society in the sense that people live in fear and due to the tactics of these groups law enforcement intervention is limited due to intimidation to law enforcement agencies and people willing to expose their activities. The organized crime groups carry out murders, attempted murders to people involved in the efforts to stop or expose their activities (McCarthy, 2011).

Impacts on Political and other Systems

Organized crime groups have the need to operate autonomously and the need to be shielded from government and government agencies. Organized crime groups infiltrate the political system and used acts as bribery and corruption in the bid to gain the upper hand in the political class and also control. The political system is essential in determining the various policies in the government and thus gaining control of the political class limits the efforts of ending organized crime activities and groups (McCarthy, 2011).

Also, organized crime group proves a threat in the destabilizing of the legal system of a country. These groups engage in massive corruption where judicial systems are compromised and thus the inability to prosecute members of the groups. The law enforcement agencies are also subject to the corruption and thus fighting organized crime is hard and thus the negative impacts in the society and economy (McCarthy, 2011). Due to the tactics used by the organized crime groups, the impact on the legal, law enforcement has increased. The organized crime groups engage in intimidation, threats and murders in order to control the political, legal, judicial systems and thus the fight of organized crime is faced with this challenge. These tactics of gaining control may lead to destabilization of the relevant systems in the government (McCarthy, 2011).

The Role of Media in Organized Crime

Organized crime groups operate through fear tactic and control. The media is responsible for communication and the media is responsible for the reporting of the organized groups’ activities and running exposes on these groups. This increases the society’s fear and the spread of fear. Just like other systems, the media is subject to corruption, intimidation, threats by these organized crime groups (McCarthy, 2011).

Problems Faced in Fighting Organized Crime

The lack of a universal definition and description of organized crime activity, involvement and composition prove hard for law enforcement to prosecute and terminate organized crime activities. The existence of organized crime groups and the hidden nature of their activities have proven hard to expose and stop these groups (McCarthy, 2011). Organized crime has penetrated different areas of the economy such as export and import in order to expand their activities. Organized crime has expanded to include other organization in different areas. The cooperation of organized crime groups has created the idea of transnational crime groups and proved hard for law enforcement agencies to curb the menace of organized crime (McCarthy, 2011).

Social pervasiveness and engagement in activities such as bribery and corruption among law enforcement agencies, the judicial system, and even the political systems have proved accountability hard in these systems. This has limited the fight against organized crime among countries and to an extent the global fight against organized crime (McCarthy, 2011).

In conclusion, organized crime is now a global problem with crime organizations going beyond the limits of one country. The fight against organized crime requires the cooperation of agencies involved and proper communication channels together with sharing of relevant information so as to stop the entry and expansion of organized crime groups in many areas/countries. Organized crime affects the general functioning of society and the economy. Proper coordination of involved parties increases the efficiency of the fight against organized crime. The rooting out of organized crime promotes proper business practices, stability in the political, social, judicial and legal systems.