Customer Reviews

Organized Crime

5 star:		(7)
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3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I am a college professor who just finished teaching ORGANIZED CRIME to twenty college juniors and seniors. I selected Abadinsky's book as the text because it is carefully and thoughtfully "choreographed." The information provided flows in a sensible and clearly written design. Some texts appear to be designed for Rhodes Scholars and are virtually impossible to read. This is not the case with this great book! I recommend it to teachers and those who have in interest in this fascinating subject.

In this revised edition of the classic text on organized crime Abadinsky provides a comprehensive overview of organized crime groups, traditions, operations and the impact on American society.

The latest edition of Howard Abadinsky's "Organized Crime" is a superb textbook and teaching resource on the full spectrum of organized crime, from its origins to the methods used to greater or lesser success by law enforcement to combat it.

Abadinsky, who has extensive background in law enforcement, employs a commonsense approach to defining organized crime and describing its most commonly found structures. An extensive background history on organized crime reveals just how deeply the phenomenon is embedded in American society. His descriptions of the various ethnic groups that have dominated organized crime at different periods of American history is graphic and even-handed. His narrative of the movement of organized crime into white collar crime is extremely insightful.

Abadinsky's discussion of the sociological and psychological basis of organized crime is clear and understandable, and accounts for the different circumstances of some of the major groups involved in organized crime. At the same time, Abadinsky avoids the techno-babble often found layered over this aspect of organized crime.

Other chapters discuss the elements of traditional organized crime focus areas, along with the agencies that combat organized crime and the tools available to them. Throughout, Abadinsky provides lots of specific examples and profiles of famous and infamous persons involved in organized crime, from crime bosses to corrupt politicians to labor union involvement with organized crime.

"Organized Crime" clearly conveys the pervasive reach of organized crime in the United States and is very highly recommended as a teaching resource for criminology and justice instruction.

If you (the reader, the researcher) is interested in Organized Crime, I strongly recommend this book (Howard Abadinsky's Organized Crime, 6th Ed.) This book is the only detailed book I have come across in studying Organized Crime. I am currently a criminal justice graduate student attending the University of Central Florida. RSB

Arrived fast and in great shape. Got exactly what I was expecting and is going to be very useful in my studies. Thanks!

As a broke college student, I always ask my teachers if I may use an edition earlier of the book we are currently using in class. With this book, my teacher told me I would be missing some topics that are now included in the newer edition. So using an older version would be risky, and not recommended, but it would be up to my discretion. I went along with ordering the eighth edition because it was cheaper. Once I received the book, I sat and compared it page by page to the ninth edition. Basically, everything is still the same, except the ninth edition added a small psychology section to one of the chapters and the topics throughout the book are switched around a bit. Also, there is more of a globalization of organized crime section in the ninth edition that there is only one page of in the eighth edition. Basically, the conclusion for me is, that when my class starts reading upon the small parts I am missing(cause the books are very much still the same) I will have to do some extended research on the subjects myself and maybe borrow a classmates book only for those notes. I hope this helps anyone who tries to save money by doing the early editions of books like I do!

A Wikipedia article on these topics would be more exciting than this book. The author acts as a clearinghouse to pull together facts from a zillion different sources, but does not attempt to do anything more. As a result, you get a bland book (even by textbook standards!) that reads more like a laundry list of pull quotes and footnote citations than an authoritative book on the subject.

Great condition, shipped quickly as promised. This book is well written and is being used by my college student who is studying Crime & Justice. We are completely satisfied.

In a word, this book "sucks." I had to purchase it for a class in which I am currently using. Yea, it has an ABUNDANCE of useful information, but the part that gets me is the fact that if your teacher uses Abadinsky's testing booklet, it's all wrong. It's even been discussed in our class at how off the test questions are as opposed to what's in his book. If possible, which is hard when it comes to textbooks, buy another.