Described by the National Crime Agency as a 'significant threat', county lines involve gangs recruiting vulnerable youth to sell drugs in provincial areas. This phenomenon has impacted local drug markets, increasing criminal activity and violence. Exploring how county lines evolve, Harding reveals extensive criminal exploitation and control in the daily 'grind' to sell drugs. Drawing upon extensive interviews and case studies, this timely book gives voice to users and dealers, providing an in-depth analysis of techniques, relationships and 'trapping'. With county lines now a critical issue for policing and government, this is an invaluable contribution to literature on gangs, youth violence and drugs.

Law today is incomplete, inaccessible, unclear, underdeveloped, and often perplexing to those whom it affects. In The Legal Singularity, Abdi Aidid and Benjamin Alarie argue that the proliferation of artificial intelligence-enabled technology - and specifically the advent of legal prediction - is on the verge of radically reconfiguring the law, our institutions, and our society for the better. Revealing the ways in which our legal institutions underperform and are expensive to administer, the book highlights the negative social consequences associated with our legal status quo. Given the infirmities of the current state of the law and our legal institutions, the silver lining is that there is ample room for improvement. With concerted action, technology can help us to ameliorate the law and our legal institutions. Inspired in part by the concept of the "technological singularity," The Legal Singularity presents a future state in which technology facilitates the functional "completeness" of law, where the law is at once extraordinarily more complex in its specification than it is today, and yet operationally vastly more knowable, fairer, and clearer for its subjects. Aidid and Alarie describe the changes that will culminate in the legal singularity and explore the implications for the law and its institutions.

Like most former Soviet republics, Ukraine has experienced a formidable proliferation of crime and corruption as it struggles with economic reform and the establishment of democracy. During the early 90s, Ukraine became one of the primary recipients of foreign assistance from the United States and its crime and corruption situation was increasingly seen as an impediment to economic transition and achieving a more democratic way of life. Thus in 1998, as part of a larger U.S. law enforcement assistance effort in Ukraine, the idea for a research partnership between criminologists and legal scholars in the two countries was born in this volume. The original research papers contained are the products of this ambitious research project. The realities of crime in post-Soviet Ukraine, as well as divergent methodological approaches and communication problems, presented the research partners with enormous challenges. This volume represents the culmination of that collaborative effort, and provides a singular look into the current crime situation in Ukraine, and into the potential global threat presented by Ukrainian organized crime. Contributions include analyses of the prediction and control of organized crime, trafficking in women and children for sexual exploitation, international money laundering, the transnational political criminal nexus of trafficking in women, countermeasures against economic crime and corruption, heroin trafficking, business victimization by organized crime, and understanding and combating organized crime. "The Prediction and Control of Organized Crime" will be critical reading for security planners, policymakers, and criminal justice officials, as well as comparative criminologists, legal scholars, and political scientists interested in organized crime and political corruption.

This book challenges the rhetoric linking 'war on terror' with 'war on human trafficking' by juxtaposing lived experiences of survivors of trafficking, refugees, and labor migrants with macro-level security concerns. Drawing on research in the United States and in Europe, Gozdziak shows how human trafficking has replaced migration in public narratives, policy responses, and practice with migrants and analyzes lived experiences of (in)security of trafficked victims, irregular migrants, and asylum seekers. .

Deepfake technology can create video evidence of just about anything: Hollywood superstar Margot Robbie in an orgy. Chinese president Xi Jinping declaring nuclear war. Basketball legend Michael Jordan winning the World Cup. The only limit is the imagination. In a time where fake news and disinformation is becoming harder and harder to identify, it is more essential than ever to understand the dark origins of deepfakes. Journalist Michael Grothaus goes down the rabbit hole as he interviews the often morally dubious, yet incredibly skilled creators of this content. It's a journey that opens a window into the communities transforming reality. Challenging, enlightening and terrifying, Trust No One asks the question other people are too scared to: what happens when you can no longer believe your own eyes? 'An alarming look at deepfakes' Sunday Times 'Michael Grothaus takes a hard look at the growth of deep fakes, examining cases that demonstrate the threats presented by morally dubious creators. From the personal to political, the impact of deep fakes is considered carefully by Grothaus, both on the victims and on society as a whole, creating an essential picture of a growing trend in disinformation' Eliot Higgins, founder of Bellingcat

This innovative book examines radicalization from new psychological perspectives by examining the different typologies of radicalizing individuals, what makes individuals resilient against radicalization, and events that can trigger individuals to radicalize or to deradicalize. What is radicalization? Which psychological processes or events in a person's life play a role in radicalization? What determines whether a personal is resilient against radicalization, and is deradicalization something that we can achieve? This book goes beyond previous publications on this topic by identifying concrete key events in the process of radicalization, providing a useful theoretical framework that summarizes the current state-of-the-art research on radicalization and deradicalization. A model is presented in which a distinction is made between different levels of radicalization and deradicalization, with key underlying psychological needs discussed: the need for identity, justice, significance, and sensation. The authors also describe what makes people resilient against messages from "the outside world" when they belong to an extremist group and discuss observable events which may "trigger" a person to radicalize (further) or to deradicalize. Including real-world examples and clear guidelines for interventions aimed at prevention of radicalization and stimulation of deradicalization, this is essential reading for policy makers, researchers, practitioners, and students interested in this crucial societal issue.

A timely look at a widespread yet largely uninvestigated area of Russian life. Chapters include: consideration of the history and basis in culture for the organization of crime in Russia; the actions of emigres to the USA; and the development of modern sophistications of exchange and networking that currently blight privatization. Diverse perspectives, including comparative, structural and ethnic frameworks, give unprecedented national and international insights into a pervasive element of modern Russia.

In a society where trust is in short supply and democracy weak, the Mafia sells protection, a guarantee of safe conduct for parties to commercial transactions. Drawing on the confessions of eight Mafiosi, Diego Gambetta develops an elegant analysis of the economic and political role of "the Sicilian Mafia."

Forget what you think you know about the Mafia.  After reading this book, even life-long mob aficionados will have a new perspective on organized crime.

Informative, authoritative, and eye-opening, this is the first full-length book devoted exclusively to uncovering the hidden history of how the Mafia came to dominate organized crime in New York City during the 1930s through 1950s.  Based on exhaustive research of archives and secret files obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, author and attorney C. Alexander Hortis draws on the deepest collection of primary sources, many newly discovered, of any history of the modern mob.

Shattering myths, Hortis reveals how Cosa Nostra actually obtained power at the inception.  The author goes beyond conventional who-shot-who mob stories, providing answers to fresh questions such as:    

* Why did the Sicilian gangs come out on top of the criminal underworld?  
* Can economics explain how the Mafia families operated?  
* What was the Mafia's real role in the drug trade?  
* Why was Cosa Nostra involved in gay bars in New York since the 1930s? 

Drawing on an unprecedented array of primary sources, The Mob and the City is the most thorough and authentic history of the Mafia's rise to power in the early-to-mid twentieth century.

This book provides a comprehensive analysis of the illegal extraction of metals and minerals from the perspectives of organized crime theory, green criminology, anti-corruption studies, and victimology. It includes contributions that focus on organized crime-related offences, such as drug trafficking and trafficking in persons, extortion, corruption and money laundering and sheds light on the serious environmental harms caused by illegal mining. Based on a wide range of case studies from the Amazon rainforest through the Ukrainian flatlands to the desert-like savanna of Central African Republic and Australia's elevated plateaus, this book offers a unique insight into the illegal mining business and the complex relationship between organized crime, corruption, and ecocide. This is the first book-length publication on illegal extraction, trafficking in mined commodities, and ecocide associated with mining. It will appeal to scholars working on organized crime and green crime, including criminologists, sociologists, anthropologists, and legal scholars. Practitioners and the general public may welcome this comprehensive and timely publication to contemplate on resource-scarcity, security, and crime in a rapidly changing world.

This book presents a study of street children's involvement as workers in Bangladeshi organised crime groups based on a three-year ethnographic study in Dhaka. The book argues that 'mastaans' are Bangladeshi mafia groups that operate in a market for crime, violence and social protection. It considers the crimes mastaans commit, the ways they divide labour, and how and why street children become involved in these groups. The book explores how street children are hired by 'mastaans', to carry weapons, sell drugs, collect extortion money, commit political violence and conduct contract killings. The book argues that these young people are neither victims nor offenders; they are instead 'illicit child labourers', doing what they can to survive on the streets. This book adds to the emerging fields of the sociology of crime and deviance in South Asia and 'Southern criminology'.

Entrepreneurship and Organised Crime provides a fresh and realistic insight into the problem of organised crime activity and the role of entrepreneurs in illegal business. Petter Gottschalk takes a close look at how some entrepreneurs choose to develop criminal business enterprises. Stage models for criminal entrepreneurs are presented, and entrepreneurial leadership and management are discussed. This book illustrates how so many issues for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship are similar in legal and illegal business. At the same time, all the cases in the book show how different many of the individual criminal entrepreneurs are. In sum, this book provides a pragmatic view of another kind of entrepreneurship not frequently discussed in a neutral way. This book will be warmly welcomed by scholars and researchers looking for a different perspective of entrepreneurship or interested in criminology. This will also be a good reference tool for students at police academies.

This book takes students on a guided tour of the gang phenomenon through history, as well as current representations of gangs in literature and media. It includes: - A detailed global overview of gang culture, covering, amongst others, Glasgow, Chicago, Hong Kong, and Shanghai - A chapter on researching gangs which covers quantitative and qualitative methods - Extra chapter features such as key terms, chapter overviews, study questions and further reading suggestions. Alistair Fraser brings together gang-literature and critical perspectives in a refreshingly new way, exploring 'gangs' as a social group with a long and fascinating history.

This book deals with the widespread economic and financial crime issues of corruption, the shadow economy and money laundering. It investigates both the theoretical and practical aspects of these crimes, identifying their effects on economic, social and political life. This book presents these causes and effects with a state of the art review and with recent empirical research. It compares the international and transnational aspects of these economic and financial crimes through discussion and critical analysis. This volume will be of interest to researchers and policy makers working to study and prevent economic and financial crime, white collar crime, and organized crime.

The book focuses on the psychosocial effects that organized crime related violence has produced in Mexico. It connects one of the major worries of our times - terrorism - with the conditions of peacelessness that prevail in Mexico. Specifically, the project explores the role played by fear as a peace disruptor, as well as one of the most important obstacles to social and democratic development, and inclusiveness. The volume contributes to the debate on whether the escalation of violence in Mexico since 2006 has produced circumstances similar to those countries that suffer terrorism, and to what degree that discussion can help in the construction of a more democratic and inclusive society.

This book examines the use of social network analysis (SNA) in operational environments from the perspective of those who actually apply it. A rapidly growing body of literature suggests that SNA can reveal significant insights into the overall structure of criminal networks as well as the position of critical actors within such groups. This book draws on the existing SNA and intelligence literature, as well as qualitative interviews with crime intelligence analysts from two Australian state law enforcement agencies to understand its use by law enforcement agencies and the extent to which it can be used in practice. It includes a discussion of the challenges that analysts face when attempting to apply various network analysis techniques to criminal networks. Overall, it advances SNA as an investigative tool, and provides a significant contribution to the field that will be of interest to both researchers and practitioners interested in social network analysis, intelligence analysis and law enforcement.

As a kid, Randy Lanier dreamed of achieving four-wheel glory at the Indianapolis 500, but knew he'd never be able to afford the most expensive sport on earth. That all changed when he bought a speedboat and began smuggling pot from the Bahamas. Fueled by what would become a historically massive smuggling operation, he started racing cars and became an overnight sensation. For Randy and his teammates, money was no object, and bigger hauls meant faster cars. At every event they attended, they were behind the wheel of the best machinery, flaunting their secret in front of huge crowds and live television cameras. But no matter how fast they drove, they couldn't outrun the law. As Randy came ever closer to reaching his dream of high-speed glory, one of the biggest drug scandals ever to hit the professional sports world was about to unfold. Set in the 1980s Florida of Miami Vice, this is the unbelievable, unforgettable, unparalleled story of an ordinary guy whose attempts to become famous doing the thing he wanted most-become a world class race car driver-devolved into a you-can't-make-this-up tale of one of the biggest crime rings and drug scandals of the 1980s. Now, with the help of New York Times bestselling author A.J. Baime, Randy tells the whole truth for the first time ever, a gripping narrative unlike any other, a sports story for the ages, and shocking a true crime epic.

The book highlights the root cause of human trafficking and analyses how factors of vulnerability affect the marginalized, especially during and after a disaster. Human trafficking like other studies on disaster research, needs to be tackled from various perspectives such as empowering the vulnerable people, creating awareness, strengthening the disaster risk reduction measures and creating a common platform to fight the vicious circle by breaking its continuity and making strategies victim centric and people friendly. The book adapts a multidisciplinary approach embedding concepts from political, social, economic and anthropological perceptions. The discourse in the book revolves around the emotional and psycho-social stress factors including weak implementation of laws and policies at various levels. The content weaves around three themes -- magnitude and interlinks between disaster and human trafficking; policies and protocols on disaster risk reduction and human trafficking and community participation and institutional support. Through these themes, the volume works on identification of the vulnerable areas which are not in compliance with the Sendai Framework of Action, 2015 in the backdrop of the Disaster Management Act of India, 2005. The volume will be of immense interest to a wide range of practitioners, researchers, academicians, policy makers, political leaders, gender experts, international organizations, disaster management authorities, civil society organisations, and scholars working in the area of human rights in general and trafficking in particular. Note: This research was funded by Indian Council of Social Science Research (ICSSR). Human Trafficking is complex, layered and lies at the intersections of multiple vulnerabilities, gender being among the most significant ones. This gets exacerbated during both natural and human made disasters. Any attempt to either understand or address it will be fraught with challenges if women and girls' unique vulnerabilities, as well as their needs, voice, choice, agency and safety is not centre-staged in any effort. Mondira's book does exactly that...it succinctly and in simple words explores the compounding discriminations, including structural inequalities, that cause and result in women and girls differential gendered vulnerabilities to being trafficked during disasters. Once this is understood, the solutions can be specific, gender responsive, and sustainable. - Anju Dubey Pandey, Gender Responsive Governance and Ending Violence against Women Specialist, UN Women, New Delhi, India

Labour exploitation is a highly topical though complex issue that has international resonance for those concerned with social justice and social welfare, but there is a lack of research available about it. This book, part of the Studies in Social Harm series, is the first to look at labour exploitation from a social harm perspective, arguing that, as a global social problem, it should be located within the broader study of work-based harm. Written by an expert in policy orientated research, he critiques existing approaches to the study of workplace exploitation, abuse and forced labour. Mapping out a new sub-discipline, this innovative book aims to shift power from employers to workers to reduce levels of labour exploitation and work-based harm. It is relevant to academics from many fields as well as legislators, policy makers, politicians, employers, union officials, activists and consumers.

Drawing on extensive life-history interviews with serious violent offenders, this book offers a unique socio-historical analysis of gang membership and gang evolution in Glasgow, Scotland's largest city. The book chronicles the lives of young men in and around Glasgow from early childhood to present day and examines the lived experience of family, friendship, community, and crime. It demonstrates how street reputations are won and lost and how gang membership is not a single event but an experiential process of offending, victimisation, consensus, and conflict. The book follows the young men's descent into knife crime and street violence and the impact of imprisonment on their life chances. Detailed narratives capture how they individually and collectively transitioned from street violence to profit-driven organised crime, before eventually disengaging from gangs and desisting from offending. The book concludes with an in-depth discussion of the evolution of gangs and organised crime in the 21st century and in the inner-workings of Scotland's marketplace for illegal goods and services, with implications for police, practitioners, and policymakers. A page-turner from start to finish, Scotlands' Gang Members is a truly unique contribution to knowledge about gangs and crime, written to high academic standards but readable and accessible to all.

This volume provides insights on how recruitment patterns develop for two related types of criminal networks: organized crime and terrorism. It specifically explores the social, situational, psychological, and economic drivers of recruitment. Although organized crime networks and terrorism networks can differ in underlying goals and motivations, this volume demonstrates common drivers in their recruitment, which will provide insights for crime prevention and intervention. The goal of the book is to explore the current knowledge about these common drivers, as well as highlight emerging research, to identify and prioritize a research agenda for scholars, as well as policymakers. The research presented in this work aims to fill existing gaps in the knowledge of recruitment to both organized crime and terrorism. For each area, it provides a systematic review of the existing research on social, psychological, and economic drivers of recruitment. It then presents findings from independent original research aimed to explore new ground not covered in these previous studies. The contributions to this volume were the result of a research project funded by a European Union Horizon 2020 grant, and present a diverse, international mix of expertise and cases. It will be of interest to researchers in criminology and criminal justice, as well as related fields such as sociology, psychology, and international relations. Chapter 13 of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license.