Immigrants' Experiences in America: Toward Understanding Organized Crime

Abstract

Using the emergence of Sicilian Mafia in the United States of America as the focal condition, this article investigates why the emergence of organized crime in the United State of America is widely misunderstood. The author aims to provide a renewed theoretical analysis of the social problem. Central to this analysis are two contradictory perspectives on the emergence of organized crime in the United State of America. These perspectives are: a) an importation model, and b) a deprivation model. Unlike most studies on the subject, this article raises important, but previously undiscussed questions, makes greater efforts to address the questions, and provides serious lessons learned in the process. These lessons may be too important and too costly to ignore in 21st century criminology.