Author Description

"The goal of this textbook is to provide an introductory, yet in-depth examination and critical analysis of organized crime and its control in Canada. This goal will be met by exploring and critically analyzing definitions, descriptions, case studies, theories, research, criminal justice policies, and enforcement approaches related to organized crime in this country. This book will help students understand the complex nature of this phenomenon and its varied treatment by the academic literature, popular culture, and government enforcement policies and programs. This includes dispelling the many enduring myths, sensationalized portrayals, and chronic misinformation that have engulfed this topic for so many years. A central theme of this book is that organized crime in Canada has resulted, in part, from historical developments, dominant institutions, government policies, as well as social conditions, norms, values, and vices that are indigenous to this country. Despite the many harms that organized crime has inflicted on Canadian society, Canadians have a symbiotic relationship with criminal syndicates and underground markets by readily consuming illegal and contraband goods and services to satisfy their many vices. Ostensibly, this book strives to determine whether there is a Canadian version of organized crime that is reflective of this country and distinguishes it from other countries."--