Russian Mafia In America: Immigration, Culture, And Crime

Russian Mafia In America: Immigration, Culture, and Crime

From Publishers Weekly In recent years, journalists have increasingly used the term "Russian mafia" to discuss crime committed by Soviet emigres in the U.S. In this straightforward, if dry, book, Finckenauer (director of the International Center, National Institute of Justice, and author of Russian Youth and Organized Crime in America) and Waring (a sociologist and author of Crimes of the Middle Classes) argue that there is no Russian mafia in the U.S., but only a network of criminals who work together when it behooves them. The authors rely on the Tri-State Joint Soviet-emigre Organized Crime Project covering New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania; on major criminal cases that involved former residents of the U.S.S.R. and members of the Italian mafia; and on interviews with Russian immigrants themselves. Along the way, they make some illuminating points, particularly about the conditions that create the rise of organized crime, the importance of honor in criminal networks and the ways in which the media and mainstream society often view the criminal activity of immigrant groups as more violent and organized than it actually is. But if the authors' distinction between a mafia and the loose crime network that they say better describes Russian emigre crime is important, one would expect it to have significant ramifications for methods of law enforcement, none of which are discussed here. Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc. Does a "Russian Mafia" really exist? This book seeks to answer that question by investigating in detail such topics as the characteristics of the Russian criminal tradition of Vory v Zakone ("thieves professing the code"), contemporary Russian mobs, criminal activity among Russian immigrants, claims of KGB involvement in American crime, and connections between crime bosses and gangsters in both countries. Drawing on research conducted in cooperation with the Tri-State Joint Soviet emigre Organized Crime Project as well as on privileged access to confidential information, James O. Finckenauer and Elin J. Waring particularly focus on criminal networks in the New York-New Jersey-Pennsylvania area. They also report on a nationwide survey of law enforcement agencies and examine major criminal cases, notably Russian participation with Cosa Nostra families in bootleg gasoline schemes. The Russian Mafia in America is the first in-depth study on Russian organized crime since the breakup of the Soviet Union and the arrival of the latest wave of immigrants to the United States. It is an eye-opening expose of major players in America's underworld and a significant contribution to the literature on organized crime. New in paperback with a new epilogue by the authors. From Library Journal Since the mid 1980s, the media have been reporting the involvement of recent immigrants from the Soviet Union in drugs, prostitution, and other organized crime, leading some journalists and investigators to speak of a Russian Mafia. Finckenauer (Russian Youth, Transaction, 1995; Organized Crime in America, Wadsworth, 1995) and Waring (Crimes of the Middle Classes: White Collar Offenders in the Federal Courts, Yale Univ., 1991) examine this issue in the first scholarly work on Russian criminal activity in America since the Soviet collapse. From immigrant involvement in American organized crime since the late 19th century, the book moves to the Russian experience in America, the Soviet Union, and contemporary Russia. Finally, the authors use detailed information from investigators in New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania to determine the range and scope of recent Russian criminal activity. They conclude that organized criminal activity exists but does not have the level of organization of the Cosa Nostra. Well researched and written, this work is an interesting addition for criminology collections.?Stephen L. Hupp, Urbana Univ. Lib., OHCopyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.