THIS IS ANOTHER TWO-PART ASSIGNMENT Week 3: Growth of Criminal Organizations Now that you have examined the scope and activity of gangs and organized crime groups, you can step back and ask the “why” questions. Why do criminal organizations not only exist but thrive in the United States today? Why do individuals join these organizations in the first place? Theories are helpful in beginning to answer these questions. Macro-level sociological theories point to factors of environment, geography, race, ethnicity, and social class to explain how criminal organizations succeed in certain locations. Micro-level psychological theories take a more focused approach, addressing human development and individual factors that make a person at greater risk of joining a gang or criminal organization. This week, you engage with both micro- and macro-level perspectives, comparing the theories and determining how well they account for criminal organizations in your community.     Learning Objectives Students will: · Analyze motivations for joining criminal organizations · Compare theories of criminal organizations · Evaluate the degree to which theories of criminal organizations account for their growth patterns and trends  Learning Resources Note: To access this week’s library resources, please click on the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course Materials section of your Syllabus. Required Readings Howell, J. C., & Griffiths, E. (2018). Gangs in America’s communities (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE. · Chapter 4, “General Macro-Level Theories and Modern-Day Applications” (pp. 81–110) · Chapter 5, “Micro-Level Theories: Developmental Life-Course Pathways and Other Micro-Level Explanations for Gang Involvement” (pp. 111–158) · Chapter 7, “National Gang Problem Trends: 1996–2012” (pp. 183–218) Harbeck, K. M. (2017). Crime theory: Organized crime. In Salem Press encyclopedia. Ipswich, MA: Salem Press. Roelofse, C. (2015). Encroachment: A theoretical explanation of organized crime, business and governance. Internal Security, 7(1), 123–141. doi:10.5604/20805268.1192774 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2018e, May). Module 6: Causes and facilitating factors of organized crime.Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/organized-crime/module-6/index.html Required Media National Gang Center. (n.d.-c). Why youth join gangs [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Video THIS IS DUE WEDNESDAY THIS TIME 1/27/21 BY 10 PM Assignment: Theories of Criminal Organizations Today there is increased interest—and a greater body of published research than ever before—regarding the existence and activities of organized crime groups and gangs. At the heart of this issue is the question: who joins these groups and why? There are two generally accepted theoretical perspectives that explain gang and organized crime membership—one that includes theories focusing on psychological factors and one that includes theories focusing on ...

1. THIS IS ANOTHER TWO-PART ASSIGNMENT
Week 3: Growth of Criminal Organizations
Now that you have examined the scope and activity of gangs
and organized crime groups, you can step back and ask the
“why” questions. Why do criminal organizations not only exist
but thrive in the United States today? Why do individuals join
these organizations in the first place?
Theories are helpful in beginning to answer these questions.
Macro-level sociological theories point to factors of
environment, geography, race, ethnicity, and social class to
explain how criminal organizations succeed in certain locations.
Micro-level psychological theories take a more focused
approach, addressing human development and individual factors
that make a person at greater risk of joining a gang or criminal
organization.
This week, you engage with both micro- and macro-level
perspectives, comparing the theories and determining how well
they account for criminal organizations in your community.
Learning Objectives
Students will:
· Analyze motivations for joining criminal organizations
· Compare theories of criminal organizations
· Evaluate the degree to which theories of criminal
organizations account for their growth patterns and trends
Learning Resources
Note: To access this week’s library resources, please click on
the link to the Course Readings List, found in the Course
Materials section of your Syllabus.
Required Readings
Howell, J. C., & Griffiths, E. (2018). Gangs in America’s
communities (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
· Chapter 4, “General Macro-Level Theories and Modern-Day

2. Applications” (pp. 81–110)
· Chapter 5, “Micro-Level Theories: Developmental Life-Course
Pathways and Other Micro-Level Explanations for Gang
Involvement” (pp. 111–158)
· Chapter 7, “National Gang Problem Trends: 1996–2012” (pp.
183–218)
Harbeck, K. M. (2017). Crime theory: Organized crime. In
Salem Press encyclopedia. Ipswich, MA: Salem Press.
Roelofse, C. (2015). Encroachment: A theoretical explanation of
organized crime, business and governance. Internal Security,
7(1), 123–141. doi:10.5604/20805268.1192774
United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. (2018e, May).
Module 6: Causes and facilitating factors of organized
crime.Retrieved from https://www.unodc.org/e4j/en/organized-
crime/module-6/index.html
Required Media
National Gang Center. (n.d.-c). Why youth join gangs [Video
file]. Retrieved from https://www.nationalgangcenter.gov/Video
THIS IS DUE WEDNESDAY THIS TIME 1/27/21 BY 10 PM
Assignment: Theories of Criminal Organizations
Today there is increased interest—and a greater body of
published research than ever before—regarding the existence
and activities of organized crime groups and gangs. At the heart
of this issue is the question: who joins these groups and why?
There are two generally accepted theoretical perspectives that
explain gang and organized crime membership —one that

3. includes theories focusing on psychological factors and one that
includes theories focusing on sociological factors. Exploring
each theoretical perspective is critical to understand potential
reasons for the development and proliferation of gangs and
organized crime groups.
In this Assignment, you examine specific theories that explain
why someone would be motivated to join a criminal
organization. You also compare the psychological and
sociological perspectives of criminal organizations.
By Day 3
Submit a 500- to 750-word paper that addresses the following:
· What are the motivations for joining a criminal organization?
Use theories to support your response.
· What are the similarities and differences between micro-level
psychological perspectives and macro-level sociological
perspectives of criminal organizations?
· Based on your comparison of the two groups of theories, what
conclusions can you draw about why people join criminal
organizations? What are the implications for criminal justice
interventions against criminal organizations?
Be sure to reference the course readings to support your
responses.
THIS IS DUE SATURDAY 1/30/21
Discussion: Application of Theory—Growth Patterns and
Trends of Criminal Organizations
Criminal organizations are expected to grow well into the
foreseeable future, particularly if harsh community, social, and
economic conditions persist. For example, a lack of viable
employment can often be the catalyst to join a criminal
organization that offers more attractive, long-term options to
make money through illegal activities. Technology is another
contributing factor to the growth of criminal organizations.
Criminal organizations may use social networking sites to

4. recruit new members and the Internet for identity theft, fraud,
and dark web transactions. Furthermore, criminal organizations
are making more money than ever in illegal drug trade by
trafficking synthetic and prescription drugs that can be
produced cheaply anywhere in the world and sold throughout
the United States.
In the Assignment this week, you examined theories of criminal
organizations. Now you discuss the degree to which a specific
theory accounts for growth patterns and trends of the criminal
organization(s) in your city, state, or region.
By Day 5
Post a response that addresses the following:
· Briefly describe the theory to which you were assigned.
· To what degree does the theory sufficiently account for
growth patterns and trends of criminal organizations in your
city, state, or region?