James O. Finckenauer and Elin J. Waring

James O. Finckenauer is a professor of criminal justice at Rutgers University. Elin J. Waring is a sociology professor at the Herbert H. Lehman College, City University of New York. The following viewpoint is excerpted from their book Russian Mafia in America, a study of Russian organized crime based on their national survey of law enforcement agencies and the work of the Tri-state Soviet Émigré Organized Crime Project, an investigative effort of the states of New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania. Finckenauer and Waring conclude that while Russian criminals do operate in the United States, they do not constitute an organized crime phenomenon as traditionally defined. The “Russian mafia,” in short, is a stereotype with limited basis...