Environmental Criminology in Europe

Organized Crime in the Internet Age: the Potential Role of Environmental Criminology

Anita Lavorgna, from the University of Trento, made a contribution to the 2012 Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology, in the category “Crime Prevention,” under the title “Organized Crime in the Internet Age: the Potential Role of Environmental Criminology”. Here is the abstract: Organized crime constantly evolves by reacting and adapting to technological changes. While it is often assumed that the growth and expansion of the Internet have an impact on organized crime and the criminogenic potential of eSociety has been recognized, the ways in which criminals behave in the new Internet environment is still under-investigated. The aim of this paper is to examine the possibilities offered by environmental criminology and situational approaches as a framework to better understand and tackle organized crime in the Internet age, by identifying the system of opportunities it exploits. Since considering organized crime for the purposes of a situational approach involves the deconstruction of its complexity to comprehend how crime operates or needs to operate, script analysis can have an important role in identifying the modus operandi of groups involved in routinized activities facilitated by the Internet like illegal and illicit trade.

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Further Reading

• “Organized Crime in the Internet Age: the Potential Role of Environmental Criminology”, by Anita Lavorgna (Proceedings)