organized crime and movements

This post is taken from the blog of one of my really good (and very bright)  friends, Mark Sayers. It adds further weight to all this discussion about networks and movements…

….Have been reading a bit about the future of organized crime. Fascinatingly crime is changing as our culture changes. The older traditional crime structures such as the Mafia and the Japanese Yakuza are struggling. Traditional organized crime structures thrive in migrant neighbourhoods with high social cohesion. However as social connection breaks down, and a more liquid way of living takes hold, and gentrification transforms inner city neighbourhoods; traditional organized crime structures are finding it hard to recruit younger members and flourish in the 21st century.

However a new kind of organized crime is developing in the West one that does not obey the traditional modes and rules. This new form of organized crime has its roots in the developing world, be it Central America, Nigeria or former Soviet Bloc countries. Whereas the old organized crime structures worked on systems of honour, commitment, hierarchy, central control and a strict set of rules, the new structures tend to be more cellular, chaotic and anarchic.

A classic example of this new kind of organized crime structured is the central American gang MS -13 which some law enforcement experts have labelled the Al Qeada of Central America. The gangs growth has been phenomenal, and the gang now has tens of thousands of members, and has now spread out of central America into South America, North America and Europe.

Is it just me or does all of this sound familiar?

September 5, 2008 | Filed Under movements, networks, organic systems, the forgotten ways |  

Comments

5 Responses to “organized crime and movements”

  1. Jon Franklin on September 7th, 2008 4:48 am

    Interesting. So, we know this works. Just as Pharoh’s magicians were able to copy some of the miracles of Moses, it appears the enemy is able to copy at some level the same thing that the church can do through movements and networks. What then is the differentiating component that can’t be duplicated?

  2. alan hirsch on September 8th, 2008 2:47 am

    the gospel I think! :-) Systems just describe the way God has made the universe. Wonderfully intricate and inter-connected. It serves good and evil. When you add the love of Jesus and the power of the Holy Spirit…we are meant to be, and will be, different.

  3. Mark on September 8th, 2008 9:39 am

    I would guess that the largest organic network in Chicago right now is the Latin Kings, a violent and fearsome gang. Lord, have mercy.

  4. Lucy J on September 8th, 2008 2:44 pm

    As the darkness gets darker, so the light must burn brighter!

  5. Michael on September 11th, 2008 5:19 am

    One of the things about Latin gangs like MS-13 is what are known as “cuates”. Literally in Spanish it can mean twin or best friend. The core of the cells (a group of cuates) is often made up of people who literally have new family ties to the group that supersede regular family. The close knit group, even not in a gang, is key to seeing how they grow. When church becomes that group I have real primary identity with, rapid growth like this is possible. They have created their own distinct sub-culture with evil at it’s core. The church can grow along those same relational lines.

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