Investigating the Russian Mafia

by Joseph D. Serio

To read an excerpt from this book, click . To learn even more about Investigating the Russian Mafia and the author, click . In a unique, new book, Joseph Serio discusses the attitudes and practices of the criminal world, business, and policing, exposing the realities of the Russian Mafia. He convincingly demonstrates that many of the forces at work in the 1990s did not originate in the Communist era or arise because of the collapse of the USSR. Crime groups whose members came from every walk of life – underworld, police, KGB, Communist Party – have been part and parcel of the Russian experience for centuries. Discover why these elements take on a particularly ominous shape in the post-Soviet world and represent a long-term challenge to law enforcement, businesses, and democracy itself for both the Russian Federation and the rest of the world. Investigating the Russian Mafia is ideal for students, law enforcement, practitioners, and business people operating in the former Soviet Union, as well as the general reader. Serio was the only American to work in the Organized Crime Control Department of the Soviet police. He later served as director of the Moscow office of a global investigation firm. "Serio offers us privileged insights from his extraordinary vantage point. Serio's analysis of Russian organized crime is multi-faceted and interdisciplinary―providing criminological, historical, economic, political, sociological and psychological perspectives on the subject." ― Dorothy McClellan, Texas A&M University "This book should be required reading for anyone spending any time in Russia―certainly journalists and business people posted there, and students as well. Aside from the well-documented account of the lawless 1990s, it offers a rich history of Russian criminal life, from the times of Ivan the Terrible through to the Vory v zakone." ― Paul E. Richardson, Russian Life "Clear, precise, accessible… I read it with great pleasure." ― Andre Bossard, Secretary General (ret.), Interpol "Serio provides a road map to the Russian criminal mind set. Required reading for ALL law enforcement!" ― Detective Douglas Fell, Vancouver B.C. Police Department, Co-Founder Western Association of Eastern European Organized Crime Investigators "At a time when so many accounts in the West portray a one-sided and narrow view of the country, this book is a must-read to see a broader picture of the complexity inherent in Russia's transition from authoritarianism to democracy and from a planned to a market economy." ― Joel H. Samuels, Assistant Professor, University of South Carolina School of Law "New analysis of the development and character of organized crime in Russia. A superb book! It will be instructive for law enforcement practitioners and theorists concerned with countering or understanding regional and global organized crime." ― Graham H. Turbiville, Jr., Senior Fellow and Consultant, Department of Defense military and intelligence programs, Editor of Global Dimensions of High Intensity Crime and Low Intensity Conflict "This is an important book, not only because it tells us something about the state of affairs in Russia, but also because it gives insight into things popular history is content to pass over… A comprehensive book that is very readable." ― John Lehman, BookReview.com "In sum, the originality and appeal of this book comes from the fact that it manages to be at once well documented and argued without being laboriously academic, while at the same time being accessibly written without engaging in over-simplification or losing its critical edge. It is thus a very accessible introductory text on its subject and deserves to be read widely and not only by those with a specific interest in .mafias.'" ― Gavin Slade, University of Oxford Centre for Criminology (DPhil candidate) "This well-written, very readable work is extremely well documented, including copious footnotes." ― L.L. Vucic, CHOICE Magazine, formerly, Chatham College

Genres: Nonfiction, Politics, Crime

324 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

Reviews

[Lyndsie · Rating 4 out of 5]

More interesting than the OTHER book we had to read for class, at any rate.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Joseph Serio, who spent years in the Soviet Union and Russia, following its demise, argues that there isn't some organized, heirarchical structure for the "Russian Mafia," but rather many criminal groups which have been taught through centuries of opression and totalitarianism how to make illicit profits. This was largely borne out of necessity, especially during the Russian period, where the laws were so oppressive, one literally had to violate the law just to stay alive. Unfortunately, so many of these otherwise good citizens were sent to jail. Many of them learned new trades while in very harsh prisons and had new skill sets and contacts upon leaving.

I think Serio's bottom line is that centuries of harsh rule have created a culture within the peoples of the former Soviet Union to look out for themselves without regard to their neighbors. It was a means for survival. Their criminal groups were no more violent nor aggressive, but feared largely due to the United States antagonism towards the Soviet Union for 50 years. And because of our own cultural and entertainment experience with the American Mafia and their structure, we project our assumptions on their crime groups; projections which have no basis in reality.

This was a good book to help demystify the phenomenon of the Russian Mafia into how it should be viewed, which is a normal, organized crime phenomenon.