• Corpus ID: 131409417

Organised crime research in Europe: development and stagnation

@inproceedings{Lampe2008OrganisedCR,
  title={Organised crime research in Europe: development and stagnation},
  author={Klaus von Lampe},
  year={2008}
}

• K. Lampe
• Published 2008
• Political Science

The study of organised crime has emerged as a field of research in its own right over the past 30 to 40 years. While American scholars dominated the scene from the 1960s through to the 1980s, Europe can make a claim to have recently become the centre of organised crime research. Based on a systematic though certainly not exhaustive review of the academic literature, an attempt is made to identify some key trends regarding the institutionalisation and funding of organised crime research as well as regarding research topics and methodology. Critical challenges for future research will also be addressed. The basic argument is that while the richness of empirical studies distinguishes the European research arena, conceptually and theoretically few substantial advances have been made. In the future efforts need to be undertaken to ensure the continuity and political independence of organised crime research. This will require, inter alia, a reform of the funding schemes of the European Union.