Discuss the concept of organised crime using the Italian Mafia and the Chinese Triads as case studies. Compare and contrast these organisations and outline the culture and characteristics off these criminal fraternities, and how these characteristics have helped them thrive in the international crime scene today.
             Organised crime is an institution that is well publicised and much romanticised. Through books, movies and television shows, almost every day we see depictions of these organisations. However unlike many other crimes and criminals that are depicted in the media, what is scary and fascinating about organised crime groups and their members is that these depictions are often very accurate.
             What is it then that makes these criminal fraternities so very interesting, and how does an organised crime group work? To answer this question it is necessary to look at the concept of organised crime and to examine the groups themselves. The individual culture of specific crime groups is perhaps what makes these groups so very fascinating to the outside world. Organised crime groups, such as the ones that will be looked at here are steeped in tradition and history, and due to this have acquired their own very unique cultures.
             Organised crime is perhaps the most famous and most romanticised in the form of such large criminal institutions as the Italian Mafia, and the Chinese Triads, and although these two groups provide very similar functions in the world, that is the supply of all things illegal, they have two very different cultures, two very different beginnings, and two very different ways of operating.
             The Mafia began as a pre-industrial peasant organisation in the towns and cities of Sicily. The Mafia's underlying principle was to protect the community from all other strong men in return for a tribute. The Mafia was almost always a money making enterprise (Anderson, 1992).
             The origins of the Triads can be traced ba...