Research of Organised Crime in Slovenia

Abstract

This paper presents an historical overview of studies and discussions on organised crime of Slovenian academics and criminal justice practitioners. The findings show that even before the First World War, some detected forms of criminal activity had all the signs of organized crime, but they were not categorised as organized crime and were not discussed in scientific circles such as in Italy or United States of America. In the period after the Second World War, even more discussions of economically tinted crime, with characteristics of organised crime, appeared. However, because of the socialist regime, they were not considered as organized crime. Only after 1990, when Slovenia gained its independence, were more intensive studies of organised crime conducted. Since then, the trend of increased attention to the study of organized crime can be seen. Nevertheless, most of the contributions and research were based on the review of the international literature, followed by discussions on possible contextualization to the Slovenian environment Key deficits of Slovenian studies and discussions on organized crime is therefore the absence of empirical bases, which would give these discussions a greater validity.