Frederick Martens Corruption Case Study

In 2015, an interview was conducted with Frederick Martens. Martens was a law enforcement officer in the 1960 's and the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Crime Commission from 1987 to 1994. The Pennsylvania Crime Commission was in charge of investigating organized crimes as well as corruption. (Woodiwiss, 2015) During the interview, Martens recalls how he had encountered many forms of corruption as well as members of organized crime families while on the job. He states that the majority of the politicians were corrupt and had connections with certain crime families. This corruption included taking bribes and gambling. The police officers, many of whom Martens grew up with, were also corrupt. Martens specifically remembered when members

Aker states in his theory that relationships with people increases learning. (Michener, 2013) In order for organized criminals to not get caught, it is important that they form relationships with other people. An example would be the corruption that Frederick Martens witnessed in the Paterson Police Department. The police department and the Genovese crime family formed a relationship that turned out bad in the end. In his interview, Martens also recalled how some of the kids he knew while growing up had family members that were involved in organized crime. When those kids became adults they too became organized crime criminals. (Woodiwiss, 2015) Through social learning those kids learned that it was socially acceptable to partake in illegal activities. Social learning also explains why organized crime exists because criminals have learned to not think about any negative outcomes. In 1967, there was a riot in Newark, New Jersey that was linked to the mafia. About one thousand people were injured and twenty seven were dead. The riot was in response to the multiple corruption case that were on trial.(Woodiwiss, 2015) At that time, the mafia was only thinking about the immediate effects of their actions. They were not thinking about how some of the members would eventually be tried and

While this theory can be universal, it mostly applies to urban societies. Most people who live in these urban societies live in poverty and do not have the means to climb the social ladder. As a result they turn to crime.(Simons & Burt, 2011) This theory forces people to ignore the social norms within the society because they end up not caring about the appearance of the neighborhood or if they get in trouble with the law. Similar to social learning theory, people who commit crimes within a disorganized are not able to see how their actions can cause negative consequences. Due to the fact that everyone already associates the neighborhood with substance abuse, trash, and forgotten buildings, people are less likely to care about their future.(Simons & Burt,