Organized Crime in Feature Films and Television Shows

Mediji su važan dio u stvaranju percepcije onoga sa čime nemamo osobnog iskustva. Organizirani kriminalitet jedna je takva pojava. Cilj ovog rada je vidjeti odgovara li slika prikazana u medijima, odnosno filmovima i serijama, slici koju nam nudi literatura. Koristeći kvalitativnu analizu sadržaja, podaci dobiveni gledanjem materijala analizirani su i sistematizirani s obzirom na kategorije (struktura, odnosi, funkcioniranje, obitelj, žene, vrijednosti, društvo). Za uzorak odabrana su dva subuzorka – meksički i kolumbijski narko karteli te talijanska mafija na području SAD-a. Ove dvije grupe odabrane su jer su najzloglasniji narko šefovi bili vođe ovih kartela (Pablo Escobar i Joaquin El Chapo Guzman), a talijanska mafija u SAD-u jer postala sinonimom za organizirani kriminal u svijetu. Dobiveni rezultati upućuju na sličnosti i razlike između medijskog prikaza i prikaza iz literature. Generalno gledano, prikazi su uglavnom slični, osobito u kontekstu strukture i funkcioniranja. Iako postoje manja odstupanja od prikaza iz literature, medijski prikazi u analiziranim materijalima pokazuju da je struktura narko kartela asocijacijska te usredotočena na profit, s druge strane, talijanska mafija na području Sjedinjenih Američkih Država odlikuje se kvazi upravljačkom kriminalnom strukturom, što oboje odgovara stanju prikazanom u literaturi.Media is an important part of creating a perception of a phenomenon that one does not have direct experience with. Organized crime is one such phenomenon. The goal of this thesis is to look into whether the image given by the media, primarily in feature films and television shows, is correspondent to the image found in scientific and professional literature. The data obtained by examining the material was analyzed and systemized according to categories (structure, relationships, functioning, family, women, values, society) using qualitative analysis. The sample used was divided into two subsets – Mexican and Columbian drug cartels and the Italian Mafia in the USA. These aforementioned subsets were chosen because the most infamous narco bosses were leaders of the Mexican and Columbian drug cartels (Pablo Escobar and Joaquin El Chapo Guzman), and the Italian Mafia due to it becoming synonymous with organized crime on a global level. The results point towards similarities and differences between the media image and the image from the scientific and professional literature. These images are mostly similar, especially in regard to structure and functioning. Even though there are minor differences between the images, the structure of drug cartels in the media is associational and centered around profit, whereas the Italian Mafia in the USA is shown as being quasi-governmental in its structure, which both correspond with the image of these groups in relevant literature