IT SEEMS OBVIOUS THAT THE PUBLIC'S AWARENESS OF ORGANIZED CRIME AS A SOCIAL PROBLEM OF ENORMOUS MAGNITUDE HAS BEEN IMPEDED BY AN INSUFFICIENCY OF VALID INFORMATION, BY THE WIDESPREAD AVAILABILITY OF SENSATIONALISTIC INFORMATION, AND EVEN WORSE, BY THE AVOIDANCE, DENIAL, OR MINIMIZATION OF THE PHENOMENON BY MANY SOCIAL SCIENTISTS. INDEED, THERE IS LITTLE TREATMENT OF THE TOPIC IN CONTEMPORARY CRIMINOLOGICAL TEXTBOOKS AND COLLEGE COURSES. ONE SCHOOL OF THOUGHT ADOPTS A FUNCTIONAL EXPLANATION FOR THE EXISTENCE OF CRIME SYNDICATES. THE EMPHASIS IS PLACED ON THE PUBLIC'S DEMAND FOR ILLEGAL GOODS AND SERVICES, BUT SUCH A FORMULATION NEGLECTS THE NONDEMAND ASPECTS OF CRIME SYNDICATES AND MINIMIZES THEIR HARMFULNESS. THE PRINCIPAL METHOD THROUGH WHICH ORGANIZED CRIME ACHIEVES ITS PROFITS IS EXTORTION, WHILE ITS LONG RANGE GOAL IS ALWAYS THE ESTABLISHMENT OF ILLEGAL MONOPOLIES. THE FUNCTIONAL APPROACH ALSO STRESSES THE THEORY OF ETHNIC SUCCESSION TO EXPLAIN HOW CRIME AIDS MINORITY GROUPS IN THEIR STRUGGLE FOR ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL EQUALITY. IT IS NEVERTHELESS UNCERTAIN THAT RECENT NONWHITE MINORITIES ARE ACHIEVING SIMILAR RESULTS. BLACKS MERELY SEEM TO PLAY A MINIMAL ROLE IN ORGANIZED CRIME UNDER THE DOMINATION OF ITALIANS. ITALIAN-AMERICANS SEEM TO CONSTITUTE A KIND OF 'CRIMINAL POWER ELITE' WHICH DOMINATES MANY (IF NOT MOST) OF THE LARGE SYNDICATES. THE GENERAL ORGANIZATIONAL AND SUBCULTURAL FEATURES OF THESE CRIME FAMILIES OR MAFIA ARE DISCUSSED, AND A REVISED DEFINITION OF ORGANIZED CRIME WHICH DEEMPHASIZES ITS 'FUNCTIONAL' CHARACTERISTICS IS OFFERED. SOME OF THE MAJOR STRUCTURAL AND IDEOLOGICAL OBSTACLES TO UNDERSTANDING ORGANIZED CRIME ARE IDENTIFIED AS: (1) THE CLANDESTINE AND BUREAUCRATIC NATURE OF THE PHENOMENON ITSELF, INCLUDING ITS GROWING POWER AND SOCIAL INTEGRATION; (2) THE SENSATIONAL AND INFERIOR QUALITY OF AVAILABLE INFORMATION; (3) THE CRIMINOLOGISTS' LACK OF FAMILIARITY WITH THE SUBJECT AND WITH METHODS USED IN ITS STUDY, WHICH ARE NECESSARILY MORE LIKE INTELLIGENCE GATHERING THAN SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH; AND (4) THE EXISTENCE OF IDEOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL TRENDS (AS EGALITARIANISM, POPULISM, AND CIVIL LIBERTARIANISM) WHICH PREDISPOSE SOCIAL SCIENTISTS TO IGNORE OR MINIMIZE THE PROBLEM, OR TO OFFER FUNCTIONAL RATIONALIZATIONS FOR ITS EXISTENCE. SOCIAL SCIENTISTS MUST BE AWARE OF THEIR OWN BIASES WHEN THEY STUDY THE PHENOMENON. THE NEED FOR MORE CRIMINOLOGICAL RESEARCH INTO ORGANIZED CRIME IS EMPHASIZED. (DJM)