There is a large – and still growing – body of criminological literature on the relationship between crime and work. However, the exact nature of that relationship often remains diffuse. In this article we explored the relationships between organized crime and work. Based on analysis of the forty most recent cases of the Organized Crime Monitor we distinguished between two types of relations connecting organized crime and work. First, crimes can be based in the occupation of the offender when the occupation provides concrete opportunities to offend or facilitates the crimes of others. Secondly, the occupation of the offender can also be used as a shield concealing the illegal behavior or identity of the offender.

Employment and crime are commonly assumed to be negatively correlated. Those employed are less likely to commit crimes, and conversely, those who have a criminal record are less likely to become employed. Criminological research has provided strong empirical and theoretical support for the link between employment and crime, but also suggests that a complex set of mechanisms may be at play. Additionally, studies show that employment can also increase the risk of criminal behaviour. In the introduction of this special issue, three causal relationships in the work-crime nexus will be discussed: employment causing crime, employment preventing crime, and crime blocking future employment.

White-collar crime is mostly committed by men. It remains to be seen if this will stay this way. Increasing numbers of women succeed in attaining management positions in organizations. Could we therefore expect an increase in female white-collar crime?Criminological theories on female crime and on white-collar crime lead to contradicting hypotheses.Research on white-collar and organizational crime predominantly produces a situational hypothesis explanation according to which we could expect that the rise of women in organizational hierarchies will also bring more female white-collar crime.Research on female delinquency might lead to an opposite gender-difference hypothesis that would predict less white-collar crime, because they have a lesser tendency to show risky behavior.In this article, both assumptions will be elaborated for further research, against the background of possible gender bias in the relation between women and white-collar crime.

This article focuses on migration with criminal motives. Two specific groups are discussed, British migrants in the Netherlands and Dutch migrants in Spain. Little is written on criminal migration motives in combination with Western subjects. On the other hand, investigative authorities have first-hand knowledge on this matter. An analysis of 25 closed case files shows that within these two groups of migrants, some people are heavily involved in the international drugs trade. Although their numbers are small, their function is important. Through their actions it becomes possible for certain cities or areas to evolve into international criminal drug marketplaces. There are also some differences between British and Dutch criminals abroad. British criminals are often involved as brokers. They broker drugs for third parties in Great Britain. Their stay in the Netherlands seems temporarily. They do not invest in the economy or buy property. Conversely, Dutch criminals in Spain could be described as leaders of organized crime groups. They invest in Spain by buying companies and property.

In this article, theories on organisational crime are applied to the involvement of the German corporation Topf & Söhne in the Holocaust. This corporation produced ovens for various concentration and destruction camps in Germany and Poland and contributed significantly to the execution of the Holocaust with their innovative products. The motivation to procure these ovens to the SS does not seem to stem from force, ideological agreement or maximisation of profit. Instead loss-minimisation and a ‘culture of perfection’ seem to form the explanation. Opportunity was provided by the Nazi-Germany regime and the knowledge and skills were already at hand within the organisation. Because of the close collaboration between these two parties, this case can be qualified as a form of state-corporate crime. Administrative, political and social control was absent and neutralisations only seem to have been formed after the Holocaust. The analysis shows how theories about ‘regular’ organisational criminality can form an explanation of the involvement of corporations in international crimes.