For Some Other Reasons? – Ethnographic Study of an International Outlaw Motorcycle Club

• In Event: International Perspectives on the Other

Abstract

This multi-year study examines an international outlaw motorcycle club and the consequences of Finnish government resolution which stated that to prevent organized crime it is necessary to take in use new methods, such as powerful use of administrative actions. Data is gathered from the 2 year fieldwork and interviews with the members of this motorcycle club. My presentation focuses on forthcoming paper which discusses how the powerful use of administrative actions is carried out in the Nordic welfare society where the trust in police has traditionally prevailed. The research quotes a working title from the newest government proposal which ended up suggesting that the group accused of organized crime could originally be organized for some other reason than committing serious crimes. So far the Finnish criminal law has stated that the group accused of organized crime should originally be organized for committing serious crimes. By examining other reasons, such as forms of solidarity, social practices and communality and how these reasons are related or are not related to the criminal actions of the club, the research provides novel insights for the debate of this hard-to-reach population.

Author

• Jussi Perala, University of Helsinki