Organized crime is often described in a similar way by groups such as the government, the press and popular opinion. This similar definition is described through the knowledge that people have gained from pop culture films, television programs, magazines, novels, and stories from newspaper articles. Often these newspaper articles are written by authors who have little more knowledge about the structure of organized crime than their favorite Sopranos episode dictates. It is extremely rare in today's society that someone who has an opinion about organized crime (which is almost everyone) has acquired this opinion through first-hand experience (Finckenauer, p. 63). The problem with this narrow view of organized crime is that it fails to understand the real issues/problems that truly define organized crime, therefore not allowing us as a society to solve the problems of organized and associated crime. The stereotypes that have been created about organized crime through these pop culture icons must be addressed and challenged by researchers as they aim to fix the definition of organized crime in the minds of the public, press and government. Improving society's understanding of organized crime is, as we have learned, the first and perhaps most important step in controlling organized crime in our society. The view of organized crime, including acts such as international drug trafficking, for example, is that organized crime is often described as a; "Highly structured and organized operation with vertical lines of responsibility and communication." (Cromwell, p.251) These views are based on the idea that when large amounts of money are involved there must be a high level of organisation. However, this is not always the case as studies have found very little... middle of paper... criminal acts of this type. By broadening our definition not just to support our outdated, pop culture-influenced view, we can better understand how organized crime has functioned and thrived as a group practice and not as a hierarchical organized structure. Organized crime functions and thrives and is estimated to earn over $1 trillion per year (Galeotti, p.2). By changing our definition of organized crime we can better understand the people involved, see them as part of our society, and arrive at a better solution on how to prevent organized criminal groups from forming and committing serious crimes. This will allow governments and law enforcement agencies to better address the problem of organized crime and not waste countless resources searching for answers and basing their actions on a narrow definition that is no longer valid.