Leaders and leadership in criminal activities : a scoping review

Abstract

The objective of this article is to conduct a scoping review of existing literature on the subject of leadership within the criminal domain. Drawing from theoretical models used to explain leadership in social organizations, this study analyzed 71 articles presenting findings or reflections contributing to a better understanding of leaders and leadership within criminal organizations. The results yielded three overarching themes and eight sub-themes for analysis. The first theme focuses on individual factors associated with leaders and leadership in criminal contexts, and it has been subdivided into three sub-themes: Behavioral factors of criminal leadership, psychosocial factors of criminal leadership, and Gender and leadership in crime. The second theme concentrates on managerial approaches within criminal organizations and is further divided into four sub-themes: Hierarchy, Leadership and criminal organization, selection of leaders in criminal organizations, distribution of leadership in criminal organizations, and the role of leaders in criminal organizations. Finally, the last identified theme examines the phenomenon of leadership decapitation, which is elaborated upon in two sub-themes: the leadership decapitation effect and leader protection and prevention of the decapitation effect. The results are discussed in the context of existing general knowledge on leadership and serve to develop theoretical implications for future studies.