Mafia Midterm

What is the origin of the word ‘mafia’?

mafiosi theater play

what is the origin of the word ‘camorra’?

with the morra, popular street gambling game

Where is Cosa Nostra located?

Sicily

Where is Ndrangheta located?

Calabria

Where is Sacra Corona Unita located?

Puglia

Where is Camorra located?

Campania

Cosa Nostra structure

Top-Down Structure; family is grouped into districts led by bosses

Ndgrangheta Structure

Territory based; strongly based on blood ties

Camorra Structure

Fragmented; hundreds of autonomous clans, no central cupola

Concept of Organized Crime

enterprise, profit/power through crime, use of violence/intimidation, corruption/infiltration

Why is the Mafia in Italy?

role of family, mindset of compromise, the positive furbo

Example of transnationality

working with mafia in other countries

U Pizzu

talks about following the rules and staying quiet (mafia)

Man of Honor

taking a new identity, entering a different moral universe

Why did the Mafia originate in the South

landlorism, feudalism, underdevelopment, lower education levels

Mafia requirements

must be italian, code of silence, no adultery, no facial hair, no homosexuality, no internal fighting, tribute to the boss,

When did the Mafia start working in the states?

1890s; police chief David Hennessy was killed by Italian men bc he fought against the mafia

Transition from tranditional to modern mafia

more focused on money and power

Structural and Operational tools

Intimidation/violence, corruption, economic exploitation, territorial control, infiltration, private justice enforcement, omerta

collaborators of justice

snitches

Strategia Stragista

massacre strategy; killed judges and those involved with shutting down the mafia

Tommaso Buscetta

hiding from the Mafia bc he snitched

Papello

revision of the Maxi trial sentence; recognition of disassociated benefits for mafia convicts

Mafia Groups

criminal knitted groups; family; a few people out of law

Mafia System

using mafia tools: territorial control, hierarchy, servility; people who accept and supports indirectly

Mafia Mindset

being available to accept the existence of mafia; attitude to abuse; the mass mentality in society

Social Capital

allowing the Mafia to establish a net of active support itself