Mafia Essay

When people think of organized crime they think of the Italian mob and the Russian mafia. They are the ones that they see in movies and on television, and the ones that they hear about the most. However, they were created a couple centuries after their Asian counterparts, the Yakuza in Japan, and the Triads in China. These Asian syndicates were founded in the sixteenth and seventeenth century and consisted of merchants and other people in what was basically the middle class. They were just groups

The Sicilian Mafia was the first of its kind, originating in the late 19th century. It set the precedent for other mafia organizations that later developed all over the world. The American Mafia started in the early 1900’s, with prohibition and prostitution playing a big role in its dominance. In addition, it is important to know that the American Mafia was a completely different group from the Sicilian Mafia, however, the American Mafia did use some of their traditions. Although the groups worked

Nowadays, the Mafia is perceived to be a transnational criminal organization, riddled with violence and gang-like activity. For example, the American Mafia has been described as, “A cult, a secret society, a brotherhood among men, and even a pack of rats that eat anything in their path including each other” (Inside the American Mob). On the flip side, the Italian Mafia groups have been described as, “gangs, whom besides running a series of illicit businesses, also pervade the social environment

The Mafia Vs. Its portrayal on the Big Screen In movies like The Godfather, where organized crime plays a large part in the movie and a huge role in the plotline, The Mafia is a very important and prevalent piece. It is the reason the movie even happens at all, and the entire plot revolves around it. But did the movie portray The Mafia accurately, or was it all just another example of Hollywood glamour? The way The Mafia is portrayed in movies and culture varies often, but it is mostly shown in a

Lost in translation: A view of The Mafia in the 1960’s Austin Braun University of Maryland University College When someone thinks of the Mafia today they remember the infamous scene from the movie “Scarface” where Al Pacino screams “Say hello to my little friend!” and dies in a violent shootout. The United States of America has a long history of dealing with gangsters, thugs, and mobsters and making movies T.V. show about them. In the 1960s a far more sinister crime syndicate

The Russian Mafia The Russian Mafia: Protectionism in the New Capitalist Russia The Russian Mafia has always exercised an important role in the Russian economy. The contemporary mafiosi are descendents of the seventeenth Century highwaymen and Cossack robbers. These men occasionally murdered families prior to raids preventing them from being captured. The Russia mafiosi made a point to remain aloof from the state. Mob men were actually spurned when returning home from fighting in the Great Patriotic

Although the Mafia is most associated with the Prohibition era of the 1920’s when it dominated crime in all major US cities, the true beginnings of the most infamous criminal organization started quite earlier. Beginning in the late 1800s, many Italians immigrated to New York City due to continued rumors of success in the area. This trend continued out of the 19th century and into the 20th as over 500,000 Italians immigrated to the United States (Sifakis). As Italian citizens migrated to the cities

Todays Mafia Although many arrests have been made, organized crime and the Mafia are still very active. Organized crime and its families, particularly the Italian mafia, have increased their illegal activities significantly over the past few decades. The Mafia and organized crime go hand and hand, one cannot be spoken without the other. Both of these forms of criminal actions have been recognized since the late 1800's, and police say it is not disappearing too fast.(Widener 6) Migration

When non-Italian citizens think about Mafia they picture huge villas in which bosses spend their entire time surrounded by bodyguards, beautiful women, and a lot of drug. Despite this scenario could resemble a perfect Hollywood movie, the Italian Mafia is all but showing one's power and wealth. One of the most powerful but at the same time more hidden Mafias, is the Ndrangheta, the Calabrian one. To reflect briefly on the etymology of the word "Ndrangheta" is not merely an academic exercise, but

A mafia family has a very intricate structure of power. Often it varies based on the particular family, but most have the same general configuration. At the top of the family is the boss. The boss is followed by an underboss that controls the capos underneath him. Each capo is over a certain number of soldiers. The soldiers control the business done with the associates. Another key player is the consigliere. This person serves as an ‘unbiased’ and ‘elected’ advisor to the family boss. The boss