The Evolution of Organized Crime: The Mafia
by Michelle Calderon, Staff Writer for AnaiRhoads.org
10 May 2006
AnaiRhoads.org -- Throughout history, crime has existed in many different forms and has been committed by not only individuals, but by groups as well. Crime knows no boundaries. Crime exists in all cultures, is committed by all races, and has existed in all time periods. The history of the Mafia originated in the ninth century Sicily. Sicily was occupied by Arab forces. The native Sicilians were oppressed and took refuge in the surrounding hills. The Sicilians formed a secret society, called the Mafia (the Arabic word for refuge), to unite the natives against the Arab and Norman invaders. The society's intentions were to create a sense of family based on ancestry and Sicilian heritage. In the 1700's, pictures of a black hand were distributed to the wealthy. This was an unspoken request for an amount of money in return for protection. If the money was not paid, the recipients could expect violence such as kidnappings, bombings, and murder. By the nineteenth century, this society grew larger and more criminally oriented. In 1876, Mafia Don Rafael Palizzolo, ran for political office in Sicily. He forced the voters to vote for him under gunpoint. After being elected into office, he promoted Mafia Don Crispi as Prime Minister. Together the two put Sicily under government control and funneled government funds to the society known as the Mafia (Anonymous, n.d.).
Crime exists as a part of the economic institution and is a lifestyle for many people. However, since the early 1900's, organized crime has existed in the United States. As a result of immigration and a product of society, the early form of organized crime developed. From the Jews of New York and the Irish of Chicago, the immigrant Italian Mafias emerged as the new organized crime threat to America. The 1920’s saw much press and cinematic attention given to organizations such as Al Capone’s and Sam Giancanna’s operations. The Mafia as well as other organized crime groups were generally perceived as a product of Prohibition. Since Americans were uncertain about Prohibition, the Mafia was not regarded as a particularly threatening phenomenon to the average American citizen. The Mafia represented a type of organized criminal activity that were small-scale operations engaging in an activity with which many Americans sympathized in an era of the Great Depression. However, the twentieth century marked the era when organized crime became a widely recognized and widely studied phenomenon.
The main groups based in Italy are the Sicilian Mafia or "Cosa Nostra, the Neapolitan Camorra, the Calabriani 'Ndrangheta, and the Sacra Corona Unita. The Cosa Nostra is generally perceived to be the largest and most important of these groups, and is organized around a law of silence and close associations” (Tuohy, 2000). The requirement of being Italian has helped to prevent infiltration of the organization. It has also ensured that members of the Mafia share the same values. Many of the Italian and Sicilian immigrants who were attracted to organized crime subscribed to the code of “omertá: and had lived under a Mafia-dominated social order, both of which aided their participation in organized crime (Anonymous, n.d.). Relationships are functional, personal and familial, and based on fear, a constant within other Italian Mafia groups as well. Although the Cosa Nostra retains many of its traditional ways, it has proved to be both dynamic and adaptive.
At the turn of the century the American Mafia was different from the Sicilian Mafia in a number of ways. The European Mafia was founded on a sense of loyalty and respect for culture, family and the Sicilian heritage. The Mafia was to protect its' members interests and grant them freedom in business in exchange for absolute loyalty and submission to the family. The Sicilian Mafia was based on the belief that justice, honor and vengeance are for a man to take care of, not for a government to take care of. The Sicilian mafia valued the code of omerta, the code of honor and silence and strictly adhered to the ruling that this was a secret society, open only to those who shared Sicilian blood. In contrast to the noble Sicilian mafia, the American mafia has proved to be a conniving, cold hearted organization. The American Mafia consists of a large group of glorified thieves, pickpockets and murderers. Although it began with the adoption of much of the Sicilian heritage it has evolved into an organization that's sole purpose is to make money using any illegal means possible (Anonymous, n.d.).
From its origins in the nineteenth century until the 1930’s, the American Mafia, in its earliest form, was little more than a robber group that exploited its ability to command those willing to engage in stealing and extorting money from others. The Mafia of today evolved from robbers who merely stole from others into complex criminal organizations. At first, Prohibition provided opportunities to make enormous profits. This profit-making aspect preyed in the public’s desire to consume liquor illegally. This entailed either importing liquor from abroad or manufacturing it. The Mafia moved to take advantage of this opportunity across the country. In so doing, the Mafia shifted to becoming criminal entrepreneurs.
With respect to the rise of the Mafia during Prohibition, importing liquor required the development of complex organizational structures. However, manufacturing liquor required much more organizational evolution. Having tasted greater profits, Mafia bosses had no desire to go back to the older, robber-gang operational model. This led various Mafia groups to figure out how to sustain their entrepreneurial model of criminal activity. Legalization meant the Mafia could not continue in the liquor business with the same level of profitability. This resulted in the evolution of the Mafia and the profitability of illegal drugs.
During the 1930’s, the American Mafia began the process of developing a complex organizational structure culminating in the recognition of a number of Mafia families. The result is the development of individual structures of criminal divisions that carry out specific entrepreneurial activities, such as drug-dealing, prostitution, loan-sharking, and illegal gambling, as well as security. FBI monitoring of Mafia families over the years has confirmed that each has evolved a complex, hierarchical organizational structure analogous to that found in civilian corporations.
By the 1960’s, however, American’s level of awareness of Mafia Organized Crime was raised and generated the perception that it was a phenomenon which threatened the American way of life. From its establishment in the nineteenth century until the 1930’s, the American Mafia conformed to the hierarchal model. American Mafia started a robber group that exploited its ability to command men who were willing to engage in violent acts to steal and extort money from others. This hierarchical organization is the most effective method to structure human activities, both legitimate and illegitimate. The physical constraints of the real world such as distance, terrain, climate, and resources predetermined nature of reality, mean there are many activities individuals cannot accomplish alone. These activities require group effort. Hierarchical organization evolved as an effective way of organizing group effort for the accomplishment of activities such as these. The Mafia-style complex organizational model is designed to achieve this.
Additionally, the global drug trade common among organized crime groups of today is characterized by increasing cooperation among organized crime groups from various parts of the world. The principal advantage that highly-complex organization offers is the ability to synchronize the extensive, complex division of labor needed to carry out large-scale, diversified, criminal activity. This again poses an even more difficulty for law enforcement agencies to tackle organized crime.
The law has long recognized the increased dangers that result when criminals associate. The level of harm groups can cause is limitless. Criminal organizations' ability to expand, in terms of personnel and the level of harm inflicted, is one of their aspects and is the reason why twentieth century law enforcement devised new strategies to deal with organized criminality. Like a corporation, the organization survives the departure of individual members. Criminal organizations have existed for centuries.
History raises a question about the likelihood that the Mafia will migrate into cyberspace. This will pose another challenge for law enforcement agencies. Cyber crime entrepreneurship requires an articulated organizational structure. Cyber crime will likely require the Mafia to incorporate a version of this hierarchical organizational mode.
In addition, certain traditions supportive of organized crime such as cultural deviance theories continue to exist among some families even in the suburbs. Italian-American young men are being raised in more comfortable surroundings than their predecessors' ghetto experiences. A few may still fantasize about being part of the mob.
American society and major cities are different places today than they were during the times of major European immigration. Advances in transportation and communication, industrial technology, and the global economy have transformed cities from centers of production and distribution to centers of administration, finance, and the exchange of information. In this environment, the blue-collar jobs that once provided a means of social mobility have vanished or moved to the Third World. There exists a formation of an urban underclass made up of men and women who are excluded from participation in mainstream occupations. This structural entrapment denies people a method of maturing out of crime and has fueled the development of organized crime.
The enormous profits that accrue in the business of drugs are part of a criminal underworld where violence is always a reality. Transactions must be accomplished without recourse to the formal mechanisms of dispute resolution that are usually available in the world of legitimate business. This reality leads to the creation of private enforcement. “The drug world is filled with heavily armed and dangerous persons in the employ of the larger cartels, although even street-level operatives are often armed. These private resources for violence serve to limit market entry, to ward off competitors and predatory criminals, and to maintain internal discipline and security within an organization” (Anonymous, n.d.). The involvement of cheap labor into American society poses a great struggle for the job market availability. Immigration poses cultural as well as economical challenges. Education and family values are a factor in criminality. Technology and new science development transcends into changes in the economy as well as demand for generated income. If there is a demand for anything, there will always be a black market available. Organized crime will continue to evolve as long as there is a demand for illegal goods and services. Law enforcement officials will continue to battle with this evolving issue of globalization as society evolves and more countries and new technologies are tied with organized crime.
References:
Abadinsky, H. (2003). Introduction to Organized Crime.
Anonymous. (n.d.). Omerta? The History of the American Mafia.
Brenner, S. (2002). Organized Cybercrime? How Cyberspace May Affect the Structure
of Criminal Relationships.
Tuohy, J. W. (2000). American Mafia.
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