Organized crime retains the last few years, the attention of international organizations wishing to intensify the fight against this phenomenon. At present, the main text is the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, signed in Palermo in December 2000, the definition of organized crime is: "a structured group of three or more persons existing for some time and acting in concert with the aim of committing one or more serious crimes or offenses established in accordance with this Convention to obtain, directly or indirectly, a financial or other material benefit ". Specifically, the European Union proposes a definition by listing 11 criteria (Europol 161/1994, Annex C). Organized crime is formed by the joining of at least 6 of the test knowing that 3 are mandatory (collaboration between more than two people suspected of committing serious criminal offenses, acting for power and profit).
Analytically, a mafia has several characters:
- A territory
- An initiation rite
- A founding myth
- An ethnic dimension
- A hierarchy?
- Violence
1 territory
This is the first condition that is to say, a Mafia still controls a territory. The best known example is of course that of the Cosa Nostra in Sicily but this is true for other mafias as we shall see later. Controlled territory can be quite small especially in Naples, where the Camorra clans sometimes have authority over some streets.
2 rite of passage
All mafia feel to be part of the same family. There is almost always an initiation ceremony which can range from a simple oath (violation of which will result in death) to quasi-sectarian practices similar to those perpetuated in antiquity. After this initiation, the mafia, like any organized entity, must respect the rules of the clan. In Italy, insiders are so called "men of honor", and still hold to this name.
3 a founding myth
Indeed, the mafias often have a mythic dimension also explains the commitment of local people. "This is the myth of social wealth redistribution: taking from the rich and powerful to give to the poor. It is one of justicialism, that is to say, the immanent knowledge of what is right against the iniquitous law that crushes small from distant lands "(Th. Cretin, Mafias of the world, 2002). This feature is found especially in Italy where the mafias have developed in southern Italy, southern Italy, the poorer areas where people feel abandoned by Rome and retreated to the local authority are the mafias. It's a difficult fight against these criminal entities and which explains the omerta.
4 ethnic dimension
Traditionally, a Mafia family is the discriminant double standard blood and sex. Schematically, a clan is made up as members of the same family genealogical sense, allowing to understand the solidarity of members, but also the small number of insiders (a family of 200 members is already very important). This character also explains the development of the mafia in the world through immigration that provide fertile ground for implantation (eg Chinatown allow the Chinese Triads to locate everywhere). Regarding sex, the Camorra (Naples area) is a notable exception because women play a significant role up to the leadership of a clan. Moreover, some mafias like Sicilian Cosa Nostra are strictly and only baptized Catholics can be initiated.
5 a hierarchy?
Mafias usually have an organization that sometimes takes the form of a holding company. Contrary to gangs, the hierarchy is not pyramid but consists of a weaving, a network of inter-personal relationships. Contrary to popular belief, a mafia is a criminal society entrepreneurial sense. If we take the example of Cosa Nostra in Sicily, it is composed of a hundred families together in 17 mandamenti (sub-regions). But all families are independent of each other, even if there are contacts between men of honor. Defectors have explained that the "Cupola" a sort of oversight committee mafias, had little power. If we take the example of Corleone in Sicily, this is both a family and a mandamento but this clan has no more weight than others. In short, a mafia is a set of autonomous criminal groups that meet primarily by geographic proximity, a common identity and similar practices. Of course, as the development of such a family, there will be a de facto superiority and alliances (often ephemeral) are possible. Within a mafia network, it is possible to identify three circles of relationships (Cusson, current Criminology, 1998). The first circle consists of "a compact, a small number of relatives, close friends and close collaborators." It is the family in the strict sense. Then the second circle "is rather spaced relationship with a mobster and protected with others belonging to other families." It is at this level that there is an identity between the different families thereby constitute a mafia sense. Finally, there is the external relations (shopkeepers, shady lawyers, crooked politicians ...)
6 Violence
Mafia have a reputation for violence and murder. As Maurice Cusson, says "it is less capable of killing which is characteristic of the Mafia's reputation can give death, or by his own hand or by using a killer." The real mafia so little use violence and murder as their generally light pressure. Be feared and respected is the mark of a mafia. However, some mafias require initiation as committing a murder in cold blood, and the settling of scores between families are common and deadly today (nearly 160 murders in Naples in 2004).
In conclusion, only a few groups in the world can be recognized as true mafias: Cosa Nostra (Sicily), the Camorra (Neapolitan region), the 'Ndrangheta (Calabria), Sacra Corona Unita recent (Puglia), the Albanian mafia, the maffiya Turkish, Chinese triads and Boryokudan composed of Yakuza in Japan. Their criminal activities are many and varied and their characteristics will be discussed in later articles.
